While the season drags to a rather unsatisfactory finish on the pitch, discussions surrounding the make-up of the Blues squad next year are springing up around on social media and forums. Much of this talk has centred on the fates of some of the younger members of the squad thanks to transfer rumours in the newspapers among other things.
With the season now winding to an end many fans are already thinking about player recruitment this summer. Despite some of the larger player contracts coming to an end, budget constraints are going to make life interesting for John Eustace, Craig Gardner and the rest of recruitment team at St Andrew’s.
In the fourth and final part of my deep dive into the Birmingham City squad, I’ve taken a look at the remainder of first team squad, along with young pros who are without a squad number. This is a tough time of year for many of these players as they will be wondering if they have a future at the club.
Saturday was not a great day for Blues fans. On the pitch, the team struggled to create chances in a 1-0 scrappy defeat to Blackpool at St Andrew’s. Off the pitch, news surrounding potential backers of the Often Partisan consortium brought more questions than answers.
Late on Thursday night, Bloomberg reported that American hedge fund manager Tom Wagner is nearing a deal to buy a stake in Birmingham City. This led to a huge amount of talk online among Blues fans about who Wagner is and what this means in regard to the Often Partisan Limited bid.
It’s safe to say that while on the pitch the season is coming to an anticlimactic end for Blues, off it appears to be a very different story. It hasn’t taken long for the rumours to fly on social media of just which investors might be behind potential new owners Often Partisan Limited.
Birmingham Sports Holdings today announced to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that letters of intent have been signed to sell both a stake in the club and St Andrew’s Stadium to an unnamed purchaser. The news is the biggest indication yet that a takeover is going through.
One of the things I’ve thought a lot about during this last year of takeover interest in Birmingham City is what I would like to see from a new ownership regime. While the process has been protracted and even painful at times, the possibility of a conclusion has left me daring to dream of what might be.
It was reported on Wednesday that Paul Richardson, Maxi Lopez and Matt Southall have all accepted sanctions from the EFL following charges relating to the failed Maxco takeover. While there hasn’t been any official confirmation yet, the reports have stated all three have accepted suspended bans from involvements with EFL clubs.
A hard fought 1-0 victory against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday pushed Birmingham City into 16th place in the Championship, nine points clear of the relegation zone with just seven games left to play. While safety isn’t yet mathematically assured it looks increasingly likely that John Eustace’s team will have a much more relaxed run in than in recent years.
