You may have picked up from the dearth of articles on this website that I’m not the biggest fan of this time of year.
I’m too old and jaded with social media to get involved in transfer gossip while stability off the pitch thanks to Knighthead mean I don’t have to worry about what is going to go wrong with the club financially.
And so, it felt good to make the trip down to Damson Parkway on Wednesday night for the first English pre-season fixture for Blues to get a look at the team.
Other commitments robbed me of watching Blues get smashed 5-0 by SC Paderborn in Austria and as such I think I’ve been a little bit insulated from much of the worry I’ve seen online about players coming in.
And while Blues looked especially strong in the first half with new signings May and Emil Hansson particularly impressing, the lack of depth in the squad is evident when one looks at the subs made in the second half, particularly in the centre of defence.
With the start of the season now just three and a half weeks away, are there valid reasons for worry?
The State of the Squad
We all knew that this summer was going to be one of change with many players leaving once their contracts had finished and new players coming in.
🆕𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗛 – 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰
🔹included players given a squad number last season & new signings
🔹EFL L1 rules state a max squad of 22 players, not including U21’s & GK’s#bcfc pic.twitter.com/VnR55AtS7h
— Blues Breakdown (@blues_breakdown) July 16, 2024
The ever-brilliant Blues Breakdown on Twitter posted this squad chart on Monday morning not long prior to the Alex Cochrane transfer which laid bare the problems Blues still have.
The failure to complete the Mike Eerdhuijzen transfer from Sparta Rotterdam has left Blues still without a left-footed centre-half and it appears to remain a very difficult position to fill.
Such has been the problem that out in Austria, Blues were forced to play forward Sahid Kamara in the left sided centre-back slot. At Moors Blues used Tommy Fogarty on the left side of defence with midfielder Brandon Khela along side him.
However, unlike last summer there are much fewer constraints on Blues.
One of the little jobs I’ve done over the last few weeks is to tweak my squad spreadsheet contracts page with information with respect to how Blues measures up to the squad rules they have upon them.
In League One, Blues have to submit a squad of a maximum 22 first team players, with players under the age of 21 and goalkeepers not counting to this total. Of those players, at least eight must be homegrown.
Unlike the Championship, loan players under the age of 21 do not count towards the 22 man first team squad.
As it stands, Blues have six places left for outfield players over the age of 21; a number which should grow to eight with the impending departures of Juninho Bacuna and Manny Longelo.
With financial constraints nowhere near as tight as previous seasons, Blues are no longer rooting around in the bargain bins of the transfer market.
However, as Biggie Smalls once said, mo’ money, mo’ problems – and shopping in the bigger markets presents its own challenge.
Swimming with Sharks
One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen online from fans is that while there have been players linked to the club, the deals don’t seem to have come off.
Earlier in the window, Blues were linked to Marc Leonard of Brighton and Hove Albion along with Scott Twine and there was a lot of excitement on social media at the thought of capturing those players.
Now, despite neither player having moved anywhere there is a feeling from some of the more pessimistic fans out there that we have missed out on those players.
This feeling is then being extrapolated into Blues struggling to get any deal over the line, with the attendant consequence of having to chase after scraps in the final hours of the window.
If I’m honest, I can see why people would believe this narrative.
After all, the trauma of the last few years under the previous regime still lingers, while the transfer dealings of last season and the winter window in particular may have contributed to a lack of faith in recruitment staff.
However, despite all that I think it’s important we look forwards and at the good stuff that could happen.
And while it’s true that signing a better quality of player means we’ll be metaphorically swimming with sharks, I think we have to accept that if the club is to progress we need to start doing this sooner rather than later.
The simple thought will be that the more money we can throw at players, the more chance we will have to sign them.
I readily accept that money is a huge motivator but I think Blues have to be able to get to a point whereby we’re selling more than a fat wage and bonus structure to bring in good players.
We joke about The Project™ but in reality, if anything is going to cause players to buy in to Blues, it’s going to be the journey the club hope to be on.
If we can sell to players that by signing for us now they’re in on the ground level with eyes upon them and the chance to excel, then I think it’s more likely we’ll get players who really want to do their best for us.
I also think that football is like a game of dominoes; sign one or two really impressive players and we’ll look attractive to other players simply because of the potential FOMO of not playing for us.
No More Gambling
Signing players – particularly when signing for potential – can be a gamble.
It’s a fact of life that not every transfer will work out and while there is always potential to pick up a gem, it’s also possible that a player who looks like a gem could turn out to be a 24 carat dud.
However, when Blues had to deal with financial constraints they weren’t in the position to be too picky.
One way Blues tried to pick up better players last summer was to sign players who have had more troublesome injury records.
I’m not going to be mean and pick on particular players but it was evident that some struggled to maintain fitness throughout the season more than others did – and I have no doubt those injury issues were part of the problem that saw us relegated.
One thing I’ve noticed this summer is that Blues seem to have tightened up a lot in this regard.
While nothing would ever be announced officially, there’s already been rumours of more than one potential signing falling through due to issues with medicals.
I think there is often a confusion when it comes to medicals due to the press talking about players “passing” or “failing” them.
The truth, as it always is, is a bit more complex.
The point of a medical is to do a bit of physical due diligence on a player before signing off on what could be a huge investment.
The more money being invested, the more intensive a medical is likely to be.
When the results come in, the club then has to make the decision if there is anything in the medical which says that they should be careful signing the player.
My gut feeling is the combination of last year’s issues with Tom Brady’s deeper involvement on the medical side has ensured Blues are taking a more robust stance when it comes to checking out the physical conditions of players.
And that means while it’s annoying when a player signing appears to fall through due to a medical issue, we have to understand why it’s happening.
It’s been a struggle writing this because if I’m honest, I hate being involved in talking about transfers.
For one, it’s easily possible that this article will age like milk as players come and go. What is truth today might not be truth next week.
It’s also an incredibly emotive subject that causes some rational people to lose their heads; especially when there is the sudden hope of something amazing happening and then that sudden hope seems to be snatched away again.
Hopefully, within the next three weeks the squad really will take shape and we’ll spend the last bit of the transfer window hoping for a bonus signing or two.
Much comes down to the recruitment team to make that happen.