Blues Blogs

A handy point but the slide down the table puts Birmingham’s January investment at risk

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After two defeats, a point at Huddersfield was certainly welcomed by Birmingham City fans.

However, a single point out of the last nine has seen us slip down to my dreaded 15th spot in the Championship. This position is what none of us needs at a time, when only a few weeks ago, we had hopes of a surge in or around seventh and beyond.

With two testing games coming up this week, this is the acid test as success will renew hopes whereas a further slide down the league will take on a totally different approach to the season.

Pep Clotet and supporters want to be in a position come the transfer window, to persuade the Board to splash out on a quality striker that could make all the difference on an assault on the play-off positions.

Any slide down the table will, in my opinion, quash those hopes. Clotet is doing the best with what he has and if pacy players in Montero and Bela can deliver then great. The problem remains obviously that our forwards, whoever they are, are woefully short when it comes to their finishing.

After Saturday’s draw with Huddersfield, it was interesting to hear some of their supporters say that their team is very ordinary and expectations remain low. Perhaps we as Bluenoses are expecting more from our team as opposed to the ‘ordinary’ label that the Terriers fans feel. Are we better than the likes of Huddersfield is open to question?

What is fairly clear is that whilst the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall this week are not easy, we simply must get a grip and prevent the slide. No good predicting any outcomes in this league but we do need a forward taking on a defender and scoring, this being the absolute root problem. Forwards score for nearly all Championship clubs but seemingly not for Blues.

It’s easy to blame the Adams departure but, for heaven’s sake, the players available to Clotet in the forward areas are capable of getting on the scoresheet. Two games now decide the way forward and hopefully this dodgy 15th slot in the league is purely temporary. Players need to step up and take the plaudits for scoring and winning as opposed to getting the occasional draw by defending heroically.

Bailey got the headlines with the Middlesbrough win in October – time now for another forward hero. Our Board, I am sure, are just waiting to spend in January but not if our slide indicates there is not a genuine chance of climbing the table.

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