Keep Right On - A Birmingham City Story

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Birmingham appoint club legend
Gonzalo Flores as their new manager

Birmingham City Football Club have announced that they decided to go down a new direction and have appointed former player Gonzalo Flores as their manager. Gonzalo is a player from many years ago now who is still the greatest player I have owned. He joined on a free transfer at 19 after being released from a Mexican team and became arguably the most decorated player in football history. I can no longer remember the numbers exactly but by the time he retired he had more than 10 Premier League, Champions League and World Player of the Year titles.

Aims

As the username suggests I am a big Birmingham City fan so this is not my first save with the club this year. Rather than just doing another save I have set myself a few different targets that I hope to achieve or continue with throughout the save.

Challenge	Explanation	Met
21st​ century tactics	After 15/20 years of sticking with 433 and 4231 tactics I want to attempt to build a 3 at the back tactic	343 with wing backs
You never win anything with kids	Build the academy to the point that at least half of the squad are from the academy	2017/18 = 0 2018/19 = 0 2019/20 = 1 2020/21 = 3
Knock them off their perch	Become the most decorated club in the city	Competition PL CL FA Cup League Cup	Birmingham 0 0 0 2	Villa 7 1 7 5

The biggest challenge will definitely be the tactics side as I haven’t really used a 3 at the back tactic before and I never get any enjoyment from plug and play tactics so I will be building them myself. The first challenge I feel will be to not be sacked before Christmas while trying to adapt to a new tactic. If you have any knowledge on 3 at the back tactics then feel free to pass on the advice and hopefully I can incorporate it into my tactics.

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[jackstringer19]

As a Birmingham fan I wish you the very best of luck with this. KRO.

 

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Pre-season

With a grand budget of £0 I will focus more on my tactics and the squad I already have at my disposal. The first thing I focused on was the squad. As a fan of the team and having done a career already on this version with Birmingham, I know the squad well but I have now had to look at which players will fit into a different style of play.

Harlee Dean

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An absolute rock at the back who could be the heart of the defence for a number of years. Big, strong, smart and technically good, he has all the attributes already to play and at just 25 he could be important as we push for promotion and further.

Marc Roberts

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Another summer signing at the back is Marc Roberts. Only 26 years old and very siamilar to Harlee Dean. I plan on these two being the two wider CB’s with the elder Morrison in the middle of them. These 2 will be central to all the play and will have to be comfortable on the ball which isn’t always the case for Championship defenders.

Maxime Colin

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Generally loved by the fans after his first season and I am firmly in that camp. He has provided the club with a 21st​ century full back. He runs, crosses, attacks and most importantly can put in a shift defensively too. With Harding not really having the potential in game to challenge him, he will have the chance to take the RWB position for himself if he can.

Maikel Kieftenbeld

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Not as universally loved by the fans but I feel he is vital to the team at the moment. What he lacks in technical ability he more than makes up for with work rate and energy which is something that is vital in such a busy and hectic league. With 3 CB’s to control the game, the CM position is more about energy and tackling and there are few better in the league than Kieftenbeld at that.

Jota

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The man who has caused me the most problems is Jota. By far the best player at the club and one of the only attacking players who can play with the ball. My original plan was to play a 343 with wide men but Jota is a No.10 so I have had to create multiple tactics to try and fit him into his natural position more. I am hoping Jota is the key to a promotion push as he is clearly the jewel in the crown at St Andrews.

My next post will be about the tactics I have set up and then it is onto the season.
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[bcfc1]

As a Birmingham fan I wish you the very best of luck with this. KRO.

I don't see many Birmingham fans on here so it is good to see they do exist. I don't see many people playing with Birmingham which I find surprising as we are a good challenge in many ways, with the finances, the big city and being the smaller club in the city.

 

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Tactics

After a busy pre-season where I tried to fit in as many friendlies as possible to test my tactics I have finally decided to run with the following 3 tactics.

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The first one will probably be my main tactic for most games. It gives me the 3 at the back that I want and allows me to play Jota in his preferred AM role. I am still not sure about the CM roles as I would prefer to not play with 2 BWM but that is the current preferred roles of my CMs. I will have a look and see if I can change this and hopefully have a player who will sit and stay in position to not leave the back 3 too exposed.

