With the Championship season now ended for Birmingham City, attention turns to who will leave the club this summer and who will be brought in. The transfer window doesn’t really start until the new pre-season, but Saturday is the deadline for clubs not involved in the playoffs to submit their retained lists.
Less than 72 hours after the Championship season ended, Birmingham City announced that embattled CEO Ren Xuandong was to step down from his role with immediate effect. The immediate reaction online from Blues fans was of one of almost universal happiness that Ren is gone from the club.
If you’d have told me in the wake of the three-nil humping handed to Blues by Bristol City back in March that Blues would be mathematically safe with two games to go, I’d have laughed. Yet a 2-1 comeback win against fellow strugglers Derby County has done just that, putting Blues in a nosebleed 16th place to boot.
The accounts for Birmingham City Football Club plc and it’s UK parent Birmingham City plc became live on the Companies House website on Tuesday. Although we’ve already seen general information on how the club has fared financially from segmented parts of the Birmingham Sports Holdings accounts, these accounts give us a good chance to understand the specific issues the club is facing.
Sunday sees Birmingham City travel to the New York Stadium to play Rotherham United in a game that could have a massive bearing on both team’s seasons. The Millers’ defeat to Coventry City on Thursday night leaves Paul Warne’s men four points from safety with just two games in hand. Blues sit six points ahead in 19th with destiny very much in their own hands.
What’s in a name? Quite a lot if you judge the buzz on some Blues Facebook groups recently. News and pictures that Birmingham City have removed the former sign outside Wast Hills proclaiming the “Trillion Trophy Training Ground” has been met with thoughts that the club is being sold. Unfortunately for them, it’s not the case.
News broke on Thursday that Coventry City were close to agreeing a return to the Ricoh Arena having shared St Andrew’s with Birmingham City for two seasons. The return would end Coventry’s second recent spell in exile away from their home city – and more importantly for Blues give the St Andrew’s pitch a chance to recover.
Defeat to Norwich on Tuesday was not an unexpected outcome. The best team in the division away from home against a team that can’t buy a win at home right now were always going to be the favourites to pick up the points. However, manager Aitor Karanka’s comments in the aftermath show one of the chief problems the club faces.
Birmingham City announced on Friday the creation of a strategic committee whose job would be to advise the board on the short-term and long-term strategy of the club. This came at the request of Birmingham Sports Holdings, who had confirmed that the committee would be appointed in announcements made to the HKSE last year.
Birmingham City were unable to break the deadlock at Adams Park on Tuesday night, with the 0-0 final result leaving Blues once again precariously close to the relegation trap door. As befitting Groundhog Day it was the same old story of referees not giving penalties and players not taking the few chances on offer; the question is what does Aitor Karanka need to do to escape this cursed loop of relegation struggle Blues find themselves in.
