Last weekend, Birmingham City played Charlton Athletic at home in what most would have expected to be a relatively easy win.
The first half certainly made it look that way. The Blues pummeled the Athletic goal with 17 shots, with 3 on target. Charlton managed just 3 wayward attempts. Christoph Klarer broke the deadlock in the 28th minute with a brilliant long-range header off a Tommy Doyle free kick and it looked like the game was well in hand.
However, Birmingham took the foot off the gas in the early going of the second half and Charlton found an equalizer in the 67th minute. The home side took just 7 shots in the half. The 2 on target were both well saved. Demarai Gray hit the woodwork twice in the game but the Blues were never able to recover the lead and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
That dropped the team to 13th in the table and 5 points out of the playoffs. Not looking great, but there is still over half the season left to play.
Tomorrow’s road game at Sheffield United (9:00am, no US TV) is a chance to get back on the winning track again ahead of the compressed holiday schedule. United, along with their local rivals Sheffield Wednesday, started out in the Championship cellar but have since clawed their way up to 18th. That includes an impressive 3-2 win over Leicester City and a predictable 3-0 win over Wednesday as well as a few other positive results against low-ranked teams.
They are therefore ripe for the picking. It should be noted that the oddsmakers are all backing a home win so nothing should be taken for granted. A solid performance would put the Blues in good stead for the 4-game stretch between Boxing Day and January 4th. One issue the Blues will have is that James Beadle, who missed the Charlton game due to an ankle injury will also be out tomorrow. He is expected back by Friday next week. Most everyone else is healthy.
As for Friday, that will be a home game with Derby County. For us that will be a 6:30am kickoff on Paramount+. Well, for you, I will be in California for a 4:30am kickoff. Great. With last week’s results Derby jumped City into 12th, so this will be an important and competitive game.
Then on Monday the 29th Southampton comes to St. Andrews (2:15pm, Paramount+) for the reverse fixture of the game just 2 weeks ago that ended in a rough 0-3 loss for the Blues. The Saints are 10th right now. After that Birmingham heads to Watford for a New Year’s Day game (9:00am, Paramount+). Watford are 14th, right behind the Blues, so another critical matchup. Birmingham won that one 2-1 on December 1st. To finish it all off, league leaders Coventry City visit on Sunday, January 4th (6:00am, Paramount+). Coventry won that one 3-0 back in September, thanks in large part to an own goal and a Jack Robinson red card. Robinson, by the way, came to Birmingham from Sheffield United and is expected by some to play tomorrow; hopefully not as he has been a disaster,
If the Blues can get results out of these games it will go a huge distance to improving the team’s prospects. It’s also unusual that we will get 4 straight games televised here in the US. Good stuff.
As those games close out the January transfer window opens. On that front, the rumors change all the time. Currently the Blues are thought to be in the market for Celtic’s South Korean winger Yang Hyun-jun who is likely to carry a price tag of at least £2.5 million ($3.3 million). Norwich City nd Preston North End are also interested in him. That would unite him with another former Celtic player Kyogo Furuhashi who has been a real let-down, having scored 0 goals since joining the Blues.
On the outgoing side, Dion Sanderson, who has been on loan to Derby County and apparently playing very well, is expected to be sold outright next month. He had been on loan to the Blues before being bought just as Tom Wagner took over the team. He cost £2 million ($2.7 million) and is likely to fetch just £350k ($468k), so not a great piece of business all told.
Lastly, stadium plans now include a possible groundsharing arrangement. The Blues have been approached by Premiership Rugby for a potential Birmingham team which would use the new stadium. The Premiership (which is Rugby Union, not Rugby League) has only 10 teams and has a big gap in the English Midlands which Birmingham would fill nicely.
