I will admit as I write this that I am shell-shocked. I can’t remember a home performance as bad as that since the infamous seven-nil to Liverpool in the cup under Steve Bruce. I actually don’t think I can pick a word to describe just how bad it was.
I also must confess I’m a bad fan. Whilst the Tilton were chanting “Loyal Supporters”, I left the ground with a seven-year-old in floods of tears. I don’t like leaving games early – I stayed to the end of the Liverpool one for instance – but I actually felt it would have been cruel to my child to have stayed any longer.
The game had a similar pattern first half to the way we played Barnsley last year. Last year, we were outplayed by the Tykes for about an hour (aided by a bit of shocking refereeing) until we bucked up and got an equaliser late on. This year, once again we were limp in the first half – but when the team came out in the second half they decided that they’d had enough of scraping the bottom of the barrel, threw it away and started digging a hole in the ground underneath.
Their first goal was comedic; an abysmal corner that rolled along the ground in the box watched by Blues defenders before the Barnsley lad stuck it in. The second came from Ambrose passing it to their forwards on the eighteen yard line giving them a three on one situation before they stuck it home. In fairness to Clark he then proceeded to throw caution to the wind and went with three centre-backs. By the time the fifth went in, Blues had one (of their current two) fit defender on the pitch, and they were well and truly done.
It’s easy to blame Clark – it’s his team and the buck stops with him but I think he’s been let down by some of his players. Ambrose, whose last game was the abysmal away loss to Coventry was as at the Ricoh, appallingly bad. If I was Ravel Morrison I’d be wondering what I had to do to get into the team because there is no way he could have been any worse than the former Charlton and Crystal Palace man.
Wade Elliott, who had had the best game of his Blues career on Tuesday decided to see what it would be like to be anonymous again; Keith Fahey tried at times but couldn’t find a Blue shirt with a pass, Burke kept running into trouble, Hayden Mullins was allergic to passing the half way line and poor Johnny Specs found himself playing three differing positions to cover for his injured team mates.
It got so bad that I could point out a line on the pitch, about 35 yards out from the Barnsley goal where I could guarantee Blues would lose the ball every single time. They had the penetration of an emasculated chimp, the guile of a blind snail and the creativity of an autistic badger in attack. Honestly, Jack Butland would have been better shooting with his long kicks from the Blues area as he was the most likely to have got a shot off and on target.
So where do we go from here? As Yazz sang in the early nineties, the only way is up. We’ve got a week until we face Brighton at the Amex. With Pablo having broken a bone in his foot Blues need to sort out some defensive cover quickly – be it Paul Robinson (which just fills me with joy) or Bilel Mohsni. Personally, I’d tell Mullins and Ambrose that they are both out and playing for the stiffs until they improve; I’d then give a shirt to Gomis or God forbid Ravel Morrison in the middle of the park. I’d also have Jack Deaman, Mitch Hancox, Will Packwood at a minimum – maybe Callum Reilly and Brice Ntambwe as well – in first team training next week and tell all of them that if they impress they will get their chance.
Today was utterly painful. It’s not just the defeat, but the manner of it; the fact it was on TV in front of a less-than-half full stadium (the worst crowd since 8 March 1997 against Southend United when only 13,189 showed up) just adds salt into the wound. I hope we’ve now reached our nadir and we will improve. I fear that with the injuries piling up it could get worse.
Tags: Barnsley FC, Chris Burke, Darren Ambrose, Hayden Mullins, Jack Butland, Jonatihan Spector, Keith Fahey, Lee Clark, Ravel Morrison, Wade Elliott
Told you all so.
thats all
Absolutely shocking. Question – Why “God Forbid Ravel Morrison” the only game he played he was our real bright spark and then was never given another chance.
that was sarcasm towards Clark for not picking him…
Will Carson and pannu still think we are worth £40 million?new owners in sharpish…..by the way I’ve been following us since 1976 and that is by far the worst I’ve ever seen…Clark out,Carson out.
Ah….the Liverpool game.
At least we used to get a crowd back then, so I actually stayed to the end to avoid the rush!!
James, if you can prove that with information from a reputable source elsewhere, I’ll let it go. As it is, it’s actionable and I’ve had to delete it
What did he say?
Worst home result at this level since the 6-0 thrashing by Palace in the late 80’s. The buck stops with Clark. We have some quality players – much better than we did 25 years ago. I fear he is out of his depth.
i was told last night by a prominent member of the blues set up that no one else will be coming in to the club unless someone is shipped out on loan with gomis being the most likely.
i was told a few other things which i can’t mention but suffice to say the 0-5 today is merely the tip of the ieberg.
[comment edited]
Yeah, that one is going to go too. Please don’t write stuff that is going to get the site into trouble.
My apologies Al.
No probs.
They don’t want to play for him……..ask yourselves this,would this result have happened under Chris hughton??
I agree 100% worse still how can LC turn it round with what fit players we have left. It was an awful display by all. KRO
im hurting that was scary worse than a ship without a rudder so easy to blame everyone apart from butland
It was worse than the LiVerpool game, dire. Something seems to have happened because the performances last saturday and tuesday were good and brought hope that things were coming together. Maybe there has been a falling out because the wheels came off today. After running the first game against Charlton Ravel Morrison has hardly been used sine. Did he nick Clark’s car or what?
Today has just been a totally forgettable bad experience. Couldn’t believe the crap attendance when we got there – was more or less expecting it but still hoping against hope – and then the performance went from hopeless to helpless. Embarrassing to say the least.
Had not expected us to go on a league winning run, but to be done by one of the lesser teams in such a manner at home without any fight, pride, competence or substance??
For goodness sake let some seriousness about our whole situation kick-in on all fronts.
