Birmingham City..the original BIG CLUB™ (but won fook all!)

Virtually guaranteed 10/11k home turnouts now for a few games at least. Seems to be what these lot want though.

As much as I'd like to get our business done early and be able to have the whole squad training together in pre-season, it's just not how football works anymore. We won't know if this transfer window has been a success until October, when we've seen them play, and we obviously won't know who we've got until the window closes. None of us have any real idea how good DeNeve, Alebiosu and Tavares are. McLoughin we know is a pretty solid Championship CB (something we desperately needed). It does look like we've put a premium on athleticism though - they're all bigger, stronger and faster than the players that proceeded them.

Don't follow the Lionesses as it were but looking in from the outside it does seem as though this group of players peaked when they won the Euro's 4 years ago and are past their best. Still, they're in the Final so if it were the men Im sure everyone would be saying "Who cares how we played, it's the result that counts".

I remember one of the old time referees (might have been Jack Taylor) saying many years ago that you couldn't penalise every foul in the penalty area or you'd be giving 12-13 penalties a match. My reaction back then was (and still is) why not? If they clamped down hard it'd soon stop. In recent years it seems to have got way worse again. Defenders aren't even watching the ball before it comes over and their only remit seems to be to block the attacker off and they frequently have hold of the attacker with two arms and go unpunished. They were meant to be cracking down on it a few seasons back but that initiative quickly fizzled out and it's gone worse.

Obviously we havent seen that much of him, and I am guessing that your post is somewhat tongue in cheek. But he definitely appears to be somewhat "raw" but that is not a huge criticism of him to say so. He is a winger we signed for a low fee relative to the league from Serie B so it is what youd expect. Wingers in general especially ones like Kargbo tend to be frustrating at times, but its also a skillset we didnt have and it can open up space for others too. We have seen signs of things that I am sure will frustrate and that suggest that he is raw. Running the ball out of play, giving away silly fouls, blazing shots miles over the bar, trying to beat too many players etc. I remember v Wolves which I think was his debut, having a player like him was exciting because we havent seen it for a long time, he terrified their defenders but didnt really achieve much at the end of it. He got into one good position and ended up diving and getting booked. There is also clearly something to work with though. He is absolutely rapid, he can take players on and there have been glimpses where he has got things right in the final third. He showed great composure to set up Dolan v Plymouth and yesterday that cross was excellent. He is the kind of player you want to see. It does seem though that Ismael is likely to go into the season favouring to start a perhaps more safe choice in De Neve. I hope Kargbo can really push on this season and also avoid injury as there is definitely something in there.

Because he tried to get the Club to tie down those very same players here? He's being nothing if not consistent.

Not one signing so far has improved our starting 11 from last season.

He's trying to recruit so many of our personnel that you almost wonder why he left in the first place. Until you remember the one thing we would love him to take to Derby from Rovers - the owners.

I wouldn’t say pretty clear because they haven’t played a competitive game for us yet so on paper possibly but in reality we don’t know yet Overall though still no rw in which is a concern for me we still need depth in cm and up top and obviously the contract situation still reeks so it’s not been great overall

De rien. Obs.

This subject really pisses me off. I'm sick of other people telling you how you should feel about the subject like we're fucking stupid. We all know why he left. We know the club is a joke. Where the fuck do you think we've been for the last 15 years? Still, I'm a Rovers fan, I want my club to succeed under these shite circumstances and this guy is essentially trying to buy our league position from us. I understand why but it's not going to stop me from being pissed off about it. I'm bitter about it it all, allow people to spiteful and bitter about it all, it's a fucking message board where I come to vent... Not to be all nicely nicely... Someone said the way I spoke about Eustace "does me no favours"... Like what the fuck are you on about? I'm trying to vent my frustrations with fellow Rovers fans, not get brownie points, impress anyone or convince others to feel the way I feel... Eustace is going to make my experience of supporting Rovers worse, I'm pissed off about it, I'm pissed off at the club, folk simply need to just understand that, it ain't hard.

I don’t say you were slating me. You miss the point. It’s a discussion forum and somewhere to post relevant information from whatever the source may be. If you don’t like the source scroll on. Without people contributing this forum would be even duller than it’s already becoming.

Best way at looking at this transfer window so far is, has our first 11 improved on last season? Is McLoughlin better than Batth? Is De Neve better than Dolan? They are so far the only changes to our "best 11" that finished last season. The answer to me is pretty clear.

We've rode our luck the whole tournament! Can we eke out one more win? A Guardian article today, very critical of the team and of the Coach's selections. Reckons too attached too long to those who played in 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jul/23/lionesses-england-women-italy-euro-2025-final-football-michelle-agyemang

Like Brighton > Chelsea in recent years…

Bit sensitive. Wasn’t slating you. Unless that is you…

Professionally I've got no problem with what he did and what he's done. He improved us, tried to stabilise the team for the next three years and ultimately wasn't backed at all. Personally though? Fuck him and the horse he rode in on. That's my prerogative as a fan.

The new striker who is already going to miss pre season and likely the first 5/6 games can only imagine the uproar on here if we did something like that

All very well fleecing travelling Birmingham fans who will obviously bring a large crowd having the promotion bounce. Problem is that Rovers will probably get charged a reciprocal price for the reverse fixture. I won't be paying £33+ to go to St Andrews, many others won't either. Meaning we'll be backed by about 400 die hards for a fixture only 2hrs away from home. Coz that's what football is all about, rinsing travelling fans 👌

Yes ok i see I just assumed with his initial part saying they were miles off his wage demands why would rovers even be an issue in the first place

How can anyone be pissed off with John Eustace? I genuinely don't understand. He left us because he wasn't backed. Cherry picking players he knows who got him into the playoffs. As well as spending £5m(?) on a new striker? He's upgrading on the club he manages 1000fold

I’ll share what I like cheers. You got anything worth sharing?

Not sure it's just pay on the day now, if you are an older fan that wanted to buy one in the ticket office at any time you'd be charged a premium to do so.

Not more from the purveyor of bullshit.. don’t give him the clout by sharing. Make him go out and get a real hob