There are some fascinating opinions floating around just now concerning the ramifications of our comfortably beating by what by all accounts was a very poor Birmingham side.
I was not one of the 900+ hardy souls at the game so will not incriminate myself on a fraud charge by saying that I saw every cough and spit of it. I ostensibly didn’t. But from that slightly shaky position I will occupy one side of the fence rather than the other.
One of the biggest moans in this transitional season is that we cannot perform against the poorer sides to the degree that we get results – and therefore points. Well, now we have and I’m grateful for it. The nearer we get to 50 points and the summer transfer window, the more opportunity Daniel Farke will have to experiment and introduce some younger players, and the better I will feel.
For heaven’s sake, it was our first Championship double of the season and something to be celebrated for that alone as it’s still December. I hope we don’t have to wait for Ipswich to “rock up” for the next one.
Farke’s choice to deploy Josh Murphy in front of virtual debutant Jamal Lewis on the left flank appears to have worked out very well indeed. There are some lovely quotes from Josh online about how they talk, prod and probe, help each other out and thus communicate to full effect.
I completely agree with Gary’s comments yesterday regarding Marco Stiepermann. By his own admission he isn’t a natural left back (we can all see that) but he has always given it his best shot, and such is his versatility (and, to be fair, wage requirements) that he will have a part to play in this squad for the foreseeable.
As will Christoph Zimmerman.
So, the return of the TTs – you could refer to them as Trytey, but Gary has coined ‘Tetbull’ so thus it must be – was not before time. When Alex T goes at the end of the season (as he will) we have Ben Godfrey and very hopefully the almost tragically unfortunate Louis Thompson as replacements.
So, has Farke only just now hit on his best line-up? After all he’s been waiting all season for his favoured, natural left back in Jamal Lewis to regain finess. And Alex Pritchard is only just truly back at full blast from one of those injuries no professional footballer wants.
I will keep my powder dry on that “topic” until hopefully I see this particular outfit in action against Millwall on New Year’s Day.**
But for those bemoaning the downsizing (sorry, restructuring) and I am certainly in that category: guess who wasn’t involved yesterday?
Cameron Jerome, Steven Naismith, Russell Martin, Wes Hoolahan and effectively Michael McGovern.
As Daniel said in the Bible: mene mene tekel upharsin*** I feel it is for the quintet above, at least in terms of regular squad selection if not the continued receipt of their wonderful wages.
So hopefully just like some of those old Biblical prophets, we have seen a glimpse of the future.
If we can keep the bean counters locked away and retain the core of Madders and Pritchard (maybe even an interested Nelson too), next season may be a lot more exciting than this one. Especially now we know a prospect like Jamal can get a game.
If we can repeat this result against Burton we’ll be on 33 points at the end of 2017 and then Farke can really start to do his stuff by introducing a couple more prospects and building something with a little less pressure on him.
Off the field my attitude towards the Board and investment has not changed but on the pitch it might be “only a win against a poor bottom side” in MFW colleague Andy Head’s correctly-called damp squib of a season, but even the 1992 vintage couldn’t despatch the original Wimbledon!
**Watch out for a cracking MFW Millwall preview courtesy of the return of Nick Hart of CBL (I left my heart at Cold Blow Lane). Including a bit of footy politics that affects all fans of all clubs outside the top end of the PL everywhere.
*** “The writing is on the wall.
Trust you had a good one Martin. christmas I mean. I lost my Brother in law in the early hours of the morning. another City supporter taking his seat in the stand up there.
A win against the bottom of the league side who have managed to score less than us and whose fans say that they are diabolical. Forgive me if i do not start dancing with delight. Still we can only beat what is in front of us . We go onto Burton next, who are only just a little better than Birmingham , if the same type of result isn’t gained, then any good work done at St Andrews will be lost.
I worry about who we will lose I expect Madderson and Pritchard to depart at some point , this or the next window . But please let us not have a price being set then only to accept one lower., stick to the buggar. No playing cat and mouse trying to get a higher price then caving in, only serves to eat up time to get replacements in. Set it..Stick to it. pay it or Pee off.