Never again should, we the fans, be subjected to that pile of steaming hot bullshit ever, ever again.
Let us acknowledge the situation and then dust ourselves off and go again.
We’ve gone back 30 years. This is pre Kumar, with no direction, no money, no fans. We are on our knees and I fear for my beloved club, I really do.
I’d get the sack for a performance like that at work.
The players are almost the same as last year, what has changed is the manager, he has to be blamed for the abysmal performance we have seen today.
I do not see that there will be any improvement if we keep Clark in charge, he is obviously not a Championship class manager.
Unfortunately I can’t see Pannu sacking him as that would mean compensation, so, unless Clark resigns we are stuck with him, and on the evidence of what we have seen so far, we have relegation to look forward to.
I too decided to leave minutes after the 5th goal went in, with one very unhappy daughter. But, I also left early as I felt myself actually boil up and start to see a red mist ..something I haven’t felt in a long time. I was angry at the lino’s for not flagging offside ..at least twice (each time they scored), and I was angry at the players for such a shameful performance (but nothing is going to happen to them is it? Zigic is still going to collect his £50K pay packet this week isn’t he? just as everyone is going to get paid and sod all will happen). But mainly, I’m angry at the club (and mainly PP) for allowing this to happen. This is Lee Clark’s fault. He is the one who has to face the media and say what he thinks is right. I just wish the entire team waqs stood in front of the tv cameras and explained their s**t performance to us as well.
Tonight has not in any way made me less of a blues fan, it’s made me more of one (if that’s possible) but it has made me embarrased and angry, and it was hard to suddenly keep my temper. Something I thought I would never have to do ..in a long time, but if I was younger, I probably would have lost it.
I do not want to see this standard again, because like many others I am a season tocket holder and expect more than this.
I don’t know what else to say.
clark should walk , it was spineless , rudderless , hopeless
Brighton and Cardiff next…
I remember the palace game also,and some kid crying nearby,i am not at that level but i actually felt bad about criticising Clark early on,as it looked like we were slowly turning the corner recently,but no.
OK,injuries/loss of form throughout the squad have kicked in but it seems like the guy has lost the dressing room,i am not sure what has happened,but tonight,it does not look good :( i am kind of hoping for a ‘wear your heart on your sleeve’ Keegan style resignation,although a quick Yeung sell off at a knockdown price concerns me,we need to be sold to the right people at the right time,not chancers and dodgepots!! :(
KRO
I was one of the supporters to ask for time for Clark.
But………..
GOT TO GO !!!!!!!!!!!
Lost the dressing room,BIG TIME !!
That is the worst / embarrassing 1st half from a BLUES team I have seen. (1970’s ~ 2012)
The problem is,IF the BLUES is to be sold,the new owners will want there own man,don’t think Clark will be sacked until a new take~over,so we have a MANAGER WE DON’T WANT & ALSO A BOARD.
I think it needs to be sorted soon or we will go DOWN !!
2 teams who played football on the ground,we have got murdered.
A change is needed.
“That is the worst / embarrassing 1st half from a BLUES team I have seen. (1970′s ~ 2012)”
Oh yeah ?
You didn’t see the second half then :-)
The second half was a second half, not a first half! ;)
LC can neither inspire or motivate his players, the same players who performed so admirably last season. Today was possibly the worst display I have ever seen given the players LC had at his disposal and the recent dire record of the opposition. Barnsley played us off the park, we didn’t even try to stop them. LC, fantastic player that he was, should consider admitting that this job is too big for him and let someone else pick up the pieces. Who that someone is I don’t know. KRO
Please don’t give me grief but put your thinking caps on ! Bad performance , no fight !! Players Badly out of position ? No quality in centre midfield ? Best player in that position on bench , ? Paladini coming in with the Mesiar Rednapp ? We have a great squad ? We need a great leader ? Rednapp is he !!!
Harry at the Blues?. Won’t happen.
What an obsolute disgrace for second city football – Blues and Villa
You ain’t wrong mate….no wonder we are a footballing backwater.
We are stuck with Clark until a suitable buyer is found and at that point I hope they will bring their own man in…. I said on here before that he is clueless and his signings are poor ( pre caddis )…. It will be a long long road with this lot…
Last year Barnsley played nice football and looked solid and did again today but also when Keith Hill took his Rochdale side in the cup tp St Andrews… I am not sayng lets get him etc but Clark is not ready for this job and needs to learn his trade in the lower leagues and elocution lessons!!
I honestly believe Clark has to go. Put Steven Carr in charge until the takeover is complete. Even listening to McDermott in the week it all seems a bit clueless. Oh and 3 hrs after the game why have we not been given a response from Clark yet?!
Lee Clarke is probably typing his post match e-mail as we speak. Pity it’s not his resignation letter as I personally would be embarassed to stay.
Clark, type? Lol
Tonight was comical! We have always been good at hitting the self destruct button but tonight we were jumping up and down on it like we were on a trampoline.
I have always stayed to the end of the game (even the 7-0 Liverpool game) and this evening I waited longer to see how the players reacted after the final whistle. Nathan Redmond clearly took this defeat to heart and dispite a Barnsley player trying to stop him, he made his way towards the Tilton to aplaud the loyal fans for staying. The only other player to do the same was Jonathan Spector!
We need to take the positive out of tonight…at least it wasn’t 6-0!
We need to keep our heads up, put tonight behind us and make the best of what we’ve got, as in truth we have a decent team. We just need to play like one.
In all seriousness I honestly don’t think I’ve ever in my whole life witnessed a professional 11 play as bad as that!,,,,Nuff said!!!!!!
