Don’t panic Captain Mainwering (sorry, Chambers), normal service has been resumed. After an off colour 45 minutes against Bradford which allowed the game to get away from us (despite a strong fightback in the end), last weekend’s game against Wigan was about as comprehensive a performance as we could have hoped for (ok, being greedy, maybe a few more goals would have been nice), meaning we go into our Tuesday night’s, re-arranged fixture against Burton Albion at the CCS is good shape and full of confidence. No doubts many will be expecting a cricket score for the high flying Bluebirds, but as we all know, the underdog can often have a nasty bite – just ask Europe’s Ryder Cup players how many scars they’ll be carrying for a while, despite their ultimate victory, so BBM will once again need to have our blue shirted machine oiled, tuned and ready to roar once again!! Who Are You? Burton Albion were formed just 75 years ago in 1950 and initially joined the Birmingham & District League before switching to the Southern League eight years later. Stints in the Southern League Premier Division followed as well as some time in the Northern Premier League before being promoted as Northern Prem Champions in 2001, earning them a place in the then named Conference League (now the National League). Nigel Clough spent seven seasons as the club's player-manager in the Conference and eventually led them into the Football League as champions of the Conference in 2008–09. They lost the 2014 League Two play-off final, but went on to win the League Two title in 2014–15 and were promoted from League One in 2015–16. The club spent two seasons in the Championship until relegation back to the 3rd tier in 2018. Current gaffer Gary Bowyer has been in the Pirelli hot seat since December 2024, having previously managed Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Salford and Dundee. With 11 wins from 38 games in charge of the Brewers, Bowyer’s win ration stands just under a modest 29%, the lowest total of his managerial career to date. Their squad doesn’t really contain any notable names as far as I can see, but current to scorer is midfielder Charlie Webster with just 2 from his 7 games. In their recent 0-0 away at Huddersfield (good result for them), the line was led by Jake Beesley (formerly of Blackpool & Rochdale) and St Kitts and Nevis forward Tyrese Shade (formerly at Leicester in his younger days, though he didn’t make an appearance but has since played for Swindon & Eastleigh amongst others). As this is the Brewers we are talking about here, I also have to mention the aptly named ‘Kegs’ Chauke (full name Kgaogelo Chauke) – let’s hope he doesn’t go down too easy if he plays against us! First And Last Our first ever meeting with the Brewers was just a mere 15 years ago, back in August of 2010 in a League Cup Game at the CCS. The final result that day being a 4-1 win for the City, although that doesn’t tell the whole story, with the match actually having to go to extra time to settle it. At 90 minutes the scores were level at 1-1 with the Bluebirds taking the lead on 17 minutes through Jay Bothroyd, only to see Burton peg us straight back just 2 minutes later through Shaun Harrad. The 30 minutes extra time however proved too much for Burton as Ross McCormack (2) and Michael Chopra got on the score sheet to see off our plucky opponents (what a striking line up we had in those days!!). Jay Bothroyd - the only player to be capped for England at a full level whilst playing for the Bluebirds - let's face it why would we want to help out England anyhow? Last time out saw the City run out comfortable 3-1 winners in a Championship game at the CCS in March 2018, the year we last achieved promotion (premonitions anyone??). Sadly for Burton, they changed division in the other direction. Our goals that day came from Zahore, Mendez-Laing and Callum Paterson, with the match played out in front of just over 21,000 expectant fans. Form The Brewers have been struggling massively this season. Bottom of the table, with just 1 win to their name which came on the opening day of the season v Mansfield, so it’s already looking like a huge battle for Burton to retain their League 1 status. One clear area that Burton are struggling is scoring goals. They have the worst attack in the division and have managed just 5 in their 8 matches so far, and only 1 of those has come in their last 6 games. Defensively they fare slightly better, having the 7th worst defence in the division having conceded 14 in those 8 games. Rather conversely though, taking just Burton’s away form into account, we see that they actually have the 5th BEST defence away from home ‘comforts’, suggesting that it could be a long 90 minutes trying to break down a stubborn rearguard action at the CCS on Tuesday. On The Pitch After a dominant performance away at Wigan with a starting 11 that threw upma few surprises again, it’ll be interesting to see where BBM goes next. A CB pairing of Chambers and Osho was unexpected, but having kept a clean sheet we may see the same again. Robbo starting up top ahead of Salech was perhaps less of a shock given his form heading into the Wigan game, but having drawn a blank and with Salech netting late on from the spot, could we see a return for the big Dane? Predicted Starting 11 Trott Bagan Osho Chambers Ng Wintle Colwill (J) Colwill (R) Ashford Davies Salech The Odds No real surprise to see us as strong favourites for this one given respective form and positions, however our Bluebirds will need to be on top form going forward in order to pick up another valuable 3 points that could even see us return to top spot if we manage to do the business. C’mon The City!!!!
