Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, Jimzk5 said: Hopefully its s combination of both There will be a fire soon for the insurance. I see no other way. Small heath, welcome to the big time. words removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Bellingham rejected united didnt he? I think we should try go for him. No way would he turn us down. Not only does it give him pl football but the opportunity to remain in midlands close to his family. Money talks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 31 minutes ago, Demitri_C said: Bellingham rejected united didnt he? I think we should try go for him. No way would he turn us down. Not only does it give him pl football but the opportunity to remain in midlands close to his family. Money talks We won’t get him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Demitri_C said: Bellingham rejected united didnt he? I think we should try go for him. No way would he turn us down. Not only does it give him pl football but the opportunity to remain in midlands close to his family. Money talks So we’re gonna offer him so much money to join us that he doesn’t want to stay on his big money, £30m transfer contract in Germany... and he’s 17 and never played in the Premier League. Also supports our local rival and is a hero of theirs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Dong is happy that they are reducing the losses year on year. Doesn't give a shit they are going down a division. LONG LIVE DONG! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Also I've never seen Dong (ooer!) but whenever I hear his name, and now I've heard his voice, I only get one image - 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 19 minutes ago, rjw63 said: Also I've never seen Dong (ooer!) but whenever I hear his name, and now I've heard his voice, I only get one image - Way too professional for Dong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewieGriffin Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I doubt Bellingham would come here - mainly because I think he'd know the fans would never accept him. Every bad game would see him crucified. Unless he's their version of the Gardners, and on the day we sign him he'll reveal he used to wear a Villa tshirt under his training gear and he was a ballboy at the Blackburn semi final or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 12, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted February 12, 2021 9 hours ago, Don_Simon said: Welcome to the mad, bad world of Birmingham City, where the volatile chief executive has become notorious for swearing at officials, a once-vaunted academy is now threatened with closure and yet another manager is under growing pressure to prove he should keep his job. Almost exactly 10 years after the finest moment in their history - the League Cup final win over Arsenal at Wembley - Birmingham are a club in tatters. Having improbably escaped relegation in three of the last four seasons, they are circling the drain again and will need a dramatic intervention to prevent them being sucked into League One. For the fans who descended on Wembley in their thousands in 2011, there is now simply frustration and disillusionment with a club which appears to be losing its soul and identity. Aitor Karanka, their sixth permanent boss in four years, is under increasing scrutiny and defeat against Luton on Saturday could leave him facing the sack from Zhao Wenqing, one of the club’s more powerful directors. Karanka is an experienced manager in the division, after spells with Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, but there is no disguising his struggles at St Andrew's. The recent statistics paint a bleak picture of their survival chances: over the last 46 games - a full league season - Birmingham have accrued just 41 points, a lower total than any of the three clubs relegated last year, and they have not won at home since Oct 28, losing six of the last seven games. Yet it is behind the scenes where Birmingham seem to be unravelling, with controversial chief executive Xuandong Ren continuing to run the club seemingly unchallenged. During Ren’s tenure, he has appointed Harry Redknapp, Steve Cotterill, Garry Monk, Pep Clotet and now Karanka, but it seems no manager can navigate a path to progress amid the chaos. Ren, known at the club as ‘Dong’, was appointed in 2017 and is a hands-on operator who attended training at Wast Hills last season in full tracksuit. Long-serving senior employees, the fabric of the club, have mysteriously departed due to “Covid-19 reconstruction” and cutbacks over the past three years, including Julia Shelton, the club secretary for two decades, and financial director Roger Lloyd. Recruitment staff have been furloughed, while Karanka was allegedly staying at the plush Hampton Manor hotel, where the top suite costs £500 a night, for three months after his appointment. Ren had threatened to close the highly-regarded academy, which has recently produced the likes of Borussia Dortmund’s £30million signing Jude Bellingham, Nathan Redmond and Demarai Gray, before an embarrassing U-turn. The uncertainty over the academy’s future has already resulted in the sale of 15-year-old Calum Scanlon to Liverpool. A number of other youngsters are being targeted by rival clubs. The influential academy manager Kristjaan Speakman recently left after 14 years to join Sunderland. Birmingham City's on-field plight English Football League - Championship Team P W D L GD Pts 18 Nottingham Forest 28 8 8 12 -5 32 19 Coventry City 28 7 10 11 -11 31 20 Rotherham United 27 8 5 14 -5 29 21 Sheffield Wednesday 28 9 7 12 -9 28 22 Derby County 27 7 7 13 -11 28 23 Birmingham City 28 6 10 12 -13 28 24 Wycombe Wanderers 27 3 7 17 -29 16 On matchdays, Ren sits behind the dug-outs and can frequently be heard swearing and shouting at officials. At a recent match, a local radio station had to turn their effects microphone off as it was picking up Ren’s bad language, while in December he was fined £7,500 by the Football Association for confronting a referee after a defeat at Cardiff. Birmingham have also been charged twice by the EFL for breaching financial rules, which included the nine-point deduction in the 2018/19 season. Figures also show the club to be more than £100million in debt. Lockdown and the absence of fans has arguably saved Ren from further scrutiny, yet there is mounting fury over the perceived lack of accountability and football knowledge around the club. Ren is 39 this month and his Birmingham future could be intrinsically linked to Karanka: he is understood to have told the board and chairman it was an appointment that could take them back to the Premier League. In fairness, Ren has backed Karanka with funds in the transfer market this season as they began a proposed three-year project. But a recent 0-0 draw at bottom club Wycombe, where Karanka’s decision to make only one substitution left fans bewildered, suggested simply avoiding relegation should be the priority this season. The general consensus is that unless there is a change of regime the future does not bear thinking about. Birmingham have not operated in the third tier since the 