Next weeks lineup:
Doyle
Hancox, Packwood, Davies, Murphy
Redmond, Morrison, Gomis, Burke
Lita, Asante
Subs:
Butland
Gordon
Deaman
Fahey
Zigic
King
Cus seriously the kids can’t do any worse than the abysmal display today!!!!!!
Butland is a kid and would of been more without him between the sticks
Doyle for butland have you gone insane it would have been 8 -0 !
look all I’m saying is that it seems to me that one of the best defences in the league last year no longer trust the guy behind them or the guys in front of them. blues did well in preseason then suddenly the defense imploded the difference butland. it don’t matter how good the keeper is if he ain’t got the defense with him it ain’t gonna work. case in point Myhil not the greatest of keepers but as a unit defense and goalkeeper worked.
1st shot on goal…….. 42 mins !!
2nd shot 87mins
Final Whistle for Clark.
Worst home defeat result since the Carthaginians entertained the Romans.
What is going on???
Yep mate,!!. I was there for that one, !!. lol.
Things are that bad at the moment that you have to have a laugh or you would slit your own throat, !!!!!!!!.
Very funny. The Romans were always good on the road
I am(almost)at the level where i would take McJudas back(who is doing nothing at this moment),the negative style he plays it is better than this,if the players can understand a Glaswegian they can understand anybody!!!
Goodnight KRO.
All I ask for is an ‘over my dead body’ performance, no matter what their level of skill is. You run kick and fight for that shirt But tonight not one of them players could say they gave their all. Their are problems within that dressing room that have resulted in that performance, there has to be. And it all points to one man and his useless sidekick. Whilst we are in dire need of new ownership, that shambles tonight has nothing to do with the owners.
We had to sell Jordan Mutch for cash flow to pay wages.
First mistake
Clark and particularly Mcdermott are not up to this job.
Mcdermott like John Barnes like Tony Adams were decent players but never achieved anything in the management game.Mcdermott is nothing but a “wally” and like the other scouse ‘McNamanam” SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR CLUB.
We still don’t know why Hughton bailed out at the first opportunity.Didn’t want to give us another season even though we rescued him from the dole queue.
We get 16mill this year in parachute payments and we still can’t afford any players.
The Chinese will not sell….they’ll stick out for a silly price that no-one will pay.
Thanks to the football league for letting our club be sold to a “fit and proper person”.
Goodbye to the Championship unless McCarthy comes in which will never happen.
the £16 mill i presume is largely covering the wages and debts
What do people make of this?
http://www.bcfc.com/news/article/clark-i-apologise-382879.aspx
Actions speak louder than words…
Nothing will change till a NEW OWNER.
Does the new owner want a CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM or a 1ST DIVISION TEAM ??
Owners had nothing to do with that tonight. See Doctor D’s post below. That team is good enough, no question. But what is a team without a leader?
LC keeps talking about where we went wrong. I think it was pretty evident to all that were there or watching on the box. He should tell us how he will put it right and why his ‘plans of action’ do not seem to be filtering through to the team.
Injuries and some bad luck do not seem to be helping us, but that is par for the course.
I was hoping the headline read ‘Clark-I resign’ in that article…shame.
a team without a leader is not a team is it?, clark will likelyy go for the defence plan that he used at the last club he got a good beating at,we will now be lucky to see a run of 0.0 s but its got to be better than this , he has not a clue , the team are demoralised and its down to him to sort them out,and why will he not pick Morrison i do not understand, lets hope we get bought out cos the first thing that will happen is clark will be let go and good riddance as well..
Firstly, Barnsley played very well. They always seemed to have someone to pass to. Their confidence grew as ours got weaker. Well done to them.
Their manager seemed calm and collected at 0-0 and at 0-5
cut to LC shouting a lot in the first half, at 42 minutes we had a good section of play…….cut to LC, not happy but complaining it took 42 minutes to get some good play.
cut again to LC walking out for the second half, still swearing and moaning.. Then cut to the end of, one of our few televised matches, and no LC to be seen for a comment.
Almajir,can you please use your contacts & get Clark(on a quiet dark evening)to urinate in all four corners of the ground,to ward off the curse,yes,I AM BEING SERIOUS,thank you.
Lee clarkes. After match statement will be along these lines. I thought we started slow and was sure that as the game wore on we thought we could win it. But I was forced to make changes after murphy got injured. The balance in midfield forced me to move spector to left back. Forcing ambrose on who is clearly not match fit to work alongside another central midfielder who as just returned from a long term injury and was playing a full 90 minutes. We conceded our 1st goal from the right wing where Mullins who was forced to play out of position , after the 2nd went in I gambled on playing 3 at the back. But as ibenez was carrying a knock he couldn’t tackle. This made forced me to take him off. And play the last 15 minutes with 10 men. I’m sure if we had 11 men on the pitch at this time we would have won 6-5.
It’s actually not far off! ;)
What’s interesting is if you compare today’s team:
Butland
Murphy (Ambrose – 25′ ); Caldwell; Pablo; Spector
Burke; Mullins (Redmond – 55′ Booked ); Elliott; Fahey
King; Lita (Zigic – 61′ )
with the one that beat Bruges away last year:
Myhill
Murphy; Caldwell; Pablo (Ridgewell 90); Spector
Burke; N’daw; Elliott; Fahey
Rooney (King 73); Zigic (Wood 73)
Back four – the same
Midfield – three out of four the same
Up front — both featured King and Zigic at various points
What’s the big change since last year? Not much, apart from the manager and back-room staff. Something, somewhere has gone rotten in the camp. Clearly we can turn it on from time to time this year but seemingly only when the players feel like it.
Exactly what I have been saying as well ….thankyou for saying it.