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This is a tactic to try and control the game more. It gives a DLP in front of the back to provide even more ball control and leaves 2 up top to try and create something. I'm still not convinced by this tactic as it leaves me very weak behind the strikers and leaves them both isolated at times.

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My final tactic is something slightly different and will only really be used when our first 2 tactics are really struggling. It lets me play wide men which I am more used to but it can leave the striker very isolated as he doesn't have a partner or a number 10 behind him.

I expect to be adapting these tactics throughout the season but this is how they will start at least. With pre-season now over it is the start of the season. The club are predicted to finish 16th but I am hoping to better that and finish in at least the top half but it will be down to how well we can adapt to the new tactics.
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August

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Ipswich 0
Birmingham 0

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Not the way I was hoping the season was going to start. We were strong at the back but lacked any skill up top. Hopefully this will come with time


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Yeovil 0
Birmingham 2 (Gallagher 18, Jota 56Pen)


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A nice solid win in the cup against a lower league side. We controlled the game and they failed to have a single shot on target. Let’s hope we can have that kind of performance against stronger opposition.


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Birmingham 2 (Adams 36, Lowe 86)
Bristol City 0


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It’s great to get the first win in the league and to get some goals against real competition. It’s also very nice to go 3 games and get 3 clean sheets. Long may it continue.


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Birmingham 2 (Boga 4, Lowe 67)
Bolton 1 (Le Fondre 34)


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We may have lost the clean sheet, but we still take the 3 points against a team who really troubled us. Le Fondre and Clough up top caused us a lot of problems and I hope to not face too many problems like that during the season.


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Burton 0
Birmingham 2 (Gardner 11pen, 88pen)


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Both goals from penalties makes it look as though it wasn’t a great game and that would entirely accurate. Burton also play 3 at the back and we both just cancelled each other out. We got the penalties from putting crosses into the box and Gallagher getting dragged down. If he can be enough of a nuisance against 3 CB’s, then I have high hopes throughout the season to get goals from crosses.


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Birmingham 2 (Gardner 25, Boga 78)
West Brom 1 (Rondon 3)


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An incredible result in the cup especially considering I rested some of the first team as well. I rested Jota which allowed me to play the 343 tactic with wide men and it worked a treat. I’m extremely pleased with this result against a premier league side and it means that the 343 tactic may be used more often, if I can find a place for Jota in it.


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Birmingham 2 (Gardner 49, Kieftenbeld 73)
Reading 0


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After a boring first half, I had a go at the players and they delivered in the second half. I changed to the 343 wide tactic and it worked incredibly well and we could have scored even more. Jota on the right wing but playing as a AP(s) had so much space it may be something I try again.


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Summary

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An incredible start to the season means we finish August joint top of the table with Middlesbrough. Its very early on but I’m optimistic of meeting my personal target of finishing in the top half of the table.​

A great result against West Brom means we are still in the league cup and we will face Leicester in the 3rd​ round which will be an even tougher test.

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Player of the month
Craig Gardner

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Young player of the month
Jeremie Boga

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September

Norwich 0
Birmingham 0

A pretty boring game ends 0-0. Not much happened in truth and even after changing the tactic and the approach nothing really happened. This was the first game after the international break, so hopefully it was just a bit of rustiness after not playing for 2 weeks.

Leeds 0
Birmingham 0

Another boring game ends 0-0. Leeds away is always a hard game so a draw isn’t the worst result but I hope to see some goals soon as we haven’t even been close in these 2 games.

Birmingham 1 (Gallagher 90)
Preston 0

The first goal of the month brings the first win as we scrap a 1-0 win against Preston who are down at the bottom of the table. This month has still yet to take off but we are still unbeaten so far this year which is a big plus.

Birmingham 2 (Adams 72, Maghoma 82)
Leicester 0

I never thought we had a chance coming into this game and when I saw their starting line up still had Vardy and Mahrez I was even more certain, but somehow we won this game and if anything it should have been by more. Adams missed a penalty when the game was 0-0. In to the next round we go.

