BFTG - Birmingham City

[CountryRoyal]

Where are all the moaners and STG's?

It's awful quiet on here

They'll be back next time we lose. So we are still at exactly the same point we were last season, I wonder if those that said we are much worse this year still stick to that?

We have the same results in an almost uncanny resemblance, and the same points... but if anything we've played better. Already produced 2 good performances where as last year I thought we started well at Preston but then meandered. The win against Cardiff iirc was far from a good performance.

[Esteban]

Bacuna and Barrow have brought in the extra pace that was missing which gave Kelly a lot more Impetus.
.

Perhaps Swift would have have looked a lot better in yesterdays formation. 5 at the back with JVB and Bacuna shielding. Meant the team looked very solid.

Swift has definitely been targeted more, he's been finding it hard to find space to work in for a while now. This is especially true at home, where his performances tend to improve from 70 minutes onwards, as defences start to tire against us.

On the other hand, when Kelly has played in an advanced role, he seems to find it easier to spot pockets of space to work in and is more effective early on in a game as a result. Whether that's because the opposition haven't identified him as a key player for us yet, time will tell.

Swift is a very important player for us, but once he's fit again, I think he would be most effective coming off the bench with 20-25 minutes left.

[Pandoras Box]

Listened to BBC West Midlands on the way back and the twatish commentator said it wasn't a good result against the most boring dull team in football (as is also mentioned on their forum). Now I'm no expert but that was not a dull display. Plenty of good forward searching passes, chances and two goals when we also missed some sitters.
Doubt if the twat even saw the game, just commenting on hearsay.
However, this has sadly now become a label for us irrelevant if the perpetrator has seen us play or not, which (knowing football mentality) , will stay with us for years even if we play like 70s Brazil, especially pumped up by the likes of the a**holes from Leeds, Fulham etc.
Well f**k 'em, the table will prove them wrong in the end.

[Hound]

Doesn't bother me in the slightest the 'boring' chat

Had to play conservatively at times last year as we basically came third with a midtable squad

This year sure we'll be more entertaining

[tmesis]

Listened to BBC West Midlands on the way back and the twatish commentator said it wasn't a good result against the most boring dull team in football (as is also mentioned on their forum). Now I'm no expert but that was not a dull display. Plenty of good forward searching passes, chances and two goals when we also missed some sitters.

It's a reputation earned by the PO semi-final against Fulham, which is all most really know us for.

Teams/fans then get frustrated at not having the ball, and would rather blame us than admit their own failings. They, for some unexplained reason, had yesterday down as an easy home win.

Part of the problem is that many teams play negatively against us, putting men behind the ball so we have no space, hoping to catch us on the break. It doesn't make for a great spectacle. Maybe the classic example is Leeds away last year, where the home side were content to concede possession completely, and just keep us at arm's length. Our inability to break them down somehow got us called boring, rather than the home team who refused to attack.

[Sutekh]

Listened to BBC West Midlands on the way back and the twatish commentator said it wasn't a good result against the most boring dull team in football (as is also mentioned on their forum). Now I'm no expert but that was not a dull display. Plenty of good forward searching passes, chances and two goals when we also missed some sitters.

It's a reputation earned by the PO semi-final against Fulham, which is all most really know us for.

Teams/fans then get frustrated at not having the ball, and would rather blame us than admit their own failings. They, for some unexplained reason, had yesterday down as an easy home win.

Part of the problem is that many teams play negatively against us, putting men behind the ball so we have no space, hoping to catch us on the break. It doesn't make for a great spectacle. Maybe the classic example is Leeds away last year, where the home side were content to concede possession completely, and just keep us at arm's length. Our inability to break them down somehow got us called boring, rather than the home team who refused to attack.

Reading get the label because they seem to have the ball all the time but don't do very much with it around the goal the opponents are defending. Hopefully hat will start to change this season as a lot of wingers/midfielders are being added which will give more options on an attacking front rather than being limited through the constant injury problems that seem to bedevil the team.

[tmesis]

Listened to BBC West Midlands on the way back and the twatish commentator said it wasn't a good result against the most boring dull team in football (as is also mentioned on their forum). Now I'm no expert but that was not a dull display. Plenty of good forward searching passes, chances and two goals when we also missed some sitters.