Feel sick after watching that….I was a big fan of Clark when he was appointed Now I want him out. there is no excuses for that performance…
I genuinely believe that Clark has lost the dressing room already,these players are more or less the same that achieved so much , against all the odds last season.
The group of players don’t become bad players overnight?We have added to last seasons seasons with supposed quality championship players!!!!
Ambrose for one , if anyone has viewed the crystal palace website when we brought him, we’re over the moon as the lad can’t last more than 60 minutes, despite me thinking , what a good signing he has proven to be desperate and appears unfit.
He’s not the only one I might add, Mullins couldn’t pass to save his life , and appeared totally lost at right back today(not his fault for putting him there).
We have a defence at he minute that cannot keep a clean sheet to save its life.People can look at Butland , no right back etc but these are the same players that played so well last season.i know it’s a footballing cliche but they don’t become bad players overnight.
I watched today’s game and listened to a local radio station who were commenting on the game, and stated that Itl was the worse midlands team performance they could remember in recent years, including , and no disrespect “Walsall”.
We made Barnsley look like Barcelona.Lets be honest they could have been 2/3 nil up at half time if it was not for 2 great saves from Jack..
We were shocking in all areas .The sky half time stats showed a 64 %per cent possession in favour o Barnsley!!!We are at home for Christ sake and are totally dominated by Barnsley in all departments.There is no excuse.
Putting things into prospective we cannot even beat Coventry and concede 3 goals to them .We an only beat Peterborough 1-0at home thanks to an own goal by there keeper.Both respective teams are at he bottom of there leagues.
The players have a lot to answer for , however the buck stops with Clark.i personally think , he’s out of his depth at this level, and should do he honourable thing ,and walk away before its to late.i know most will disagree with this , but we are entitled to our views.
I genuinely believed before a ball was kicked this season , we would get promoted back to the promise land at this rate we are going to be in a relatgation battle .we as fans deserve better , for all the years of pain and suffering.I believe we as fans are being sold short this season , for whatever reason.?.
At 5pm today I was smiling like a Cheshire Cat after them lot across the road got stuffed.now , what can I say , embarrassed , ashamed and feel let down by the players and management of our club.
We always sing “it’s a long ,long road there will be joys and sorrows to.”but this is desperate at the minute.Kro
Its all downhill until Carson goes- we won’t get a decent manager or investment until then and then we can start to rebuild until then we’ll keep sinking. If Carson wasn’t in trouble they would probably have got CH for a few seasons, but with the uncertainty anyone would be nuts to sign what is effectively a one way contract. No one will invest in Carson even if he is cleared completely. So imo it all flows from there, manager also clueless and never won the dressing room and the players should be ashamed too. Blues always used to kill themselves running and closing down even if out classed, but sounds like today they just ran up the white flag against Barnsley. At least 7-0 to Liverpool was against a classier team. Willing to bet our wage bill is higher than Barnsley’s (Probably Ziggy’s alone).
If ever there were a set of players putting in a performance that could get the manager the sack, it was the players of Birmingham City. Something is not right and one of those players has got to explain what problem they have with Lee Clark? Because for me,there clearly is one.
Even Stevie Wonder could see the players couldn’t give a toss about Clark. It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong, Clark has to go and we need to find a man the players can respect.
It’s about Blues and not Clark’s or the players’ egos. Get someone in with some presence and guile.
At the moment I’d take Beau Brummie over Clark. Sad but true.
KRO
The worst performance I’ve ever seen from start to finish.A month ago my 81 yr old Mum said ‘I really don’t like our new manager’ and at the time I hadn’t heard him speak but then I did and do you know what I thought ‘no I really can’t take to him talking about having moved here and unable to go out because he’s worried about meeting anyone.What message does that send to the players? Not a good one in my opinion.No wonder Huddersfield got rid of him.The players don’t want to play for him and he wouldn’t inspire me!The whole team were a disgrace and should be accountable but Lee Clarke will NEVER be a successful manager so we need to act now!!!
well said, you don’t know how accurate you are girl, the players are not with him
I do think that all the players and management should watch that match twice over after every training session to understand what went wrong. Every pass seemed to go a stray or never get there. Why oh why do we knock long balls up front when none of them ever stick. Yet again we have no outlet down the left hand side. Totally unbalanced. Lack of desire, commitment and pride. Where were the leaders in that team. Words fail me…
If thats the case then someone from the squad needs to speak out.
Over the past few weeks I found watching Clark’s actions can be as interesting as the game; he walks from the bench, to the edge of the pitch, throws his arms in the air, stomps back to the bench [with his back to the game] the repeats the action.
No the most positive body language.
he may well be a top quality coach; but his body language is negative, and I wonder how much rubs off on the team; he appears to have no faith in their actions; do they feel the same !!
Again only the players can tell us that.
Clark or Club / Pannu say there is no money for loans, but unless they find some we will be in a relegation fight with all these injuries. It must be getting near the point where they won’t be able to train for the fear of more injuries.The attendance is still going down meaning there is less money for any potential loans.
Maybe the £5 punishment is doing those fans a favour by not having to watch this garbage from overpaid players, who are self deluded, as to how good they think they are.
At this rate, by Christmas Yeung definitely will not get anywhere near to £30 million, never mind the £40 million he wants.
By next season he could own another Cov and be in league one and be worth less than £10 million.
I should learn from SISU Carson and cut your losses or you’ll end up with nothing.
The team is so Jekyll and Hyde this season and yes we could still improve, but the possession figures say it all for me.
With most games only having the ball around 40% of the time is very poor and means we are always under the cosh, giving the ball away or wasting energy trying to get it back.
Why are players from last year looking so bad, is it Clark’s tactics or can’t the players play how he wants, or does he change the way he wants them to play too often, or are they just fed up with him or have no respect for him and his coaches?
