Last weekend Birmingham City hosted Stoke City with the objective of moving up the table against a team between them and the playoff spots.
All was going according to plan and Tomoki Iwata put the Blues up a goal in the 42nd minute. Stoke had been stymied in front of goal all game, managing just one shot on target. They got the equalizer, however, in the 71st minute when a ball bouncing around the Blues box deflected off Phil Neumann’s back and into the net. The Blues pummeled Stoke with 18 shots and 5 on target for an xG of 2.05 but couldn’t regain the lead. The game ended a 1-1 draw and City were unable to advance up the table, remaining 13th.
Next up is a road game at Oxford United (Saturday, 9:00am, no US TV). Oxford are 23rd, that is, second-worst. That would indicate a great chance for some more away points. However, Oxford fired head coach Gary Rowett—who had at one time managed the Blues—just before Christmas after 1 win in the last 10 games. Since then the team has a 3-2-2 record although that includes a penalty shootout win in the FA Cup. Matt Bloomfield was announced as the new manager earlier this month and earned 2 0-0 draws in his first 2 games followed by a surprise 2-1 away win over Leicester City last week. This will not be quite as easy as it might appear.
On the transfer front, the Blues have said goodbye to Lewis Koumas (who came close to getting a game-winner at Stoke), recalled from his loan by Liverpool. Wednesday they signed Spanish winger Carlos Vicente from Deportivo Alaves of La Liga on a three-and-a-half-year deal. That makes him the 5th addition in this window (joining Wagner, Osman, Solis and Priske).
The transfer window closes this coming Monday at 7:00pm GMT (1:00pm CST) and Chris Davies is still looking to add a centerback. Rumors have also started that Birmingham City is bidding for Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka. Brentford are currently 8th in the Premier League and would likely expect a fee in excess of £7 million ($9.7 million) for him. Sheffield United and Coventry City are thought to be competitors for his services. Finally, Southampton striker Adam Armstrong is apparently being marketed and the Blues are one of the interested parties.
