Birmingham clearly dominated the half and were the better team. But they have no Trevor Francis and we do have a Charlie Austin! COYR’s!
He’s an incredible player, really. He just seems to have a knack of reading the game so well in the final third. I was a little concerned when I heard he was coming back, not really because of his own ability, but more because the squad he was joining was nowhere near the one he left and I quietly feared that he’d be frustrated by a lack of decent service. But he’s pretty much picked up where he left off, with the same goal every two games ratio. Charlie, Charlie Austin!
Completely...seems like he's lifted the whole team, and has worked wonders for the team morale as well as the football played.
Couple of thoughts on the first half: I HATE blind passing. Knocking the ball forward without having a player you're aiming a pass at. We've done that all game. A number of times, a player was in space, had the ball coming down out of the air to him with several teammates around and, for some reason, just decides to volley it forward to wherever the wind may take it. It feels like we either have no gameplan today or the players can't be bothered with the gameplan and think they can just turn up. Another thing that bothers me is giving away possession from a throw in. We shouldn't be giving away possession on throw ins any more than perhaps 1 in 20, by accident. Today, we've given away possession on more than half of our throw ins. This and the above shows a lack of discipline, in my opinion. These things need to be coached out of the team by Warburton and co, by not letting it slide. Excellent cross and excellent run by Austin has saved what looked to be the worst half of football I've seen in a while. My solution for the second half? If needed, leave one striker up, bring Bonne and Willock back a touch and get some movement and flexible movement to get some passing going and make Birmingham bored/tired of constantly chasing the ball. When that happens, start pushing on and catching them on the break or with some good runs. But is Bonne up to this? His default footballing position seems to be OF (which stands for offside).
What ever happens this season.....surely the club have to break the bank and sign up Charlie......and Wells doesn’t look too happy at Bristol either. What a pair they would make
To be honest, Birmingham don't really look that good. We basically were trying to hand the first half to them on a silver platter and they couldn't seem to grasp at anything.
Get Involved at #bbcefl Blues fans have the half-time Blues Simon Atkins: Typical Birmingham. On top of them, a host of chances, none taken, and we're losing. Karanka needs to go, because we deserve to be relegated as it stands. George Cooper: Aitor Karanka talks a good talk, but has no action to back it up. Time to go. Roger: Cometh the half-time, cometh the Charlie.