Derby 1 (Ledley 75pen)
Birmingham 0

The first loss of the season is a frustrating one as we lose to Derby and to a penalty as well. We weren’t great but neither were Derby and it looked as though the game was drifting to a 0-0 draw until Morrison dragged down Lawrence and gave Ledley the chance to score from the spot.

Birmingham 2 (Adams 10, Kieftenbeld 12)
Sheffield Wednesday 0

It is great to get straight back to winning after the Derby game and it means we maintain our 100% record at home. Both goals had a big fortune of look as Adams latched onto a poor pass back to be 1on1 with the keeper and score, then Kieftenbeld’s shot took a big deflection which helped it in. I am not going to complain though as it means another 3 points on the board.

Hull 2 (Wilson 43pen, Bowen 51)
Birmingham (Adams 27, Jota 69)

This was a really frustrating game as we should have got all 3 points. The penalty came just before half term with a pointless foul and then Bowen’s goal was a 35yd screamer but he shouldn’t have had the space to shoot from there. An away draw at Hull is not the worst result though.

Summary

A very busy month finally ends where we played 7 games, with the first game not until the 9th​ of the month it meant we played those 7 games in just 21 days. Rotation has been the key for the month, especially in the CM roles, and it has shown me the strength of the squad.

Player of the month
Jota

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Young player of the month
Che Adams

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October

Birmingham 3 (Gardner 5pen, Jots 34, Kieftenbeld 58)
Cardiff 1 (Zohore 62)

A great start to the month and I have to mention Kieftenbeld’s goal who struck a 25 yard volley directly from a corner right into the top corner.

Millwall 2 (Elliot t 52, Ferguson 90)
Birmingham 3 (Adams 7, Jota 10, 62pen)

We had an electric start which all but won us the game but after the first 10 minutes we were pretty poor. We got two late injuries which meant we finished the game with just 9 men on the pitch so thankfully we could hold onto the 3 points.

Stoke 0
Birmingham 1 (Jutkiewicz 88pen)

I didn’t believe we had much of a chance in this game but when Ndiaye got sent off in the first 10 minutes, we had a more competitive game then I thought and it took a late penalty to get the winner.

Birmingham 3 (Kietrenbeld 29, Gardner 45, Jota 62)
Aston Villa 0

What an incredible result. And it was a great performance too. Everything came together nicely in the most important of games as well. Kieftenbeld’s goal was another long range strike and Gardner’s goal just before half time really killed the game off. This drops Villa out of the play off spaces as well which just adds to the win.

Birmingham 2 (Gallagher 16, Mepham 73og)
Brentford 0

The run keeps going and I am especially pleased with this win as we were missing a few players. Stockdale, Dean, Colin, Gardner and Adams were all missing due to injury or suspension.

Summary

5 games, 5 wins and 12 goals scored in those games is incredibly good reading. We currently sit 2nd​ in the table behind the unstoppable Fulham and 3 points ahead of Wolves. If this continues then I will have to rethink my original target of finishing just in the top half.

Player of the month
Jota

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Young player of the month
Jeremie Boga

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November

Barnsley 0
Birmingham 1 (Jenkinson 56)

A solid away win but Barnsley are rooted to the bottom of the table so I was expecting a little bit more from the team.

Birmingham 4 (Jota 7, Mancienne 23og, Jenkinson 39, Adams 45)
Nottingham Forest 0

WTF. An absolutely incredible first half meant we had the game wrapped up in 45 minutes. A win, a clean sheet and plenty of goals makes me a very happy man.

Middlesbrough 1 (Howson 38)
Birmingham 2 (Gardner 10pen, 50pen)

2 penalties won us this game and we struggled to create much else. I have definitely created tactics that are defensively strong but we struggle to make many chances that don’t rely on set pieces.

Sheffield Utd 0
Birmingham 1 (Kieftenbeld 84)

Kieftenbeld delivers another long range strike that secured us the points. He now has 5 goals this season and I believe all of them have been from outside the box.

Summary

Another great month puts us top of the table and 4 points ahead of 3rd​. It is still pretty early in the season but I am now thinking changing my target from top half to achieving a place off place at least.

Player of the month
Maikel Kieftenbeld

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Young player of the month
Cohen Bramall

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December

Birmingham 1 (Gardner 7)
Wolves 1 (Afobe 51)

The month starts with a couple of very tough fixtures and I am pleased to at least not lose to Wolves here. We played well in the first half but the second was all about holding on to the point we had.

