Following on from last Saturday’s great win at Reading, Birmingham City now face two home games that could result in a new found belief. Realistically four points would be a great haul particularly with our second game being against West Brom. QPR is the game that could be the win, although no game in the Championship is predictable.
What is becoming evident within this squad of players is the way they are playing for the Head Coach. This strange appointment after last seasons dramas appeared ‘lost’ to many of us and belief in this new system was at best dubious.
However, Pep Clotet is obviously doing something right with better possession football, a better points haul and better technical players. Proof, of course, will be over the season and whether we can hover around the final Play-Off spot. A tough ask, but who knows?
Much will depend, in my opinion, as to what role Jude Bellingham now plays with Clotet pushing him further upfield in a more attacking position. This is 100% correct, as Bellingham is a gem with flair for a goal or goal maker. His all-round ability is there for all to see especially in an attacking midfield role. At the moment he contributes a fair bit to the team, but my feeling is that this will now change for the better.
Until now, he has been given a role that gets him comfortable within the first team allowing for his tender age. Now, that he has proved he is way beyond his years in performance and intelligence, Clotet may now feel he is ready for an advanced position in the team looking for goals. Like Nathan Redmond and Demarie Gray before him, Blues must get the best out of these rare talents whilst we have them.
Against Reading, it must have been a difficult build-up for our newly appointed head coach, especially up against two players who fans wanted to see in a Blues shirt – namely Michael Morrison and George Puscas. Pep must have felt very satisfied that his new team and particularly Gimenez produced a performance that answered the critics.
We are in transition with new systems and long term targets in the way we now play our football, which is refreshing if it works. So far so good, but this week is a big one for the club and success could really catapult us into touching distance. Desire is always there with Blues but do we have that edge to get fans believing that we have the skill?
This week will go a long way in answering that.