A 1-0 defeat to Cambridge United in the Carabao Cup on Saturday meant Aitor Karanka got off to a losing start as Blues Head Coach. With a week until the Championship campaign starts, Karanka has to pick his charges back up and encourage them to believe that they can win.
What started off tentatively with a gif in response to a question from grime star Jaykae seems to have morphed into a semblance of communication from the powers that be. Although it’s still not much more than gifs right now, Blues CEO Ren Xuandong took the time out of his day on Bank Holiday Monday to get new signing George Friend to pass on a nice message to a Blues fan stuck in hospital.
Birmingham City kicked off their pre-season friendlies with a 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic at Wast Hills. The Blues team was a mix of first team and youthful inexperience with only young keeper Zach Jeacock featured for the full 90 minutes as Blues rotated through their squad at half-time. With less than two weeks until the EFL Cup curtain-raiser against Cambridge United, can people be forgiven for worrying about the thin squad?
It’s taken a few months, but the written reasons for the decisions of the Independent Disciplinary Commission and League Arbitration Panel regarding Birmingham City’s second breach of the P&S rules were finally released on Monday. Blues were initially acquitted of the charge before being found guilty on appeal without any sanction imposed.
Aitor Karanka’s first press conference as Birmingham City head coach was an ode to “sensible, reasonable things” as both the Spaniard and Blues CEO Ren Xuandong spoke of learning from mistakes and long-term futures. Is this the start of something beautiful at St Andrew’s?
Do Not Want. Three words encapsulated in GIF format in reply to Brummie grime musician Jaykae’s plea to “splash the cash” made up the first non-official website communication from Blues CEO Ren Xuandong in six months. Is this a beginning of a social media rapprochement between Ren and Blues fans?
While most fans were celebrating the arrival of Aitor Karanka as Blues’ new Head Coach on Friday, Birmingham Sports Holdings also made an announcement to the stock exchange which can be seen as positive news. The holding company voluntarily confirmed to the stock exchange that it intends to acquire a medical service business in Japan to continue to strengthen the Group’s profitability.
It took a while but like the Mounties, Blues CEO Ren Xuandong got his man. Birmingham City confirmed late on Friday evening that Aitor Karanka has signed a three-year deal to be the next head coach of the club. The 46-year-old Spanish coach ends an 18 month exile from management since walking out on Nottingham Forest in January 2019.
While Blues CEO Ren Xuandong has been criticised heavily on Blues social media and forums recently, Kristjaan Speakman has been somewhat under the radar. Listed on the official Blues website as Academy Manager, Speakman has been acting as a de facto Sporting Director at Blues in recent times. Is Speakman culpable for the club’s current situation.
Now the dust has settled on a prolonged and difficult campaign in the Championship, it’s time once again for the Birmingham City hierarchy to look forward. With confirmation that the new EFL season begins on September 12, there are less than seven weeks until kickoff to sort out a number of issues.