Fulham 1 (Kalas 14)
Birmingham 1 (Jenkinson 10)

Another top team, another draw. I am pleased to not lose points to a rival at the top of the table but it is disappointing to concede a goal straight after scoring, especially considering Kalas’ goal was from a set piece as well.

Birmingham 3 (Gardner 7, Boga 9, Jota 50)
QPR 0

A quick start gets us the points here as we were able to get 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. I am happy to keep a clean sheet as well after a few games of being unable to do so.

Man Utd 4 (Rashford 23, 69. 74, Rojo 45)
Birmingham 1 (Maghoma 61)

The cup run finally comes to an end at the hands of Marcus Rashford. His speed was too much for our defence as he broke our line multiple times to get his goals and to create other chances.

Sunderland 1 (Fletcher 4)
Birmingham 0

The unbeaten league run finally comes to an end. We had gone 13 games unbeaten until this game and I was disappointed we weren’t able to break Sunderland down after they took an early lead.

Birmingham 1 (Adams 22)
Norwich 1 (Srbeny 90)

I am gutted to not win this one. We controlled the entire game and I don’t recall a single chance for them other than the goal. Controlling the game is great but we need to turn that into 2/3 goal leads more often to make sure of the result.

Birmingham 2 (Kieftenbeld 12, Jota 22)
Leeds 5 (Roberts 2, 9, Sacko 33pen, Cooper 36, Diomande 77)

WOW. Everything came crashing down in this game. They had an incredible start and even though we got back into it, we really struggled. Kieftenbeld got sent off and then we were just picked off by Leeds.

Summary

A terrible month finally comes to the end. We crashed out of the cup to Man Utd which started a run of 4 games without a win. The win against QPR was the only win of the month which is extremely disappointing. I hope fortunes change in the new year.

Player of the month
Jota

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Young player of the month
Jeremie Boga

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January

Reading 3 (Kelly 21pen, Aluko 58, Martin 88)
Birmingham 4 (Adams 44, Boga 45, Roberts 46, Davis 64)

An incredible 7 game thriller where we weren’t especially great but we caught them out with 3 goals just before and after half time. It also pushed us back into the top 2 with Fulham.

Birmingham 0
Arsenal 3 (Welbeck 1, Ozil 13, Nelson 28)

We don’t have an FA cup run this year as we crash out in our first round. Arsenal are obviously at a much higher level than us though so there is no shame in losing to them.

Birmingham 3 (Roberts 43, Keogh 80og, Wisdom 87og)
Derby 2 (Vydra 50, 84)

What a final 10 minutes this game had. It was 1-1 until a Keogh og. Vydra then hit a 25 yard equaliser until a 2nd​ own goal gave us the win.

Preston 1 (Okotie 88)
Birmingham 2 (Jota 22, Maghoma 90)

Another late thriller as it looked as though we had thrown it away before Maghoma was able to break the offside trap and score a very late winner.

Birmingham 3 (Cutrone 49, Boga 68, Williams 77og)
Sunderland 0

Finally a nice simple win and it is the first one of the month. We controlled the game for 90 minutes and once we finally got 1 it was just how many did we want.

Summary

Only one loss for the month which was against Arsenal in the cup means we push back into the top 2 and knock Wolves out of it. After Wolves there doesn’t seem to be anyone else close so it is a battle between us 3 (Us, Fulham and Wolves) for the top 2 places.

Transfers

There wasn’t much movement but if you have read the goalscorers then you would have noticed one new name. I was able to loan Patrick Cutrone from AC Milan for the rest of the season. While we have been able to get plenty of goals from midfield, I haven’t been able to get a consistent goal scorer up front and I hope Cutrone can change that for at least the rest of the season.

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Player of the month
Carl Jenkinson

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Young player of the month
Jeremie Boga

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February

Sheffield Weds 0
Birmingham 0

A pretty boring game where not much happened. We still lack that consistent goal scorer that I hope Cutrone will be.

Aston Villa 1 (Kodjia 37)
Birmingham 2 (Davis 21, Cutrone 87)

Another derby win in what could be the last one for a while. Villa are doing okay but they currently sit just outside the play offs so I hope to be in a different division to them next season.

