Opinion: Ten games in- A year on!

The start to the Sky Bet Championship season has by far exceeded many Blues fans expectations and I assume they will continue to flourish.

However, the main thing I wanted to take a look at was the continuing effect of the so called Rowett Revolution and whether it is still changing things down at St.Andrews.

It is quite fair to say that the changes are still happening and you can tell that they are just by looking at our current position in the table.

With ten games played, Blues are sitting pretty in fourth spot with a healthy 18 points out of a possible 30. Look back to the same milestone last year and we were sat in 19th spot with just ten points.

Not only our we eight points better off than we were under previous manager Lee Clark but we also have a much better goal difference.

Under Clark, our goal difference was a miserable minus six, whereas at this moment in time it is currently plus six. That turn around is just a further highlight as to what Rowett and his team have done for Birmingham City in the 11 months that they have been with the club.

In the opening ten league games of last season, Blues had only registered two league wins. One away from home (3-1 vs. Millwall) and one at St.Andrews (1-0 vs. Brighton and Hove Albion).

However, this season, Blues have already recorded five wins in the league, which is a credit to the team when you look at it. Out of those five games, we have managed to keep three clean sheets, which is something that we only managed once in the opening ten games of last season.

Goals have been a major factor in the turn around of the team as well. Under Rowett this season, Blues have managed to score 16 goals in the league, whereas last year we only managed to find the back of the net 11 times.

You may look at that stat and go, well it’s only a five goal difference. However, those five goals have won us games and earned us points where we might not have got a point.

The style of play under our current management is also something which must be applauded by all four corners of St.Andrews as well.

Counter attacking football is now a way of life if you are a Birmingham City fan! It is something that we have all become aware of and we now know how it is executed.

It is quite well know that Blues will happily sit back and let sides have the ball. Just take a look at the Brentford and Leeds United games for example. Blues only had around 34% possession of the ball in each of those games yet we still walked away 2-0 winners in each of them.

For me, that tells me a lot about the team. They understand how the management wants them to go about the game, how they want them to go and attack when it is necessary.

The attackers in our side now know that as long as the defence are doing their job correctly then all they have to do is make one of those counter attacks successful and we are in with a chance of winning the game.

If we can conserve our energy for the end of the game and it is still 0-0, then all it takes is one run and finish and the game is all over.

Looking at it, anybody outside of the club as well as inside it would have to say that Gary Rowett and his team have turned it around so much and it baffles me how he hasn’t got more recognition for it.

Ten games into this season and the management have fans believing that Blues can get into the play-offs or even higher.

Ten games into last season and the management had fans believing that they should start preparing themselves for life in League One.

Blues fans, what do you make of my comments? Are you happy with how far the club has come in 11 months? When do you think the Rowett Revolution will fall? Let us know in the comment section down below!