And yet nobody rinses him. Funny that. Maybe there’s more to this defending lark than just pace.

Beck might be better. I’d hope so anyway, as it will only make the team better. The notion that Pickering is a bad un is just bollocks though.

He didn’t have to say it at all. He chose to say it. Probably because he knows what a good player Pickering is.

Was reading an article earlier about Mowbrays time at Brum. Dembele told him that he doesn’t like to run back as he likes to conserve energy for when he has the ball. Mowbray told him to have a re-think if he wanted to get in the team🤣

Exactly.

Lots of praise for Pickering from his manager.

Quite funny as this was only an hour ago. Nixon clearly not in the loop on Dembele so giving it the old ‘depends on money’ etc

Well, that’s fucked it! however, I think he says that every time he’s asked.

We clearly haven’t got the money, as we couldn’t match Brum’s valuation. Oxford could.

There’s debate whether Siggy now qualifies without taking an ESC spot. It’s gone quiet on Ryo, not sure he’s a winger anyway. Looks like it’s the lad from Brighton who’s going to be the quick winger we need.

Gives us an extra year to solve the problem, whilst having a better player for this year. Win-win

What if the loan is better than any permanent we could sign?

I’m expecting Eustace to call a news conference and resign, dressed in a full Birmingham kit. Full kit quitter.

No it was because he was an excellent defender. Lots of one paced full backs about (trippier, Alexander Arnold) who have played for England. Pace means nowt if you can’t defend.

Nobody said he was slow, just one paced. Like I said, Pickering is a good defender who is rarely responsible for goals against.

Agree on all points, especially the last sentence! I liked Nyambe, he was an excellent one-on-one defender, he was rarely beaten. Positionally he was a bit suspect and his end product was poor. Brittain is a bit of a fanny, there’s always a mistake in him, but he’s a good crosser of a ball.

Sure he was a scout? the ability to defend and positional play is far more important. No point being quick if you can’t defend. Being one paced also doesn’t make Pickering a bad defender. the errors made last season all came from hyam, pears and brittain. It’s very very rare that Pickering is directly responsible for a goal conceded. He’s a good solid championship defender.

Disagree on Pickering. He’s actually a good defender who is hampered by being one paced.

A dribble takes you past a man or two. A ball carrier runs with ball, not necessarily beating a man. Just a guess. My favourite is ‘ball progressor’. That one makes we want to punch a wall.

I’d imagine some days it’s only your sunny disposition that gets you through.

We won’t be signing him as back up

As he said when he signed them, he wanted the 3 older lads to ‘manage the dressing room’. They were signed for what they bring off the pitch as much as they bring on it.

That’s what I said😉

In response to someone saying ‘3 for the week’ So 4 in total ‘by the end of today’ cos we’ve already signed 1 (Beck) Basically subtract 1 from 4 and that’s numberwang.