Birmingham 1 (Ferguson 54og)
Millwall 1 (O’Brien 9)

AAAAAHHHHHHHH. Quite possibly the most annoyed I have ever been after a game. Millwall are bottom of the table and had only picked up 1 point since the start of December. They got an early goal but we eventually got an equaliser. In the final 10 minutes we missed 2 penalties that could have given us the points but it wasn’t to be.

Brentford 0
Birmingham 0

3 draws out of 4 is proving to be costly as we drop out of the top 2 behind Fulham and Wolves. We I have found we have struggled to break teams down if they have a DM in their formation. We will need to find a way to adapt to this problem.

Birmingham 3 (Cutrone 4, 34, 87)
Barnsley 0

I think that is the loan paid for now. Cutrone put on a show with his goals and, just to show how poor the other strikers have been, he is now our 4th​ top goalscorer already.

Summary

An unbeaten month should be a good thing but 2 wins and 3 draws means we have dropped too many points. As we enter March, we need to have a final push of results to make sure we finish in the top 2 and not in the lottery that is the play offs.

Player of the month
Marc Roberts

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Young player of the month
Patrick Cutrone

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March

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Notts Forest 0
Birmingham 2 (Kieftenbeld 59, Jota 81pen)

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A nice solid win to start the month is always nice. Forest are actually really struggling and are just outside the relegation zone which is really surprising.

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Birmingham 3 (Jota 45, Maghoma 85, Traore 90og)
Middlesbrough 1 (Assombalonga 15)

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They scored an early goal but we controlled a lot of the game and finally got the winning goals we deserved towards the end of the game.

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Cardiff 1 (Bryson 9)
Birmingham 0

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Our first loss of the calendar year means we fall behind Wolves in the table into 2nd​. Fulham seem to be slipping up though and are still a few points behind.

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Birmingham 4 (Cutrone 26, 31, 46, Davis 45)
Hull 0

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Cutrone again providing a plethora of goals. He is still not the consistent goal scorer I was looking for but when he does score he gets 2 or 3.

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Birmingham 0
Ipswich 0

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I don’t remember watching a single chance in this game. It was the first game after the international break but most of my players don’t go anywhere so they can’t use that as an excuse.

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Summary

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3 wins leaves us in 2nd​ place and 2 points behind Wolves. Fulham have had a terrible March and sit a further 4 points behind us even after we dropped points. With Fulhams failings we need just a few more results to go our away and we can start thinking of the riches of Premier League football.

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Player of the month
Jota

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Young player of the month
Jeremie Boga​

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[bcfc1]

April and May

With only one game in May I have put that into this post as well.

Bolton 1 (Le Fondre 83)
Birmingham 4 (Davis 10, 51, Adams 36, 50)

A great win against Bolton with a rotated team. This game came just two days after the Ipswich game so I had to rely on the back ups and they definitely delivered.

Birmingham 3 (Gardner 1, Colin 52, Cutrone 88)
Burton 1 (Boyce 26)

This game was much closer than the score line suggests. Kieftenbeld picked up his 3rd​ red card of the season after 20 minutes which put us is in trouble but we were able to get ahead in the 2nd​ half and stay there.

Bristol City 2 (Engvall 38, Diony 84)
Birmingham 3 (Dean 45, Cutrone 53, 90)

PREMIER LEAGUE HERE WE COME. We almost threw it away here but this win secures us a top 2 finish and we are heading to the big league. Cutrone saved us with a goal very late in the game.

Wolves 2 (Afobe 7, Boly 59)
Birmingham 4 (Jota 37, Cutrone 43, 61, Roberts 83)

We are almost champions. An incredible result against our rivals means we are 4 points ahead with just 3 games to go. Cutrone scored a brace for the second game in a row and 5 in the last 3. He seems to be carrying us over the line.

Birmingham 3 (Jota 10, Cutrone 47, Dean 90)
Sheffield Utd 0

One step closer to the title with a straight forward win. Cutrone again gets his goal and looks as though he is turning into that consistent goal scorer.

