The latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive includes part of a transcript from the first Keep Right On podcast
Birmingham City will look to vent their frustrations at recent results when Queens Park Rangers visit St Andrew’s on Friday night.
Blues suffered a second successive Championship defeat on Tuesday when Preston North End cancelled out Jay Stansfield’s opening goal to win 2-1 at Deepdale. After going unbeaten in their first five league games, Blues have lost to Watford and Preston since club football resumed at the weekend.
Tom Wagner jetted in to watch Blues’ defeat to Preston from the stands with supporters. The defeat to Preston, Wagner’s visit, speculation surrounding John Eustace’s future and golden boy Stansfield were all on the agenda in the first Keep Right On podcast.
Alex Dicken (AD) and Brian Dick (BD) discussed a range of topics in the first episode on Wednesday. Here is a transcript of some of the topics of conversation
It’s his finishing for me. Jay Stansfield is clear of every other Blues player. John Eustace said it himself in a press conference last week that they haven’t had that kind of finisher during his time at the club, and Blues haven’t had it for a long time. I know Che Adams scored a lot of goals one season but I’m not sure he was as competent a finisher as Stansfield is.”
I have fallen in love with the guy. I think he’s so good. You can see him playing in the Premier League in a couple of years. I think he is the best finisher at the club since Kevin Phillips. What a signing.”
“I got a few. The first was when Miyoshi took it off the mark and ran towards the last Preston defender, with a Blues player on either side. With the weight of Miyoshi’s pass, the game would ended up with a scoring chance for either of these players. There was a skeptical retreat from a Preston player that resulted in a booking. I was really upset because it wasn’t a red card , because it was impossible, but in the end that guy didn’t go play football and probably prevented possible scoring opportunities. “What really upset me was Alan Browne’s return pass which Freddie Woodman controlled with his arm. Everyone in the field could see that it was a clear back pass and should have resulted in an indirect free kick for the Blues in the box.
“I don’t want to complain too much about the referee because I don’t think the Blues are playing that badly this season. But in their last two games – and Jutkiewicz’s red card against Cardiff – everything has gone against them. I thought Keith Stroud was particularly bad against Watford. In my opinion, Dean Whitestone isn’t that bad. But that simply depends on the level of refereeing in the Championship. If we complain about Premier League referees every week, what can we expect when it comes to the Championship.
It’s like when big bosses walk into the office, you want the place to be clean, tidy and all operations run smoothly. I’m just wondering if anyone has said anything to Tom Wagner about John Eustace with the Wayne Rooney rumors going around.
“I think Eustace knew Wagner was going to be there, even if it had been kept very quiet before, yes and I have the feeling that he just came and paid at the turnstile.
“It feels like there is unnecessary pressure being created around Eustace with Rangers and Rooney that the Blues really don’t need. Since this happened, the Blues have lost two games. Don’t get me wrong, Absolutely good performance.” , but it only creates a little pressure. This is the type of noise you don’t want and wonder how it propagates to both sides.
Everyone has an agent, yeah, that’s my answer to that, and agents want to take care of their customers. Dealers want to make sure they are getting the best deals. We’ve discussed this before and I think you’ll agree when I say that I think Eustace earned enough brownie points last season to have a good chance this season. People will quibble about his replacement. My starting point is that football managers and coaches know more than we do and have more access to information than we do. I’m behind Eustace, he deserves a chance to go all the way.
“I know there are a lot of people who are disappointed with this. John Eustace said Tuesday that Laird struggled last week and may be two weeks away. It’s been four weeks, almost five weeks. He suffered a hamstring injury before the season and recovered in the first game. After three games, he was out with another hamstring injury. “Eustache pointed out that they signed Laird and Tyler Roberts because of their injury history. They can get them cheaply and that’s probably the reason. They tend to encounter minor problems and beatings. Laird is becoming a disappointing loser. “It’s disappointing because we’ve seen how good and influential he is and how he affects games at right-back. He has provided width in these early games on the right flank. This is the group the Blues are buying into at the moment in terms of players with a somewhat frustrating injury history. If Tyler Roberts had been 100% fit, would he still be at Leeds United? Probably so. Would Laird have played in the Premier League with a better injury history?
“It’s disappointing because we’ve seen how good and influential he is and how he affects games at right-back. He created the width in the first few games fairy on the right wing. This is the group the Blues are buying into at the moment in terms of players with a somewhat frustrating injury history. If Tyler Roberts had been 100% fit, would he still be at Leeds United? Probably so. Would Laird have played in the Premier League with a better injury history?
With Laird, they clearly anticipated this problem. They have one of the best right backs in the league and they still signed a quality right back in Cody Drameh. Clearly there is not complete confidence in Laird’s fitness, which is why they signed such a proven player.