Nice work Mr Brizzle sir. In terms of form and player quality, it points to a simple home win with only complacency a real threat. I'm sure BBM will be well aware and be all over it. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
Im surprised at how quickly the team have adopted BBMs methods. Theyre a couple months ahead of what I'd expected. It seems to be refinement now. It was discussed on the board that in terms of identity, aligning the style of play with the accademy would be better than aligning the accademy with the first team. Its made it a lot easier to get youngsters into the first team. BBMs style isn't a million miles from the way the accademy team plays anyway.
Assuming we can keep our form and points accumulation it will be interesting to see who BBM brings in for the final push in January. And who, if any, get offloaded. Certainly the 3 acquired in the summer window look to be the type he wants and buy into his style of play. Early days perhaps for Kellyman but first signs are encouraging.
Got a bit of a soft spot for the Brewers.....started work there and sunk a lot of Draught Bass and Marston's Best! Also Ind Coope...remember them? Son #1 has a house there now too. Pirelli are a big factor in their development from bummer leagues to entry into, and performance in, the higher leagues. Lovely analysis too Brizzle. Thank you!!!
Great effort yet again Brizzo - much appreciated. Not much on the thread yet, so let's give it a go. With both teams having this game in hand because of it's earlier postponent, we need a win to go top and they need a win to get off bottom. With that in mind, this game would seem a simple 3 points for City. Burton haven't won a league game since they beat Mansfield on the opening day of the season and I can't see them winning this. However, our draws at Port Vale and Stockport still stick in the mind, as well as the last home loss against Bradford - games we just didn't perform on the day, and that's always a danger. Since then, 2 brilliant away performances at Burnley and Wigan should dispel any self doubt if there was any at all, and I expect a comfortable win. BBM's starting 11 should be interesting given what we've seen this last couple of games. Does he change the centre back pairing again? Should he give Salech the nod up front - can he play Salech and Robbo up front? Subject to fitness/fatigue, the obvious thing would seem be to go again with the same lineup as at Wigan and make any necessary changes for Saturday against Orient. If I had to bet (not like me ) I reckon he'll give Willock a start out wide on the left instead of Zak - but I wouldn't.
CB pairings are usually the constant in selection. Indeed, it's unusual to change a back 5. BBM seems quite comfortable changing CB partnerships, even during a game. I don't think he's tinkering for tinkerings sake. He seems to put a lot of credence on work load and performance in training. I've started getting used to it, though it does cause problems when selecting a scorer for the prediction league. On work load, he defers to his medical team and analysts. Aparently he was told to put Kellyman on from the start and sub him early on debut, rather than bring him off the bench for 20-30 mins. I'd have gone for bringing him off the bench, but that wasn't what the data was telling them. The same when he brought Lawlor on because they were seeing fatigue in Chambers. We have to trust them to get it right and allow the team to play at a high tempo for the whole season without risking injury. You'll always get impact injuries, but hopefully we'll avoid muscle injuries. Whatever changes are made seem to be for a reason, rather than on a whim. Thinking about robbo still building up his fitness, I think Salech will start tonight. Other than that, I wouldn't change things, maybe change for the weekend. Perhaps start Turnbull. I wonder when we'll see Mafico for Wintle, who seems to see the most game time. Im intreagued to see if BBM keeps Zac and Ashford on what we see as their correct sides, or if they get switched back. Whichever 11 starts, there will be a bench ready to come on and finish the job. With BBM rotating and making use of the bench (usually a lot more time than just the last 2 minutes), our squad should stay fresh and interested. I'm not sure Alnwick is in that camp though. I can see him pushing to leave in January. Interesting that Arteta refers to rugby teams focusing on their 'finishers'. The team ending the game being more influential than the one starting it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c8d713zjz61o
Back to Fish and Lawlor at cb. No Osho anywhere. Salech starts up top with Ashford and Willock outside. Wintle, Turnbull and Rubin in midfield.
Needed an early goal & should have had one. Lack of pace is a problem. Lots of possession but need to penetrate a packed defence.
I'vestarted getting used to it, though it does cause problemswhen selecting a scorer for the prediction league. Got to comment! The whole of our league can barely predict a scorer.....and that's been the case since forever
Shaping up to be one of those nights.... Patience needed in abundance and lots of concentration... Going to have to go to whole 90+ to break this lot down.
Football is a frustrating and mental game eh???? Lots for BBM to ponder from that one. Ref was a joke again though, but fair play to Burton, came not to lose and hoped they'd get a chance to nick one and that's exactly what they did.
Too much passing for the sake of it. Wall pass after wall pass. I’ll state it again - the lack of pace out wide is hurting us when we’re trying to break down a packed defence. Ok it was one of those nights when we’d still be playing now and not score but BBM has to start working out how to convert total domination into goals. I don’t get him bringing on Kellyman and putting him out wide where he was as ineffective as Ashford. He’s not a winger; he should have played where Robinson was. BBM surely can’t start Ashford especially or Turnbull on Saturday.