QPR 3 (Colin 34og, Sylla 40, Smith 85)
Birmingham 4 (Jota 37, Cutrone 67, Colin 69, Vassell 81)

CHAMPIONS!!! And what game to do it in. This game had pretty much everything. An own goal, a missed penalty and a red card for them. It also had Cutrone score for the 5th​ game in a row and also Vassell got his first goal of the season in probably his last game for the club.

Birmingham 1 (Cutrone 21)
Fulham 1 (Mitrovic 87)

I would have liked to end the season with a win but it wasn’t to be as Mitrovic scored a late equaliser. Yet again Cutrone scored and this goal made him our outright top goal scorer with 16 in just half a season.

Summary

A great last month or so means we have finished, not only promoted but also as champions of the league. We finished with a mammoth 102 points coming from 30 wins and 12 draws and just 4 losses throughout the season. I will follow this post with a full end of season review.

Player of the month
Jota

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Young player of the month
Patrick Cutrone

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[bcfc1]

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End of Season Review

What an incredible season. I didn’t think we would get promoted in the first season. My original aim was to get a top half finish with a small chance of scraping into the play offs but to win the title with a game spare as well was amazing. I now have the big challenge of trying to change the squad enough to stay up next season. I have been given a £30mil budget to try and do that so there will need to be a lot of scouting to try and find the right deals.

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In the league we were pretty much always up there and battled with Fulham and Wolves until the very end of the season. Fulham were eventually let down up top as the goals dried up and they ended up scoring almost 20 less goals than us. We finished just 4 points above Wolves so the 4-2 win against them in April was the vital result.

The FA Cup was a bit of a none starter as we went out straight away to Arsenal who went on to win the Premier League but the Carabao cup is a different story as we managed to reach the final 8 in a run that included beating 3 premier league teams (West Brom, Leicester and Stoke).

Championship League Table

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Squad

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Player of the season
Jota

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Although Jota was the clear winner, special mention has to go to Gardner who was probably the most consistent player and was able to score 11 goals from CM.

Young player of the season
Jeremie Boga

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I was tempted to give it to Cutrone but Boga has consistently delivered over the whole season.

Other Information

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[bcfc1]

Pre-season

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It has been an incredibly busy pre-season as we signed 11 players and let 5 go. It was always going to be a summer of change as we plan to stay in the league but there were a couple of signings that weren’t planned for. I’m going to run through the signings by position as I can’t remember the order that I bought them in.

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Goalkeepers

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We started the summer with Stockdale and Kuszczak as our goalkeepers and now neither of them are at the club. Kuszczak left to go back to Poland and join Legia Warsaw for £500k but the big deal was for Stockdale. Crystal Palace were in need of a keeper and came in with an incredible offer that starts at £6mil and could end up earning me almost £10mil for a 32 year old keeper that I was planning to replace all summer anyway. To replace them we signed Sam Johnstone on a free transfer as he was released from Man Utd but the real deal was for Nick Pope who was transfer listed for just £3.3mil. Pope will be the starting keeper but Johnstone is of a good enough quality to come in if needed.

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Centre backs

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We were always a centre back or two short last season so this is the area that I felt we needed to spend a lot of the budget. I brought in two defenders for a combined fee of £23mil. Ben Gibson signed for £12mil and Alfie Mawson for £11mil. They are both good, young, English centre backs who go straight into the back line and it will be a choice between Roberts and Dean to join them.

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Wing backs

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I have signed two new wing backs to hopefully provide more natural width to the team. I signed Dasilva from Chelsea for just £1.8mil for the left side and he will battle with Kieta who returns from his loan to Serie A with Bologna. For the right side, I was able to loan Achraf from Real Madrid for the season. I had originally wanted to sign Achraf but I ran out of money so I am glad to get him in on loan at least and hopefully I can make the move permanent next summer.

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Central midfield

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Not too much work was really needed here so I haven’t spent any money on this position. I have signed Loftus-cheek on loan for the season and I was able to bring in Marcos Llorente on a free transfer. There will need to be a lot of rotation in midfield so I decided to keep Gardner, Kieftenbeld and Davis at the club and have 5 midfielders for just 2 positions.