At this rate he’ll be back in a league he knows.
He might be thinking the only way out of this is to sell the biggest assets in January and get new players in. Isn’t that what Cov did.
It doesn’t matter how pasionate Clark says he is if he hasn’t got a clue and can’t motivate the palyers and get them to mark the opposition instead of space then he’s wasting our time.
My dad was passionate but he couldn’t manage a team and so Clark is in the same mould.
At least we’ll miss AVFC & tranmere on the way down
Something must have happened half time in the changing room, yes it was bad before the break but afterwards man for man nobody wanted to know. Sometimes you can pick out the odd individual who ain’t pulling their weight, it just seemed that ALL of them collectively decided not to put in a shift. Whether this was done in a unified silence or someone said something I don’t know, but as the goals rattled in , no one, I repeat no one on the pitch was rallying other team mates on as a minimum, it’s as if they’ve all give up.
So surely this needs a clear the air meeting, players, management together, everyone have their say and move on. Brush it under the carpet and pledge to do better next time bears no substance. Brighton & Cardiff away followed by Clarks old team at home (who will have players who want to prove a point) means he couldn’t have it any tougher, it’s up to him.
Took a friends son who is 12yrs old and a blues fan to his first game,bought him a scarf from the shop before the game and was looking for a good result. The first shock came when we got inside the ground where were all the fans ! As previous posts have said the players are not playing for the manager but should at least put some effort in for the fans that are paying their wages. if it hadnt been for butland it could have been 0-8. burke who was player of the year last season looked frustrated and who can blame him. We have gone from seeing the best football we have seen in years last season under ch to the worst in years under lc. gomes and morrison have got to be better than any of the players today. Returned home with one unhappy 12yr old and i wouldnt blame him if he never wanted to go again like a lot of the kids who were there today. Us grown ups have seen it all before and hope we get it right before its to late. k.r.o.
I was embarassed to-day and i,m bewildered. Apart from 1 medeocre game midweek we have been crap this season, but 90% of this team are the same players who entertained us and battled for us week in week out last season.
Clark has unravelled this team, confused them with too many tactics and on the pitch they look lost and for that I blame Clark. Its no coincidence that attendances have matched our performances.He is out of his depth and I,m not sorry to say, he has to go whilst a new manager can turn it around before its too late or we will be playing Walsall soon!
Where do I start?
Butland- very good shot stopper but not an all round goal keeper, very quiet and doesn’t organize his back 4 quick enough, hence the goals we are conseeding!!
Fahey and murphy – rushed back into action didn’t look fit
Ambrose- cannot pass a ball to a player 5 yards in front of him
King & lita- to similar and dint create enough
Ibenez, cauldwell, Elliott And Mullins- dads army look slow and not interested.
Spector- exposed due to covering dads army all the time
Finally lee Clarke- never seen a manager so agitated on the sideline and it showed on the pitch and in the crowd, if your manager is not confident we are doomed!!!
I think the article in the evening mail about Clarke not frightened to rustle a few feathers in the camp had caused a very negative vibe at st Andrews, I’m a firm believer of giving someone time but Clarke and his support team have really lost the plot after all our only Player missing from ch line up last season is Mutch.
It’s time to get rid of dads army and bring in some youth players who are hungry and want to make it in the game and not play journeymen who are here for there last big pay cheque in the game!!
I’m reading comments that are actually registering genuine shock and dismay along with various theories as to tonight’s result. It was blatantly obvious to the most casual football observer that from Clark’s SECOND game ( proper ) in charge the man has not got a single clue about managing even a pub team !
“Out of his depth ” doesn’t begin to describe the sort of incompetence we are currently witnessing at the moment . You could sack him and his staff , drag someone in from the street that has a cursory understanding of football to manage and do better than this massive Kamikazee to oblivion trip we are involved in ! I’m absolutely livid !!!!!!!!!!!!! Coventry here we come.
Read your blog every day Almajir and it is excellent
Never posted before.
Ambrose, Mullins are not good enough to wear the shirt.
Fahey don’t look fit – not surprising as he has been out for so long.
We didn’t create one chance today at home against one of the weaker teams in our league.
I have been going down St. Andrews for thirty years and that was perhaps the worst performance I have ever seen. I don’t mind losing but it is the not trying that really hurts!!
I really fear for us this year
Well i can tell you now that 3 weeks ago certain stewards at the club commented that there is unrest between Clark and the players and after what i witnessed today, i believe there is. The players have to speak out and confirm or deny this.
I am not a Clark fan BUT today the players were an absolute disgrace. I dont care if they get on with LC or hate him.
When you pull on the shirt you play for yourself the club and the supporters.
Today none of the players did any of these things. Forget the false clapping by the players at the end they should all donate their wages to a local charity.
They wont because they don’t care.I dont care if any of them leave, i want players who irrespective of who the manager is, they play for the shirt and the supporters.
Overpaid , spoilt losers.not fit to put the shirt on.
The only positive is that a few more of these may force Carson’s hand and convince him to sell up whilst we’re still in the championship!
Sorry about that defeat Blues but a few of you guys pointed this out a few weeks ago about Clark and McDermott. At Hudds, the fans were pretty mixed when he got sacked, but in hindsight his limitations are showing. He walked away from us with a lot of draws (some very lucky) to his name. I have to agree, he’s certainly not up to the job at a club like Birmingham. Many of us lot thought he would end up at Gillingham if he was lucky. Good luck!
You coming down to St Andrews Daz?