The two players who have turned losing into winning, The newly named ” Tetbull” who are both on contracts due to expire at the end of the season, something needs to be done there I think.
Tettey has already made his case clear I believe , in wanting to return home with his wife , understandable but surely a shot at another year might be worth a punt. Unless they know of a solid replacement is lined up guaranteed . Thompson looked the part , but sometimes players are nowhere near the same after a very long lay off.
As to Nelson (self important) Olivera . from what I have seen he can go and I won’t be sorry, he certainly has not done himself any favours and that from day one of the season, what playground antics. There is clearly a problem between Farke and Himself, I do not believe for one second it is sorted out, strange injuries paint a picture. He threw his toys out because he was not playing on Day 1 (Fulham) but still not producing despite a run of games.
While it seems it has taken Farke this long to get his best line up, with changes looking likely ahead will he take as long again to get to the point of know his best starting 11 ?
Your Guess is as good as mine. that Knife Edge is still as sharp
Thanks Lad as ever.
As long as the Board remain solid enough to hold it together until the end of this season (eg retain Madders and Pritchard), 2018-19 could yet be interesting as a season in the bearpit of the Championship must surely have taught Farke and team something – ie tiki-taka does not work.
Unfortunately I believe the Board will sell either one or the other – probably Madders. How else will they continue to pay for the wine and canapes?
As for Nelson? Well, we’ll see. Don’t expect an inflated bid from Reading this time around as their season is even more stuffed than ours.
Yeah Christmas was okay – thanks:-)
Ironically I think Farke first hit upon his “best” line-up the first time we played Birmingham – if I remember correctly that was Trybull’s first start alongside Tettey. The only difference between that line-up and Saturday’s was Stiepermann and Vrancic instead of Lewis and Pritchard, who have only just become available.
I don’t think anyone should underestimate how much the absence of Klose, Pritchard, Lewis, Tettey and Trybull at various stages has impacted us so far this season. The trouble is that faced with those difficulties Farke hasn’t really helped himself by implementing his tippy-tappy style of play. It can be awful to watch at times , even if we win.
As for the transfer window, I don’t think we will lose Pritchard, even in the summer. The reality is he has only proved himself at Championship level. When he left Spurs there wasn’t a queue of bottom half Premiership clubs keen to sign him, and I don’t think many would see him as what they need now. It’s possible that a Swansea or Bournemouth might be desperate enough to throw money around – but given what we paid for him it would surely have to be quite a lot of money. And even if they did, would he go, knowing that the chances are he’d be back in the Championship in a few months time?
Maddison is different. Much younger, and he really does look as though he has the raw talent to play in the PL, and not just in the relegation zone. When we bought him he remained at Coventry for the rest of that season, and the word was there were other “bigger” clubs after him. It would not surprise me if one of them comes in for him on a similar basis – i.e. buy and loan back to us for a while to continue his development in the Championship.
That’s a pretty good analysis Keith. Sure Farke had “bad luck” with injuries, which is a major reason I’m not one of those calling for his head – a ridiculous concept anyway imo. It’s not going to happen so he will be allowed to carry on. I’m not devastated by that – I don’t want one of the Harry Redknapp’s of this world, he he!
Let’s get those 50+ points and regroup for next season.
With our nailed-on slender resources it’s the only view to take:-)
January will certainly be an interesting month and hopefully some wins over the next few weeks will put us in stronger position not only in the league, but also in terms of being a more attractive proposition for any potential incoming transfers.
I would agree with Keith B above, in that I don’t think Pritchard will be off any time soon as like you say, he has only proven himself in the Championship so far. I would also question whether he is defensively good enough to play at the top level. That said, he must surely be a high earner and that fact may seal his fate here if we’re not promoted anytime soon.
Two priorities for me this window, a younger model of Tettey and a mobile/clinical striker to cause some chaos. I realise however that I’m probably asking for too much!
Well there are two younger models of Tettey – but we won’t be getting either this season. One is Ben Godfrey, now confirmed to stay at Shrewsbury for the season, and the other is Louis Thompson, if he can ever make it back fit and still playing like his former self.