It's a reputation earned by the PO semi-final against Fulham, which is all most really know us for.

Teams/fans then get frustrated at not having the ball, and would rather blame us than admit their own failings. They, for some unexplained reason, had yesterday down as an easy home win.

Part of the problem is that many teams play negatively against us, putting men behind the ball so we have no space, hoping to catch us on the break. It doesn't make for a great spectacle. Maybe the classic example is Leeds away last year, where the home side were content to concede possession completely, and just keep us at arm's length. Our inability to break them down somehow got us called boring, rather than the home team who refused to attack.

Reading get the label because they seem to have the ball all the time but don't do very much with it around the goal the opponents are defending.

Why would that bother anyone though? I've never found an opposing team's inability to create chances boring.

[West Stand Man]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

[Lower West]

Why would that bother anyone though? I've never found an opposing team's inability to create chances boring.

When did defending stop being an equally important part of the game. Games are won or lost over 90 plus minutes.

[RoyalBlue]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

[windermereROYAL]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

Totally agree. what do the Wales and Reading managers know to make him an almost ever present in their teams for the last 5 years? maybe they should read this forum for some real expert views.

[LWJ]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

Did you go on Saturday or base that off previous performances?

[Hogmeister Royal]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

Totally agree. what do the Wales and Reading managers know to make him an almost ever present in their teams for the last 5 years? maybe they should read this forum for some real expert views.

I was just about to come steaming in, along the lines of "what on earth is it about HNA and Gunter? Racism to the Welsh or something? The guy's one of our best players FFS"... but then saw that WM had already said it so much better than I could have

[From Despair To Where?]

We're a good, solid Championship team and Gunter is a good, solid Championship full back. Can he play at a higher level? His performances at Euro16 would suggest he probably can.

Not the best full back I've seen in a Reading shirt but a long, long way from being the worst, he clearly enjoys playing here and is a good influence. What more can we realistically ask for?

[muirinho]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

Not only that but The Sunday Times had Gunter as their star man. Incredible!!

[WestRoyal]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

Totally agree. what do the Wales and Reading managers know to make him an almost ever present in their teams for the last 5 years? maybe they should read this forum for some real expert views.

nicely put

[Snowflake Royal]

Given the quality of sports journalism I wouldn't get too excited about someone getting in the team of the week or a star rating.

Especially seeing as selections for teams of the week are regularly ridiculed.

I pass no comment on his actual performance against Birmingham.

Interestingly* given his media accolades Whoscored had Gunter down as having a significantly worse pass completion rate for the game than everyone on our side except Mannone.

[RoyalBlue]

The Times has Moore as its Championship Player of the Week, and also has both him and Gunter in the Championship team of the week

Gunter??? That completely overrated waste of space who only knows how to go backwards, can't defend and is usually the only reason we concede?

Clearly The Times joins all of those club and international managers who haven't got a clue what makes a good player and performance!

Did you go on Saturday or base that off previous performances?

Clearly the sarcasm was at too high a level for some!

It was a dig at the idiots who continually criticise Gunter and everything he does.

Look back through my posts and you will see clearly that I don't subscribe to that school of thought.

[muirinho]

Given the quality of sports journalism I wouldn't get too excited about someone getting in the team of the week or a star rating.

Especially seeing as selections for teams of the week are regularly ridiculed.

I pass no comment on his actual performance against Birmingham.

Interestingly* given his media accolades Whoscored had Gunter down as having a significantly worse pass completion rate for the game than everyone on our side except Mannone.

*Interesting only to those who regard random numbers as more significant than expert opinions. Might be *interesting to see how whoscored ranked our entire team last year in comparison to how we did.

[LWJ]

Did you go on Saturday or base that off previous performances?

Clearly the sarcasm was at too high a level for some!

It was a dig at the idiots who continually criticise Gunter and everything he does.

Look back through my posts and you will see clearly that I don't subscribe to that school of thought.

You have a history of having agendas against certain people... sorry I don't subscribe to your posts to see who you actively like and dislike at any current time.

Reddit users use /s to signify sarcasm, generally because they realise it doesn't transfer well online. Suppose that thought is below you though?