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Forwards

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The first move I made in the whole summer was to extend Cutrone’s loan for this season. He had started to turn into a consistent goal scorer and, rather than taking a risk on a new signing, I decided to bring Cutrone back and he will lead the line again. I also signed Sheyi Ojo on loan for the season. I had originally wanted to bring Boga back as well but he rejected us in order to go to RBL which I can’t criticize as they will be playing Champions League football next season.

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Others

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I also signed two youngsters from the lower leagues of England. I signed Ryan Ledson from Oxford for £500k and as part of the deal I agreed for him to spend the season back at Oxford. He doesn’t have the greatest physical stats but his mental and technical stats make up for that and he is still only 21 so he has some room to improve. I also signed Nuno Marques from Port Vale for just £100k. My scouts found him and he looks like an absolute gem. I just hope he progresses well over the next couple of years to eventually become our starting striker. I don’t know how Port Vale got a young Portuguese striker to come through their youth system though.

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Squad

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I am hoping to now involve more information about the squad and add the starting line-up for each game to every post. I usually operate on a 22 man squad and have 2 players for every position, so these are my two squads for next season.

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[bcfc1]

August

Tottenham 1 (Kane 45)
Birmingham 2 (Llorente 23, Cutrone 59)

Pope, Roberts (Dean), Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Llorente, Loftus-Cheek, Keita, Jota*, Cutrone, Ojo

What a start to the league. I didn’t think we had any chance coming into this game but we were able to get the first goal and from their it was a pretty even game and Cutrone was able to get the winner in the second half.

Birmingham 3 (Cutrone 45, 67, 90)
Liverpool 0

Pope, Roberts (Dean), Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld, Loftus-Cheek (Gardner), Dasilva, Jota, Cutrone*, Maghoma (Stewart)

What a start to the season this is. When I saw the first two fixtures were Tottenham and Liverpool, I was certain we would have 0 points but to get two wins is incredible. Cutrone was clearly able to finish his chances but I have to mention Achraf who assisted two of them and was great up the right wing.

Walsall 0
Birmingham 2 (Maghoma 8, Adams 22)

Johnstone, Roberts, Morrison, Grounds, Colin, Llorente, Davis, Keita*, Stewart, Adams, Maghoma (Fabbrini)

A solid win by the back-up team as we progress to the next round of the cup. There are still plenty of positions that people are fighting for and Keita with his man of the match performance here is looking to challenge Dasilva for the LWB position.

Summary

I know better than to get too optimistic but this has been a great start to the season. I was worried about whether we would be able to score goals in this league but so far we have 5 in 2 premier league games. Let’s just hope they don’t dry up over the season.

Player of the month
Jota

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Young player of the month
Patrick Cutrone

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League Table

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[bcfc1]

September

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Southampton 1 (Austin 50)
Birmingham 1 (Loftus-Cheek 11)

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Pope, Dean, Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld (Gardner), Loftus-Cheek*, Dasilva (Keita), Jota, Cutrone (Adams), Ojo

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A very even game where a draw was the fairest outcome. Cutrone had chances to win it for us but he just couldn’t his goal in this game.

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Birmingham 1 (Jota 55)
Arsenal 3 (Luan 46, Lacazette 66, Aubameyang 68)

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Pope, Dean, Mawson, Gibson, Colin, Kieftenbeld (Llorente), Loftus-Cheek, Dasilva, Jota, Cutrone (Adams), Ojo

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2 goals in 2 minutes cost us this game but moments like that can always happen when you play a team of Arsenal’s quality. The speed of Lozano, Luan, Lacazette and Aubameyang was too much for our defence they eventually just picked us off.

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West ham 1 (Arnautovic 40)
Birmingham 6 (Cutrone 9, Loftus-Cheek 45, Ojo 45, Kieftenbeld 48, Jota 53pen, 57)

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Pope, Dean, Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld, Loftus-Cheek, Keita, Jota*, Cutrone, Ojo

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You are reading that right. We scored 6 against West Ham away from home. If you were to just look at the stats then you would consider the game to be an even one but every time we attacked we just scored.