Yes Michael you are spot on.
Louis Thompson’s injury situation is not good, even now. I wish him all the very best as I am sure we all do.
I missed your line about the striker yesterday.
Not sure I can see anyone coming in myself, unfortunately.
Hi Martin.
Hope you and the family had an enjoyable xmas.
Another goid read and for us cricket lovers Cook has finally turned up in the Ashes.
No matter the game or the opposition a win is a win over the last 50 years we have all seen the ups and downs and vagaries in cities styles of play but still in most cases hope for better to come.
Injuries, suspension all play there part also managers and players not liking each other so not getting picked or wanting to play, but at the end of the day we supporters are stuck with our lot.
We as supporters can voice our opinions either online or protesting outside the ground but my big no no is booing it just doesn’t help your team and gives the opposition a boost and in a similar way is leaving early.
The Smiths and the others on the board will sit in their padded seats having drunk enough Sherry, Bolinger or other tipple not to have noticed you leaving and the booing they will just thing it is a buzzing in the ears having drunk to much then sleep it of whilst being chauffeured home.
Unlike us mere mortal the poor millionaires living in their PASTRY TOWERS will just have another board meeting spend a few minutes dicussing the game and how to improve it for the next game then open another vintage sherry and the world is alright again.
As has been said many times you hurt the ones you love most and turning a blind eye or two might ease the pain but it doesn’t resolve the enduring problem and until the board except that things will not change.
Lets all hope for a great win to round off the year and then an even better start too 2018 against Millwall, here again is my 10 wishes for the new year.
01) New owner with cash to spend on the team
02) Ipswich’s season to falter
03) Tettey to be offered a 1 season extension
04) The Smiths to depart with some dignity
05) Maddison and Pritchard to be offered more lucrative contracts to stay
06) DF has finally learnt about the championship
07) Jarvis retires from football
08) A striker to score 20 goals a season
09) City get a great offer for Naismith
10) City mount a great run to the playoff finals
HOW HAPPY MY NEW YEAR WOULD BE
So Happy New year to one and All
Ha! If we get #1, #4 will follow and you might get the rest of your wishes:-)
In strict relevance to #9 what’s that all about? Monty Python once mentioned something about a kiss on the b*m and a packet of wine gums to seal a deal. I dunno about the former but who would give away even a single one of those lovely burgundy Maynards’ wine gums in exchange for the signature of Steven Naismith?
Not me – HNY Alex.
Hi Martin
Wine gums yes possibly worth more than both Naismith and Jarvis at present but with AN stating he is looking for a striker he know there just might be an offer for him also he gets on with Murty at Rangers please let the gods be kind in the new year.
I was probably the least hardy of the travelling fans as I was home by 6.00pm.
Before kick-off a guy said to me that he felt better already seeing Tettey and Trybul warming up. Although I agreed with him I would rather have been excited by the return of a scoring c.f. and flying winger than 2 unspectacular defensive midfielders.
We were decent but not brilliant, Birmingham were truly awful which is something I will gently report to my Blues supporting boss on Tuesday.
T&T were the effective pair we thought they would be, Lewis was a refreshing upgrade and Murphy looked to have found some of his mojo, no one had a bad game.
Burton and Millwall will give us a sterner test.
Just a thought but Birmingham have had about 6 or 7 different owners since I have lived in the Midlands; their fans haven’t liked any of them.
The only ones that had any success was the Sullivan/Gold and when they sold were supposed to have had an interest in city.
Birmingham big problem to many clubs that have had a history of past success and still living on it.
My uncle Joe hung much of Sullivan’s wallpaper at his mansion near Theydon Bois in Essex, many years ago.
It’s the original “jus’ sayin'” but the, erm, people coming in and out of his place were truly interesting. by his accounts. And one or two of them I saw myself when I drove him into work and back one day.
I reckon I’d rather have Delia in situ tbh.
And coming from me that’s quite some comment.
Believe me, the Golds/Sullivan ownership was unpopular with Birmingham fans.
By the way, they’ve won less and spent less time in the Prem than us.
Quite true Don.