1994/95 season, a time of Barry Fry, Steve Claridge, Ian Bennett and Kevin Francis. It used to be Aston Villa who circled the plughole, before they were eventually relegated in 2016: now it is their Second City rivals who are scrapping to avoid a similar fate. I'm glad it's not us. "there is now simply frustration and disillusionment with a club which appears to be losing its soul and identity." This is probably true. They could really do with looking after themselves and stop making their entire existence being about hating/being jealous of us. It can't do them any good as a club. Have there been any mass demonstrations by the fans about the ownership and direction of the club? Any pressure whatsoever put on the owners? The club is arguably facing extinction yet their fans seem either oblivious or certainly ambivalent about it. Too busy just writing poison about us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted February 12, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted February 12, 2021 24 minutes ago, sidcow said: "there is now simply frustration and disillusionment with a club which appears to be losing its soul and identity." This is probably true. They could really do with looking after themselves and stop making their entire existence being about hating/being jealous of us. It can't do them any good as a club. Have there been any mass demonstrations by the fans about the ownership and direction of the club? Any pressure whatsoever put on the owners? The club is arguably facing extinction yet their fans seem either oblivious or certainly ambivalent about it. Too busy just writing poison about us. I would agree, since they stamped out football hooliganism in the main they have lost their identity as the Zulus were their soul. 99% of them secretly admire the clubs links to hard-core football violence. The mentality was we will never beat you on the pitch but will beat you outside Which gave them a perverted sense of Superiority 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenfly Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 52 minutes ago, Follyfoot said: I would agree, since they stamped out football hooliganism in the main they have lost their identity as the Zulus were their soul. 99% of them openly admire the clubs links to hard-core football violence. The mentality was we will never beat you on the pitch but will beat you outside Which gave them a perverted sense of Superiority FTFY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham games called off, which means defeat today would cast an even gloomier outlook on the table for them, as they would remain where they are and those two teams will gain another game in hand over them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted February 13, 2021 Moderator Share Posted February 13, 2021 12 minutes ago, useless said: Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham games called off, which means defeat today would cast an even gloomier outlook on the table for them, as they would remain where they are and those two teams will gain another game in hand over them. Today has a real must won feel about it for them. I think Forest and Derby will both win today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 They're bound to win another game at some point, but Luton can be a decent team so wouldn't write them off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted February 13, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) 12 hours ago, VillaJ100 said: Way too professional for Dong Big Dong Edited February 13, 2021 by Follyfoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MaVilla Posted February 13, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted February 13, 2021 13 hours ago, sidcow said: "there is now simply frustration and disillusionment with a club which appears to be losing its soul and identity." This is probably true. They could really do with looking after themselves and stop making their entire existence being about hating/being jealous of us. It can't do them any good as a club. Have there been any mass demonstrations by the fans about the ownership and direction of the club? Any pressure whatsoever put on the owners? The club is arguably facing extinction yet their fans seem either oblivious or certainly ambivalent about it. Too busy just writing poison about us. Dont blame it on the owners Dont blame it on the crap players Dont blame it on our small minds Blame it on the Villa 1 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Regardless of the club I do think its shitty practice of the EFL how they are running business, I think has been 4 non Big 6 domestic cup winners in last 15 years and 3 of them blues, wigan and pompey are or have been in financial disarray, Swansea had issues as well but seem to have recovered. Not to mention the farce of some recent owners They have already given blues a points deduction and still allow it to continue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted February 13, 2021 Moderator Share Posted February 13, 2021 30 minutes ago, Zatman said: Regardless of the club I do think its shitty practice of the EFL how they are running business, I think has been 4 non Big 6 domestic cup winners in last 15 years and 3 of them blues, wigan and pompey are or have been in financial disarray, Swansea had issues as well but seem to have recovered. Not to mention the farce of some recent owners They have already given blues a points deduction and still allow it to continue I have a degree of sympathy for the EFL, they are trying to regulate clubs that frankly don’t want to be regulated and who never ever learn. When the ITV deal went bump you would have thought they would learn but no, the wreckless spending continued. The issue is that while the disparity in wealth exists between the PL and the rest you will always have clubs or owners gambling to get to the land of promise. Only this week a much needed wage cap has been removed by the EFL because of a challenge by the PFA. Yes the EFL get many things wrong but ultimately the issues lie with the clubs and the people running them. Sure the EFL have got things wrong, Bury, Wimbledon and various others but they are trying to regulate with a hand behind their back. The one change I would like them to introduce in all football is that debt sits with owners as personal debt and can’t be a loan to clubs or be leveraged against them but that ship has long since sailed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post It's Your Round Posted February 13, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted February 13, 2021 1 hour ago, MaVilla said: Dont blame it on the owners Dont blame it on the crap players Dont blame it on our small minds Blame it on the Villa Most of their players can’t control their feet either! 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted February 13, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, It's Your Round said: Most of their players can’t control their feet either! Let alone a football 4 year deal Edited February 13, 2021 by Follyfoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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