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Brighton 1 (Baldock 46pen)
Birmingham 0

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Johnstone, Roberts, Mawson, Grounds, Colin, Llorente, Gardner, Dasilva (Keita), Stewart (Fabbrini*), Adams (Vassell), Maghoma

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The cup run is over early this year. Brighton got relegated last season, so they are back in the championship but they had enough to stop us scoring and to get the win via a penalty. We had plenty of chances but just couldn’t get a goal. The back-up team is still not as good as I need it to be.

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Birmingham 2 (Cutrone 3, Jota 55pen)
Stoke 1 (Petagna 71)

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Pope, Dean, Mawson (Roberts), Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld, Loftus-Cheek, Keita, Jota* (Stewart), Cutrone, Ojo (Adams)

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This was a game flooded with mistakes. Cutrone’s goal came from a poor pass back. Jota scored a penalty after a pointless foul right on the corner of the box. Petagna’s goal was again from a poor pass back and we even missed another penalty in injury time after Adam’s was fouled in the box.

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Summary

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7 points from 12 is more than acceptable with the only loss in the league coming against last seasons champions Arsenal. The West Ham win was the clear highlight but going out of the cup so early is disappointing.

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Player of the month
Jota

View attachment 43174

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Young player of the month
Ruben Loftus-Cheek

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League Table​

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[bcfc1]

October

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Birmingham 6 (Jota 21, Cuttrone 23, 53, 74, Loftus-Cheek 37, Ojo 76)
Man City 1 (Icardi 53)

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Pope, Dean, Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld (Davis), Loftus-Cheek, Keita (Dasilva), Jota (Stewart), Cutrone*, Ojo

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What a ridiculous result, It was helped by the fact that Man City didn’t take us seriously as they had Aguero, De Bruyne, Jesus, Laporte and Walker all on the bench but to still score 6 against a Guardiola team is amazing.

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Man Utd 1 (Martial 2)
Birmingham 1 (Dean 90)

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Pope, Dean, Mawson*, Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld (Llorente), Loftus-Cheek (Gardner), Keita, Jota (Stewart), Cutrone, Ojo

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When they scored so early on I was worried about the game becoming embarrassing but we held on for a lot of the game and then the last 10 minutes or so was all us and Dean finally headed in an equaliser in extra time.

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Birmingham 1 (Gardner 19)
Burnley 0

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Pope, Dean Mawson (Roberts), Gibson*, Achraf, Kieftenbeld (Llorente), Gardner, Keita (Dasilva), Jota, Cutrone, Ojo

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A pretty boring game really. We got an early goal and then just controlled the game. We had 70% possession and Burnley didn’t have a single shot on target.

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Summary

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A shorter month due to an international break but the results were great. Of course the 6-1 win against Man City was the highlight and it is the second game already that we have won by that score line.

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Player of the month
Jota
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View attachment 43044

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Young player of the month
Patrick Cutrone​

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League Table
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[bcfc1]

November

Everton 2 (Mirallas 39, Keane 44)
Birmingham 0

Pope, Dean (Roberts), Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Kieftenbeld, Loftus-Cheek, Keita, Jota, Cutrone, Ojo (Maghoma)

A poor end to the first half means we lose to Everton away from home. We weren’t at the races really and struggled for the whole game.

Birmingham 4 (Cutrone 25, 43, Jota 45, 77)
Hull 0

Pope, Dean, Mawson, Gibson, Achraf, Kiefenbeld, Loftus-Cheek (Gardner), Keita (Dasilva), Jota*, Cutrone, Ojo

Hull are really struggling in the league and we capitalised on that here. We had 34 shots in the game but only 8 on target. That has been a common theme to our games as we struggle to get shots on target.

Crystal Palace 2 (Townsend 24, 71)
Birmingham 0

Pope, Dean, Mawson, Gibson, Colin, Kieftenbeld, Gardner, Keita, Jota, Cutrone, Ojo

Another away game where we couldn’t really get going. Palace aren’t doing great in the league but we couldn’t stop Benteke who was able to bully our defenders and then lay it off to Zaha and Townsend to create loads of problems for us.

Summary

Another short month due to international games means we only play 3 games and only win one of them. There is no shame in losing to Everton but the Crystal Palace game was disappointing. They are in the bottom 3 but were able to comfortably beat us.

Player of the month
Alfie Mawson

View attachment 43002

Young player of the month
Achraf

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League Table

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