Birmingham City

Background

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear Birmingham city is their intense second city rivalry with Aston Villa. A derby going back many years and still remains on of the most passionate in the country. Recent years has seen Alex McLeish leave 'The Blues' for the claret and blue side of the city. The decision made by McLeish to leave Birmingham City surprised me especially after their league cup win in 2011. 

League Form

As you can see from the form graph on the left (Source: BBC Sport), Birmingham's season has not gone to plan at all. The first half of the season was especially poor. The Blues only won a single match out of 10 games during December and January. Birmingham's form started to pick up at the end of January rising to a high of 11th place recently. The Blues are currently in 15th place and only 5 points clear of the relegation places. So, the last four games are very important for Birmingham City Football Club. Personally, I think Birmingham have enough quality to stay up with the likes of Marlon King and Nathan Redmond.

Transfer Market

Transfer Market information (Source: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk)

Notable Incomings

Paul Robinson             Unattached                     Free

Darren Ambrose         Crystal Palace             £281,600

Hayden Mullins          Portsmouth                      Free

Peter Lovenkrands      Newcastle United            Free

Notable Outgoings    

Jack Butland              Stoke City                   £3,344,000

Ben Foster                 West Bromich Albion £4,400,000

Jordan Mutch             Cardiff City                £1,100,000

Darren Ambrose was a very good player at Palace, I'd like to hear from 'Bluenoses' how he's been getting on at St.Andrews. Lovenkrands is a good signing, a player that I feel is too good for the Championship; Peter has scored 5 goals since his arrival from Newcastle. 

Birmingham fans must have been disappointed to lose two talented goalkeepers. Although, Butland was loaned back to St.Andrews from Stoke, good job too! The Blues picked up a good amount of money from these outgoings, it would be nice if they invested this capital next season to secure some talent. 

Birmingham City Fact-file

Founded: 1875

Ground: St. Andrew's 

Capacity: 30,016

Owner: Carson Yeung

Manager: Lee Clark

Nickname: The Blues, Bluenoses.

Rivals: Aston Villa

Honours: 

• Championship/Second Division, 4 titles: 1892-93, 1920-21, 1947-48, 1954-55.
• League Cup, 2 cups: 1963, 2011. 

Outlook

The future for Birmingham City depends on whether they survive relegation this season. I really cannot see The Blues going down, they have too much quality and with young talent like Nathan Redmond they should be ok. They need to sign a few more players before a return to the Premier League can be considered possible. I'm personally not sure if Lee Clark is the man to take The Blues forward, but I hope I'm wrong. Good luck to Birmingham, I wouldn't mind seeing them back in the Premier League. 

Barnsley

Background

Barnsley have spent more time in the second tier of English Football than any other team. This season could see them drop to third division, but I cannot see that happening, Barnsley always fight their way out of relegation at the back end of the season. 

League Form

As you can see from the graph on the right (Source: BBC Sport), the start of the season was fairly good for Barnsley. However, since christmas time the club has consistently been down near the foot of the table. Before yesterdays 0-6 hammering at home to Charlton, Barnsley were not doing too bad. The Tykes only lost two in seven games, many of those games were against tough opposition too.

The bottom of the championship is so tight anyone from twelfth downwards could be relegated. Barnsley are normally quite good at escaping relegation near the end of the season. Although, I genuinely fear for them this year. Most of the teams around them are winning games, so it is pivotal that they get something out of their last 4 games.

Transfer Market

Notable Incomings

Jason Scotland           Ipswich Town           Free

Akos Buzsaky           Portsmouth                Free

Martin Cranie            Coventry City            Free

Marlon Harewood     Nottingham Forest     Free

Tomasz Cywka         Reading                     Free

Ben Alnwick             Tottenham Hotspur    Free

Kevin Etuhu              Portsmouth                 Free

Jacob Mellis              Unattached                 Free

Notable Outgoings

John Stones              Everton                    £3,080,000

Craig Davies           Bolton Wanderers        £323,840

Jacob Butterfield      Norwich City           Undisclosed

David Cotterill        Doncaster Rovers          Free

Andy Gray              Leeds United                Free

Firstly, the incomings, Jason Scotland looks a bargain scoring 5 goals since his arrival in January. He's strong, he can hold up play and bring others into the game, very good signing. Jacob Mellis is another good signing, I watched him a lot with Southampton in League 1, tricky little player with bags of potential, a great buy for The Tykes. Tomasz Cywka is another free transfer that has performed well at Oakwell, he has scored 5 since his arrival from Reading. 

The outgoings for Barnsley could well have helped Barnsley battle against relegation. Craig Davies is a very good player, he scored 9 goals for The Tykes before he left for a small fee to Bolton, I am sure Barnsley fans were sad to see him go for such a small amount. John Stones was another important departure but you can't really blame Barnsley for selling him, £3 million is a lot of money and they could not hold him back from a chance to move to the Premier League. 

Barnsley Fact-file

Founded: 1887

Ground: Oakwell

Capacity: 23,009

Owner: Patrick Cryne

Manager: David Flitcroft

Nickname: The Tykes

Rivals: Doncaster Rovers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United.

Honours: 

• FA Cup, 1 cup: 1912
• Division 3 North, 3 titles: 1933-34, 1938-39, 1954-55

Outlook

The outlook for Barnsley is unpredictable to say the least. The last four games for the club really could have an impact on their future, relegation to League 1 would be difficult for the fans to take, it would be hard for them to get back up too. However, if Barnsley survive, they need invest a little money to get some new players which will ensure mid-table at least. Obviously, the budget would not be massive they would need to 'wheel and deal', signing players like Jason Scotland and Jacob Mellis on free transfers. All the best to Barnsley fans for next season, wherever you may be!