A well-fought 1-0 win over Leeds United ended Birmingham City’s run of defeats and pushed Blues into 17th spot above Queens Park Rangers. With six games left in the Championship season and five points separating Blues and Rotherham in 22nd place have Garry Monk’s men done enough to end fears of the dreaded “R” word?
The dust has now settled after the big news of Birmingham City being sanctioned with a nine-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules. The questions now have to be asked as to how Birmingham City got into the mess it did and how it can ensure it does not happen again.
The EFL today confirmed in a statement that the independent disciplinary hearing has ruled that Birmingham City will be deducted nine points as a result of a breach of the League’s Profitability and Sustainability rules. The ruling brings to an end months of waiting to see what would happen and will be imposed on Blues immediately.
The 128th Second City Derby has been one of controversy. While the result saw Blues suffer defeat to their hated rivals and ensure the long run without a league win in this fixture goes on, an incident at the ground has further marred the fixture and has caused all manner of hot takes on the internet.
The EFL have confirmed in a statement today that the Profit and Sustainability Disciplinary Commission hearing will be delayed for about a month. The commission had been scheduled to meet this week but due to a member of the Disciplinary Commission being “conflicted” they have had to withdraw.
As fans celebrated Lee Camp saving Nakhi Wells’ injury time penalty to ensure Birmingham City beat QPR 4-3 on Saturday, news filtered through that the EFL have made their proposed sanction against Blues for their “aggravated breach” of the Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Che Adams was emphatic in his goal celebrations at the weekend that he was staying at St Andrews. Having netted his 16th league goal of the season, Adams matched Clayton Donaldson’s haul from the 2014-15 season with only Marlon King having scored more in the last 15 years. However, that joy was tempered by news from the Times that Blues were in trouble for not selling Che.
Despite a flurry of bids from Burnley on deadline day, Che Adams remains a Blues player as the board remained defiant that the 15-goal forward would not be sold. With February now upon us the focus for the board must now face is the disciplinary hearing into the infractions against the new Profit and Sustainability rules. The big question is just where do Blues stand now?
Birmingham City made filings with Companies House yesterday confirming procedural details which may have an impact on Blues “Profit and Sustainability” calculations this season.
Birmingham City filed their accounts at Companies House on Friday, with figures making for grim reading for fans. The club showed a loss before taxation of nearly £37.5million on revenues of just under £18.8million. Having spent some time reading through the accounts, I’ve put together some analysis of what these numbers mean for the club.
