Pre-season Blues
There's a hat-trick Blues are trying to avoid this season.
They have been relegated in their two previous Premier League campaigns.
For it to happen again would show that no lessons have been learned and that the default philosophy of the club is to hope to do just enough to hang in there, and make a profit along the way.
Like most people, I was cautiously optimistic in May with the noises coming from St Andrew's, and the deeds.
After sitting through pre-season and having seen transfer activity stalled, I can't say I'm not concerned, things will just turn out all right.
The 4-1 defeat at Crewe Alexandra was shocking, probably even more so because Blues actually played as well as they have in their warm-ups for 45 minutes then just fell apart.
Injuries have again taken hold. Too many players also have niggles and are not at full pelt. Others seem leggy. Sharpness is missing.
For starters, the schedule has been all wrong. In Austria the tour was compressed and it was a mistake to play three teams well into their stride when Blues were taking first steps.
Warm-up matches then became 'must win' affairs, which is ridiculous, and Blues have laboured.
Check other teams results and perhaps it's not that uncommon. Stoke City have yet to win a friendly and Hull City have won just one of their main games.
Portsmouth seem to be in complete turmoil.
But Blues have got off on the wrong foot and any positivity that was generated after promotion has evaporated and they are heading to Manchester United with no momentum and little confidence.
Alex McLeish has to settle on his side and go with a balance and a structure that suits those in form. If it means leaving out some established names, so be it.
Defensively, it was time to change the guard but the new players who have arrived have not settled and there are now glaring holes to fill.
Martin Taylor, who has done well in pre-season, is out for three months at least after the ankle injury sustained at Nottingham Forest (pictured above).
Scott Dann and Giovanny Espinoza are not right because of injury, and Franck Queudrue, who also had a summer operation and then has been hampered by subsequent strains, is not in shape to be risked at centre-half or left-back.
Left-back, the cursed position. Blues are in desperate need of an Armand Traore or another.
McLeish wants a midfielder, someone who is dynamic and can get on the ball and take it forward. Michel and Craig Gardner are in mind there.
I suspect he also wants to bring a left-sider in as well, Stephen Hunt would fit his requirement.
Up front, that can wait for now. We don't know yet what Christian Benitez (pictured here with Espinoza) can bring. But it is an area that McLeish is also looking at.
And with the way it has gone at the back, don't be surprised if a centre-half is now sought on a short-term basis.
McLeish needs not only to help himself, but needs help from the powers that be.
Three more players, minimum, are required. And whatever the going rates, they have to be paid.
On a brighter note, there have been some encouraging signs.
Keith Fahey is growing into a player of real stature. The way he has adapted wide on the left, like Kevin Sheedy used to for Everton, has been impressive.
Barry Ferguson, until he skewed one horribly at Gresty Road, has not wasted a pass all pre-season. He has the on-the-ball quality to get Blues playing.
Stephen Carr's knowledge, experience and ebullience has been apparent and Joe Hart appears a goalkeeper of class. James McFadden has shown flashes of his old creative self.
Blues are not beyond redemption. We're yet to get into the swing of the season proper after all. However, Blues must still do more, and quickly.
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Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum's view of what's going on at Birmingham City FC.
Reality kicked in again when the players came back to pre-season after the early buys...
The board and the manager seem to be take too long in learning from their previous mistakes. Last pre-season AM was not happy with the schedule.
My biggest concern is Benitez and Espinoza do not seem to have been the managers buys.
The balance of the squad does not look right, too many thirty plus central midfielders and no left back or natural left sided cover.
The lack of pace and mobility with our current midfield could be shown up at the higher level.
And we need to create more ...
The good news is we will be the underdogs in most games next season and thankfully this has not happened after the seasons start.
Those first few home games look very important all of a sudden and it will be interesting to see if the attendances are any better compared to our opening couple of months from our last Premiership season
Great blog as usual Tatts, i also had new found optimism before the start of the season, we seemed to do a lot of our transfer dealings early and also spending decent money, then it all comes out that perhaps Alex didnt want Espinoza, that Benitez played in a game when he shouldnt and wont be fit for the start of the season, that we only agreed to play Stutgart for the money.
Now we cant seem to score goals and we are going to be relying on players that didnt score enough last season when we were in the Championship.
I havent seen anything bought in that will help with the creativity of the side and now we are only 10 days from the first match!
All of the optimism is quite quickly turning into pessisism and this from someone who has bought a season ticket for the first time in about 3 years (16 years season ticket holder before that)
I hope that the board back Alex over the next week and we can add some extra quality to the team or it could turn into a very difficult to take season!
Keep right on
Colin, spot on blog as usual. Why is it that so many of the players seem to pick up injuries, particularly strains and pulls, it was the same last season. It does make me question the ability of the fitness guys Blues employ. We have to assume that Big Eck recognises the weaknesses that you have identified so it's over to the Board to provide the resources for him to bring in the right players. Unfortunately it does seem from afar that they are just sitting on their hands and are not actually doing anything. Can you give us any hope that we will see some signings before the season kicks off?
Where have the comments gone?
Ferguson done a few bad passes at forest tatts, must of crouched down for your cuppa everytime he did lol.
Whenever our board have gone quiet for a few weeks I always feel there's something brewing.Must be time for a rant from Sully or just wonder if there's any chance they might just take the bull by the horns and get rid of Eck now. Must be tempted.
Why do we keep going on about Tiny being injured and the effect this will have? He couldn't get in the team last year or the season before but now we're back in the prem all of a sudden he's good enough?! The same can be said about McSheffrey
Andy, the point is that Tiny was surplus two years ago but is still here and has done a job because of injuries to Johnson, Dann, Espinoza. Queudrue should have not been signed, and it shows the mistake of not taking Gooch when we, or the board, got Espinoza instead. Tiny isn't good enough, nor McSheff, nor Johnson, nor Queudrue. Ecks wants to replace these players but can't because they won't give him the money. We need more quality and a left back urgently for one
gooch went to AC milan !!! i honestly dont believe we were as close to getting him as suggested ! The players that have been signed will come good once they settle down, we just need 3 new players in a boost to the squad. think maybe traore will come but i would personally sign a permanent left back : ball (man city), mattock from leicester are a couple of options. if we sign S.Hunt he will have a 1st season in prem R.savage effect.
I think we have been unfortunate with injuries so far and hope that espinoza and R.Johnson can be patched up for United game as otherwise can K. pearce be recalled?
The Board were not going to release a great deal of money - they never release a great deal of money.
'Release' is the accurate word as vast sums of money have come into the club from many different sources over the years as is the case for all clubs who have enjoyed a few seasons in the Premiership.
These business leopards will never change their spots and the strategy has always been the same - have a tilt at promotion and if achieved target 4th bottom position and in the doing so gain maximum income from minimum outlay.
Survival is achievable but it isn't going to be pretty, but income from the paying spectator is not that important these days although, true to form, they are extracting as much as possible here too with the vast majority of tickets available for the pay-on-the-day adult supporter being priced between ã35 to ã48 for example. Prepare for a tough and not very memorable season.