After the first few matches I was very critical of Butland. Against Bolton & particularly today he was outstanding – Barnsley could easily have gone in 3-0 up at halftime but for our ‘keeper. Today Fahey was soon knackered (not surprisingly after his long lay-off); Ambrose has so far shown that he is not good enough; Mullins was slightly better at full-back than in midfield, but still not good enough; Elliot is nowhere near consistent enough. I thought the rest tried but were given the run-around by a much more athletic team. Spector, whether you like him or not, tried very hard and is probably the fittest man on our side. Even before Murphy went off, we were very much the worse team and it seemed as if they didn’t know what to do. When we had a free-kick, the big guys from the back didn’t know whether to go up or not. There seemed to be none of last year’s working for each other, and one must question on this showing whether they want to play for this manager. Unfortunately they and we are stuck with him, that is unless he does the honourable thing and resigns.
It would be difficult to attract anyone to the club right now bearing in mind the current circumstances however I would agree that the previous post is accurate when it says that basically anyone could do a better job than LC.His body language on the touch line is appalling’.It’s everyone’s fault but mine’quote LC.
I posted before on an earlier thread that I thought LC had a problem communicating with the players. It was clear today that he had no influence on the game as a manager from the sidelines. He can barely string a sentence together when interviewed, and he comes across as being just plain thick. It is little wonder that the team have lost confidence. He is just not a leader of men..! He needs to command respect and he does not have the skills. He has surrounded himself with a bunch of mates from his Newcastle glory days and expects it to work at Blues. Bring back Barry Fry…at least he was fun..! I think LC should resign. There are better unemployed managers out there with far more experience.
This result comes as no surprise and was bound to happen.
I have said on numerous occasions that LC and his ageing back room staff are totally out of their depth but was accused of being negative.
Really sorry to say I was right and LC should go now.
The club cannot afford to keep these guys employed-the next home gate is likely to be less than 13000 and this will not improve untill we have a change of management.Please don’t tell me we can’t afford to sack them-can we afford not to?
A black and sad day for the club and things will only get worse while LC is in charge.
Art – we can’t afford to sack him and his staff, to do so would cost us a couple of mil – money we just don’t have…
Is it wrong that I’m beginning to wonder whether we should try to sell a big asset like Butland out of the transfer window to pay the severance package for Clark et al?
Friend of mine flew 15,000 kms from Melbourne to watch that episode of A RIPPING YARN BARNSTONEWORTH.
Should refund him his fare + gate money so he can use it to get constant ongoing therapy and shock treatment.
The fans in BRUM have to take matters into their hands and demonstrate like the scum did against Mcleish.At least they tried something and eventually they were vindicated.
BCFCOK
I have been watching blues since the late 70’s and cannot remember a worse performance, never mind result. I was actually embarrassed as I took my nephew down today for his first ever game, took him to the club shop to by a load of gear, and then had to put him through that. He turned to me with five minutes to go and said ‘we won’t get 6 goals in the last 5 minutes will we?’ To his credit he still wants to go to the next game!
Our players are just not motivated they are not playing for Clark
Our players are lacking self belief
Our players have no spirit to play
Our players do not entertain us
Our players seem to have lost interest
Our players give up to easily
Our players are not earning their Wages
Our players should be ashamed of themshelves
Doyle in goal that’s all I can say more experience send Butland to league 2, 3 month loan will do him good, maybe if we are in relegation zone by January they will sell him for 8 million let us spend 1million and doyle gets the place he desevres he could be playin first team football at Ipswich bet he’s gutted
agreed
We can come back from this and we must but not with LC at the helm.He cannot manage,motivate or incite the team.He MUST GO NOW!!!
Should of cashed in on Butland, he’s probably worth less then 1 million now.
Mullins and Ambrose 2 of the worst players I’ve seen in a Blues shirt.
Murphy and Fahey are not fit.
What was the point of loaning Gordan and Morrison, do Chelsea and West Ham want splinters on their arses?
Neither Zigic or King appear to give a toss.
Davis and Burke want to be playing for CH at Norwich.
Elliott and Ibanez, inconsistent, that’s why they are bit part players.
Carr, great player, great service, but time hang up the boots, same with Caldwell.
Lee Clarke, worst manager in the Championship, he’s coaches are Has-beens.
pretty much valid points but Burke is a blues player and likes it at blues, I have to question the inclusion of a big lumbering center forward like King and limited plyers like Caldwell (my pet dislike). If action isn’t taken right now and a replacement manager found, we will certainly be doomed.
said it all along, clark is useless the sooner he’s gone the better.
The team should play in the pink third kit untill they have earned the right to wear the royal blue.
We carry the name of the second biggest city in the number one football country in the world.
I live in the USA and people here think Manchester is 10 times bigger than Birmingham just because united and city.Football is the number one export now and Birmingham city missed the boat.
lee Clark and Bih should step down before we lose all our dwindling fan base.
comment edited
I actually like that idea.
If the club had any sense, they would make the side play in blank shirts. At the end of every match, the fans could vote for who deserves to have the badge on their shirt.
And I’d link that to wages, too. No badge, no wages aside from minimum wage for their time in training and on match day.
I note that the manager felt the need, without solicitation or prompting, to reiterate the “mutual respect” which exists between himself and the players in his post match comments.
Which leads me to suspect that, in fact, there isn’t any. Not from the player’s side, anyway.
I am only glad I didn’t get up at 2am to watch that rubbish live here. What was that, awful body language no teamwork no direction, the list goes on.. Oh and i dont recal hearing KRO until the 2nd half which even prompted the commentator to mention it. Whilst I do feel for LC, in this game you may not be to blame for poor player performances but you are responsible for them. If I were LC I would want to distance myself from that disgraceful performance by all the players and resign with some level of self dignity ..
Is there to be a reaction from the Chairman ? What is the plan to move forward now ?
