Birmingham (H) | Fri 29-Aug | 20:00 KO | Sky

[Md9]

if they win will be more down to us being crap then them being amazing. They have had a decent  start after getting promoted but don’t think we should be to worried

[iancognito]

41 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

We are at home Birmingham have just came up from League one don't think they are that good.

......With a record points tally, money to spend and momentum. They also have an actual striker.

 

Seeing the current state we're in, they may not have to be "that good".

[Simonb]

Just dont lose. Early in the season dont need to be giving them a boost of confidence, but we're that unsettled i dont fancy a win. 

 

Id start with Daka purely for his pace. Ayews had 3 games and done nothing. Id be tempted to play Ayew in the ten, purely for his physicality and holding the ball up and winning free kicks in their half (even though we then tend to pass it back to the keeper). All for giving the young players minutes but I think whilst we are unsure of what we have available and are unsettled we should utilise the experience for games like this.

 

 

 

Winks in for Skipp, Riccy for Hamza and Faes in for either one of the back 2. Vesty is a better player but we will need a little pace against these so leaning towards Caleb if still here. And get bloody Evans involved off the bench!

 

Jakub

Riccy (c)

Faes

Okoli

Thomas

Winks

Soumare

Fatawu

Ayew

Monga

Daka

[Ted Maul]

They'll be more up for it than us & have the better of the chances, but we'll win 2-1.

[lanefox]

They also play tippy tappy as some of you lot call it 

[Gevans_97]

Think we’ll be better off in games like this where the opposition aren’t just sat back and actually want to play. Will be a good opportunity to see Martí’s system properly. Think Abdul and Jeremy will get much more opportunities 1on1

[ronnup]

Massive game this. Statement making potential.

 

BEK still here and back. Monga starts. Ricky P starts. Window closed and some closure. Massive 

[Spanner73]

1 hour ago, Foxes96 said:

Next up Friday night against the Brady Bunch.
 

Hopefully still got 11 to put out by then. A few new signings surely not too much to ask for either.

A few new signings 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Some of our fans are delusional 

[filbertway]

Bases on the 3 performances so far you'd expect a long night and a draw at best 

Hope to see more academy involvement in the team, class seeing us play so many young players 

[DZ-LCFC]

it will be the start of marti era.. just be ready 

 

3-0 birmingham

[StanSP]

Bit worried about this to be honest. 

 

Can't see us keeping a clean sheet again and they have actual good players in some areas. 

 

Our speed of play has to be quicker than what we've seen in our games so far. It cannot be Soumare and Skipp in midfield. 

 

You have to hope we have one or two new players to bolster the squad despite how well the youngsters are doing... 

[Bert]

We certainly can’t play like we did today should we want to come away with a result. 
 

Hoping that the players manage to raise it for this one and things start coming together. At the minute we are a team of individuals. 

[whoareyaaa]

25 minutes ago, Bert said:

We certainly can’t play like we did today should we want to come away with a result. 
 

Hoping that the players manage to raise it for this one and things start coming together. At the minute we are a team of individuals. 

This makes no sense we got 3 points today.

 

Birmingham are of a similar standard and we are at home

[Bert]

13 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

This makes no sense we got 3 points today.

 

Birmingham are of a similar standard and we are at home

Yep we got 3 points but could’ve easily had nothing. Birmingham are a better side than Charlton. 

[SkidsFox]

2 hours ago, Twitcher said:

Genuinely puzzled by some of our fan base talking about what we need this season for promotion. Comments like Okoli is not Premier League, so he shouldn't be here.

We are miles away from promotion. What's more, I don't want to go anywhere near promotion. They must be post 2016 happy clappers. We need a few seasons building a stronger base, like Sunderland have done, and possibly West Brom. are doing. Can you imagine the carnage if this side went up? We'd be straight back down, faster than a McAteer transfer. 

We're also likely to get a points deduction. With this squad, and the potential punishment, the goal this season should be, as good a season as we can, establishing ourselves in the Championship. I'd say Okoli is good enough for the Championship, and that's good enough for now.