I’m not (really not) into personal assassination but my casual observation all those years ago confirms my view that I would not want a semi-softcore pornographer anywhere near our Club.
Consider what happened to Mary Millington, if you will…
Anyway HNY mate and hopefully we at MFW will extract another article from you soon:-)
Hi Martin; succinctly put as always.
I’m still waiting on the “big” season owed to us by Mr Naismith as admitted by the player himself, but if recent reports are anything to go by he may well be on his way. Similarly, today it seems we may also be losing Jerome, and if the price is right, would that be such a bad thing? If we could get both off the wage bill, and bring a young hungry forward in then I’m sure it may well happen.
Interestingly, in that vein, Godfrey’s loan at Shrewsbury has now been confirmed until the end of the season, but (at time of typing), no mention about that pertaining to Carlton Morris – so is he going to be Herr Farke’s choice as back-up to Oliveira?
Hopefully our new, stronger and invigorated left-side will again be selected for the trip to Burton, and as you’ve indicated, I do think we will see a better Stiepermann if/when he is deployed in his self-stated favoured position (maybe alongside Trybull if/when Tettey departs at season’s end).
Happy New (and points filled) Year to all writers and contributors to MFW
O T B C
P. S. We had a fox terrier put to sleep……. on Sunday we collect our puppy, a Border Terrier, so sleepless nights (and not solely down to abysmal football performances) beckon!!!!!
Hi John – that big season from Steven Naismith will not occur – at least not while he’s on our books and let’s be honest he’s flattered to deceive all his “working” life. Ask Everton fans.
If a couple of our “big expensives” are removed from the books I’m more than cool with that.
As for the Border, from what little I know they tend to be stubborn little sods but fantastic to have both indoors and out. Typical terriers – as hard as nails, Off the lead when he’s older he’ll get on the scent – and come back entirely by himself,,, eventually.
Enjoy!!!
Hi Martin
Just read that Charlton Athletic are in negotiations with Australian multi millionaire Andrew Muir and according to his worth $310m plus another $850m after selling his company.
Really is about time the Smiths put out the feelers, Charltons present owners have only put the club on the market end of October.
Any takers
I think Charlton supporters have had to suffer a lot worse than us over the past few seasons!
But maybe not for much longer.
I fear the Smiths’ putting out of the feelers stopped when they found their nephew…
Yes I full agee but doesn’t it prove
1) There are still people interested in investing in football clubs
2) How blinkered and controlling the Smiths are
3) The rest of the board has no say in what happens at City.
I would say that you’ve just netted the perfect hat-trick Alex.
From a perspective point of view, I had a 1974 Triumph Spitfire for many, many years. I spent a few bob on it and it was in great nick – several people tried to buy it from me – one ridiculously in Thorpe Sainsburys car park.
However when I moved to a house without a garage I could no longer keep it in the condition it deserved and as much as I loved it, it had to go – so I advertised it and a couple from (oh, the irony) Sudbury offered top dollar and I sold it to them.
I’m sure there’s a parallel in their somewhere:-)
Dear Alex and Martin, sorry for being a tad controversial but I feel I have to contradict you on all of your three points – in order as follows:
1) It shows that some people allegedly want to BUY football clubs not necessarily invest in them….just ask Ipswich and others too countless to name
2) The possible future purchase of another football club by a random and (in football terms) averagely wealthy Australian really says nothing one way or the other about the personality of our owners
3) All members on a board have an equal weight of vote regardless of shareholding according to the articles of association of the company.
Hope you both had a good Christmas and that we all,enjoy a Happy New Year after wins at Burton and against Millwall.
Thanks Boot!
1: A buyout is all that’s ever been in my mind – nobody will put in money without control while Delia remains in charge.
2: Fair play to you, I understand that point. It doesn’t sound ideal to me either but to me any investment would be better than none.
3: In the letter of the law and in theory you are quite correct. But in reality with the yes men in situ appointed just to be yes men? Aw, c’mon! There’s only two votes that count. That’s not me being petulant, just pretty much how it is.
HNY to you too and our quest for points (and thus breathing space) continues. Hopefully in the fashion you suggest.