Birmingham City Not the start that the Brummy faithful were hoping for this Season as Birmingham lurk down near the relegation zone in an unhealthy 19th place. They haven't seemed to be able to get going under new manager Lee Clarke and their form seems to be hugely unpredictable. 5 wins, 5 draws and 6 losses basically sums everything up about Birmingham this Season but they have only won 2 at home. Their most recent game being a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park against the Venky's Blackburn but time is rapidly running out for the new Manager. Marlon King seems to be the only player firing on all cylinders and it's surely his 9 goals that have prevented Birmingham from an even more embarrassing position at this point. Their home form of last Season seems to have evaporated and their back line has crumbled. The usual consistent performer Curtis Davies hasn't had the best of times in the defence and Hull need to really capitalise on Brummies current poor form and confidence. They haven't lost since their 1-0 defeat to Ipswich but that is only 3 games ago. They beat Bristol City - as expected - and then drew so it's another strange and tough task for the Tigers. There is definitely no reason to underestimate Birmingham however, as they do have their attacking threats such as Chris Burke, Nathan Redmond, Darren Ambrose and the shot stopper Jack Butland. No room for complacency at all. Hull City View attachment 18828 The Tiger's winning run came to a cruel end at arguably, their hardest game of the Season so far as City had the task of returning from Cardiff as the only team so far this Season to not lose. A respectable first half was ended with a mix up between the City defenders and Ben Amos which allowed Cardiff to take the lead. A Mark Hudson flying header doubled the 'Red Dragons' lead before Koren's superb 90th minute volley. Koren dictated most of the Tiger's gameplay and put in his best performance of the Season (IMO) and there were certainly positives to take away from the game. St.Andrews is always a difficult place to come, but Birmingham aren't the same side anymore and for example: Birmingham 0 - 5 Barnsley. Enough said there really, however, we all know as Black and Amber fans, that a complacent City usually ends up making it harder than it needs to be. With around 1/3 of the Season gone, City should really be winning these games if they are to be challenging the play off places. McTorres's Mystic Ball Prediction Starting to sound cliche now, but another unpredictable fixture for City. This game depends entirely on which side decide to turn up; the free scoring, destroying Tigers, or the complacent, individual errors City. This is a match City definitely need to go for to remain in the picture as it would keep us in a very strong position. We all love an optimist so I'm going with Birmingham City 0-2 Hull City. Top Scorers: Birmingham City Marlon King - 9 goals Leroy Lita - 3 goals Peter Lovenkrands - 3 goals Nikola Zigic - 2 goals Chris Burke - 2 goals Hull City Sone Aluko - 6 goals Jay Simpson - 6 goals Aaron McLean - 3 goals Robert Koren - 3 goals Abdoulaye Faye - 3 goals
I hope we can bounce back to winning ways after last weekend. Birmingham don't appear the force they were last season but like you say they have players we need to look out for. If we avoid any complacency and can punish Birmingham when we have chances to then we should win. Birmingham City 0-2 Hull City
Good preview, McTorres. I will go for 2-1 (Hull) City. P.S, can you get rid of that Aluko picture please, it is quite niggling!
If we are serious about promotion then this is a game we need to win but certainly not lose. back to back defeats is not promotion material
Agreed. I feel so much more positive with City this year like the 2008 Season. Obviously the League is a lot harder nowadays and it's hard to string together a run of decent results. If Millwall can go 9 unbeaten, then surely we can storm the ****ing division.
What I have seen of Birmingham they have not been great, hope we can get back to a good performance. I feel we can get a positive result and going for a 2-0 win City UTT.
The strange thing about the Cardiff result was that despite Cardiff being 100% winners @ home before and then after the game,,, IT WAS ONLY the Linesman giving a very poor decision on the Simpson goal that cost a poor (on the day) Hull City a non-deserved draw. Now that would have sent shock waves around the championship. As for the Birmingham game,, well i can see only a Hull City win as long as we do what we have been doing for most of the season. Faye to do a similar job on King like he did on Bolton's Kevin Davies @ the kc a few weeks ago. Elmo should be fresher after a weeks rest(hear Elmo has been pulled from International duty this week) and Quinn does not do 2 bad games on the bounce. If Simpson still needs a rest then i can see Meyler starting with Koren in and around Aluko in a 3 - 5 - 1 - 1 formation. Hull City to return to winning ways and cement that 4th spot for now. With home games against Burnley and The Palace to come a big KC week follows on. imo.
Can't see Simpson not starting Jakupovic Chester Faye Bruce Elmo Koren Meyler Quinn Brady Simpson Aluko
I'll go for a close 1-0 win for the Tigers. It's about time we beat them down there. Didn't realise "she said no" Marlon had scored that many.
Yup, I bet there are a few footballers who could have played at a higher level but their off the field antics and attitude have stalled/halted their career
We'll probably be facing two of them on Saturday, Marlon King and Ravel Morrison will probably both be playing.