Almjair,
I have the very greatest respect for you and your sensible and accurate views on all aspects of BCFC but I think you have got this one wrong.We are now losing substantial gate and commercial revenue which will lead to players being sold during the Jan transfer window.In my view it’s best to sack Clark now which will give us a fighting chance to make a recovery and to install some confidence and may be the gates will improve and the need to sell off our better players will no longer be necessary.
The appointment of LC and his team has been a costly mistake and I think it’s best to cut our losses and move on quickly ,even if it means taking out a short term loan to pay off these guys.
At the moment it’s like waiting for the Titanic to go down!!
Tom (12.33am)…are you on a wind up? Yesterday would have been 8-0 had it not been for Butland.
We have to find the money to get rid of LC. He is clueless.When things started to go wrong yesterday he simply didnt know what to do.Im sorry to say that the situation is so serious that we may need to consider selling Redmond or JB to get rid of him and his team and bring in a couple of average players to stop the rot at the back.Forget promotion,be realistic.We have made a mistake with LC lets put our hands up to this, take the pain and move on.We have made a losing trade -we have to cut now! If we let this situation continue we are in real trouble.Art is right-he has to go now.
Watched the game and thought to myself about previous post’s on where has all the crowd gone, and commented that it’s not recession but performance on the pitch that puts bums on seats. After that performance, enough said, 10,000 at next home game if your lucky. Also said Clarke didn’t have the dressing room behind him. Jesus, I must be a psychic, I could make a living from predictions.
Also said previously, that Carson was doing a Ron Noades and trying to run the club down, to sell the land for housing development. Now that prediction is starting to worry me!
The players themselves “are not sure” about Clark,Perhaps more knowledge about what goes on out of sight would throw light on what is what, but I’m reliably informed that is the case, and thats all that was said. So…. what does that say about confidence? The players who have delivered week in week out aren’t….. nothing has really changed physically, The team is allegedly fit so the problem is a collective mental one. Personally I’ve always felt Clark is not up to scratch, his record of 43 unbeaten belies the fact that the vast majority of those games were draws. I can only hope that the present incumbents of our club sell up and takewhat was on the table, new manager, new ideas new hope
As an addendum, it seems Clark has now accepted the blame because “he is the leader”! Firstly Clark is NO leader, we have all seen that since he came. He’s just the bloke who conned a gullible board. This feigned noble sacrifice he is proffering doesn’t have anyone fooled and certainly won’t lighten things for him. They don’t wanna play for him, it’s that simple. Because of cost , we’ll be stuck with him until relegation, while he sits up in McLeish’s old house in Dorridge – land living the life of Reilly!!!
On the face of it Clark was the right appointment of managers who were available without need for compensation at the time we appointed.
Therefore, I don’t think Pannu should be criticised for that. However, when the pressure’s on Clark cannot handle it.
He’s making basic selection errors and then panicking when they don’t come off. The thing that damns him is the fans can all see it.
Mullins is not good enough for this league and Spector was the obvious choice at right back. What does the industrious and committed Gomis need to do to get a game?
Why has Morrison not figured at all? Surely he’s better than the piss-poor Ambrose.
None of our players look happy. Murphy, like Davies at Coventry, didn’t look injured, he looked like he couldn’t wait to get off.
I take all the points about playing for the shirt, pride in the badge, etc, but if your boss is no good and the atmosphere’s bad at work we all would lose a little focus and be unhappy. Just because they earn more doesn’t change the psychology behind the scenes.
In my humble opinion Clark is tactically and man-management wise inept.
Once the atmosphere and relationship is poisoned, once the respect is lost, it is time to go. I feel for Clark, as I believe he’s a genuine lad and an honest guy but, sadly he’s just not good enough at the moment.
In a way I hope Hughton makes a pig’s ear of Norwich, we get taken over and he comes back to his spiritual home – St Andrew’s.
Sometimes a manager and club are just the right fit. Clark isn’t, Hughton is for Blues. KRO.
Mr Clarke…If you are reading these comments, you will know that you’ve lost the terraces as well as the dressing room. You may still have the self belief that you can rescue this situation and turn the corner. I’m telling you Mr Clarke that you can’t. You will just keep going and going until the club are beyond rescue and we are doomed to the oblivion of the 1st division. Please do the right thing and walk now. In doing so, you may even save your own career. That performance was beyond bad! It is truly the worst performance by a professional football team I have witnessed in my 44 years. Please go……
I said no to Mick McCarthy before, but lets be honest, he’d be like the messiah at the moment!
What really worries me is that we haven’t played anyone in the current top 10 inthe champoinship yet. We struggled agaianst Peterboro who have lost every match and we beaten by Watford and Sheff Wed who are down the bottom. We made Barnsley look like world beaters. We defended well against Bolton and have lost 3 of the back 4 to injury in a week which further compounds our problems as clearly the team going forward are unbalanced and without a proper left sided option like Beasejour or Townsend. A change of manager is remote prior to a takeover. We need loan recruits urgently. I cannnot see any chance of plays offs unless something unforseen happens and I am worried about a relegation battle. Look at the bottom of the league and study our results and performances against those teams also struggling. I’m really worried.
Yes, anybody please! Paul Ince is looking for a job and he’s got a 43% win ratio..
Clark saying the feeling of mutual respect between players and manager to me sounds as if they are being forced together.If there is a group of players at the club that dont like Clark then they should be proffessional enough, which they are paid too much to be, to not let it show.Once it starts to show, games like yesterday happen.War between players and coaches is only going to hurt BCFC.Maybe we need to think about who to sell to raise funds to sack these muppets who have too high opinion of themselves.