Where we are now, just outside the play-offs would be perfect. We need to give the youngsters time, we need to clear out the dead wood. I'd say we need three seasons in the Championship, then let's see where we are. At this stage, the P word is just divisive, and delusional. Time for a reality check for some, who I'm sure would enjoy the campaign a whole lot more if they took one.

 

Just want to say I enjoyed the expression you used “faster than a McAteer transfer”. I fear it will fade too quickly though.

[Plastik Man]

2 hours ago, Twitcher said:

Genuinely puzzled by some of our fan base talking about what we need this season for promotion. Comments like Okoli is not Premier League, so he shouldn't be here.

We are miles away from promotion. What's more, I don't want to go anywhere near promotion. They must be post 2016 happy clappers. We need a few seasons building a stronger base, like Sunderland have done, and possibly West Brom. are doing. Can you imagine the carnage if this side went up? We'd be straight back down, faster than a McAteer transfer. 

We're also likely to get a points deduction. With this squad, and the potential punishment, the goal this season should be, as good a season as we can, establishing ourselves in the Championship. I'd say Okoli is good enough for the Championship, and that's good enough for now.

Where we are now, just outside the play-offs would be perfect. We need to give the youngsters time, we need to clear out the dead wood. I'd say we need three seasons in the Championship, then let's see where we are. At this stage, the P word is just divisive, and delusional. Time for a reality check for some, who I'm sure would enjoy the campaign a whole lot more if they took one.

 

I take your point but I'm not sure Sunderland, nor WBA, took their time building a foundation, gradually strengthening. 

 

Modern football is more a series of shortish term managerial appointments, some more successful than others. With a decent chance any good manager or player will be swiped by clubs in a superior position.  The sooner you come up trumps the better.

 

The financial penalties for not regaining promotion back to the EPL ASAP also weigh heavily against a slower, prolonged rebuild.

 

It's true that if you are able to build a strong, stable base you may be more robust when eventually getting promoted. But success in staying in the EPL seems to rely more on one or more established teams self destructing, much like we did, to Forest's benefit.

 

 

 

[Muzzy_no7]

I’d take a point with the current state of things 

[An Away Move]

2 hours ago, Twitcher said:

Genuinely puzzled by some of our fan base talking about what we need this season for promotion… I don't want to go anywhere near promotion. They must be post 2016 happy clappers. We need a few seasons building a stronger base. I'd say we need three seasons in the Championship,

 

You have a point from a purely football perspective, but in terms of the financials this is absolute madness. Staying down for any length of time will be disastrous with the overheads we have. How much does the training ground cost to run?

[Jattdogg]

Think the first few games can be looked at as an extension of our preseason under the new manager.

 

That said, we haven't been great and with some likely departures this week a draw or win by any scoreline would be a fantastic result for us.

 

Let's get the 3 points though!

 

Sending positive vibes!

[Dan]

0-2

[cruzFOX]

Players have to bring the heat & intensity for this one. Birmingham will be up for  it so we have to match them. Hopefully our quality edged it

[worthosoriginals]

38 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

I’d take a point with the current state of things 

I'd take a win

[James and his giant peach]

2 hours ago, South Shire Fox said:

A huge game? Not sure about that

Its a local derby live on TV against one of the best sides in the league, so it's pretty big yeah. 

[Clogger_]

4 minutes ago, James and his giant peach said:

Its a local derby live on TV against one of the best sides in the league, so it's pretty big yeah. 

Bigger than your peach?

[James and his giant peach]

1 hour ago, whoareyaaa said:

This makes no sense we got 3 points today.

 

Birmingham are of a similar standard and we are at home

Brum and Charlton are not similar at all. Do you even watch football? We got 3 points today but incredibly luckily, because of a wonder goal and a wonder save against a side who scraped up via the play offs from league one. Brum won that league with 100 plus points and have spent shit loads on players who have a lot of quality. Brum will be play offs at least this season mark my words, and it's a big step up in quality to anything we have faced so far.