Personally I’d stick it down to the players throwing a paddy. I don’t care who they are, when they’re payed a grand a week they know how to pass, can pass, can organise themselves and can get a ball up the pitch. Or they aren’t worth the money they are paid.
The manager is there to organise coaching, and fitness training and general tactics, but at the same time I expect a team to be able to do the basics regardless of where they are played. ‘He’s a defender, not a midfielder” is not a valid excuse for an inability to pass or a lack of commitment to tackle or not looking around you to see what’s going on. Anyone who thinks this is a sole problem with the back room staff needs to realise that they can’t control everything that happens on a pitch, only influence it. Once the back four became a back three we saw what a bunch of headless chickens they actually are. They can’t organise themselves into positions they were more comfortable with, the extra man in midfield who should have helped hold the ball didn’t and just stood around watching it roll between Barnsley players.
Maybe lee Clarke had lost the players, but on the pitch it’s down to them.
Autistic people can actually be extra-ordinarily creative and artistic. Not sure if that applies to badgers,
The worst game ive ever seen at the blues.Atmosphere shocking but understandable 2day.Literally with all these empty seats I watched the first half in the kop,and then to the Tilton Road second half to finally get the atmosphere.U had might aswell just book the cheapest ticket and sit where u want.
felt sorry for the three defenders when we went three at the back it was like some think you see at a kids game they had no cover & just proves the manager aint got it what a disgrace.
This is my take on it…. Firstly I missed the match as I was in Blackpool but having clocked up 700 games in 26 years I have to say I got off lightly. Watched in the bar with villa fan friends having already mocked their exploits because to be honest I could see a potential 0-0 based on how poor we have looked without a roaming athletic full back like Caddis (Carr type player). Murphy struggled and having already pre prepared excuses I did tell the villa fans square pegs in round holes at this early stage in the season is an example of a poor squad…………..THIS IS THE OWNERS FAULT!!!!!
Onto the game in question…First Half was woeful and a better team would have wrapped it up before Clark’s chance to give them a verbal volley. Defensively yes we were disjointed but why was Spector not given the role at right back? Clark’s first error
Next error not to rectify it at half time. Then whatever was said at half time had zero impact and the urgency and tempo was totally none existent. Second error as it’s clearly his job to motivate them into a response.
The second half was without doubt the worst 45 in my life at home as a blues fan at this level. I am someone who witnessed the palace 6-0 (my third game) but in the defence of that team most of them were kids who were clearly not good enough. This current shower are all players who at worst are top 6 championship players.
The Liverpool game was a shocker but when you are 2 down against a clearly better team in a cup match then we were always going to get picked off.
The main part that stood out whilst watching tv is the amount of times defenders were throwing themselves into tackles when all they had to do was stand up and jockey the man. The most embarrassing one was seeing a player dancing around our pathetic defence.
Butland didn’t stand much chance but he still needs to communicate what he wants them to do
Caldwell I’m sorry but maybe the summer break was one summer too many, he is a weak link
Davies quite clearly should be playing but his attitude is that of someone who clearly is no longer committed to the cause
Mullins why oh why oh why does the manager persist with him…. Plain and simple not good enough
Burke clearly he don’t seem to enjoy whatever instructions he gets and he is a shadow of last season
Zigic has the body language of someone who has been told he has no future so when called upon is it any wonder he don’t put a shift in
Morrison man of the match opening game, largely ignored since then so the rumours must be true. He clearly wont play him so why keep him?
Never been a sack happy fan and will nearly always back a manager when times are bad but there is a watershed game when you simply cant defend a manager. I went off Eck after the Fulham debacle. I have calmed down a little since yesterday and whilst I think he should be sacked for this inept pathetic display I would say we check the reaction at Brighton first.
Regardless of the finances the board must allow the additions of two loan full backs, perhaps give Robinson a 4 month deal. We need an N’Daw type player and another loan central defender WITH PACE. The club need to act now and a freshened up squad will leave the manager with no excuses. The reality is the club will probably spend £100k in loan fees and another £500k in wages until January but at present £600k is peanuts compared to the loss made if we go down and to be honest I now have serious worries that if we dont move on from this the negativity around the club could see us down amongst the dead men.
Mark – they’re not.
Not what?
The rumours about Morrison are just that, rumours. They aren’t true.
AFAIK he’s not being picked cos he doesn’t defend. In his first game he didn’t tackle once or track back once.
I would have bought him on and not Ambrose, but I’m led to believe it’s this lack of defensive responsibility that is preventing him getting picked.
Regardless what the manager thinks and regardless of what you have said, he still put in a man of the match performance, as a manager you are failing your squads views on you if you drop a man of the match. Edin Dzeko put in an awesome display at start of last season then was promptly dropped for TACTICAL REASONS, he then spent the rest of the season playing poorly such was the affect on his mindset after that game.
With Fahey back now there is room to pick him Fahey can stay at home and Morrison can make things happen. Morrison can also play wide so surely if he is not one for tackling then he could at least try playing him wide, or play off the striker? there appears to be no attempt to even give the player a chance at all no matter what. So why is he in the matchday squad? Our team is underperforming in numerous positions and an obvious candidate just sits on the bench unused.
Just as I can’t prove they are true, you are not able to prove they are false!!!!
8 minutes in 5 games, is enough for me and many others to make our own conclusions
Almajir, hope you’re 7 year old is okay. Remember walking out with my Dad when Watford put us out of the 5th round of the FA cup in the early 80’s.
Reading this is like todays weather, and I agree with all the comments around Clarke having pretty much the same team as CH.
So here is my take on being positive, Chelsea brought in AVB, complete disaster, but they got him out and then went on to win the Champions league!!!! So could there be light at the end of the long long road!
Yeah, she’s alright now. I’ve told her that this is to be expected as a Bluenose…