Quick Throw: Gooch to Bongo FC

Who knows how true it is, as it does come from the Daily Mail, but apparently Oguchi Onyewu is set to move to Birmingham City. It is on a free, as Gooch had completed his contract with Standard Liege. Hopefully, he will find Birmingham free of racism.

[Daily Mail]

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Championship Preview - Birmingham

Bongo FC may have missed out on a place in the Premiership this year by a solitary point, but don't worry all you bluenoses: you are more than 'tooled up' for a promotion push this season. Quite frankly, your collection of forwards will scare the living daylights out of most of your opponents, and it's a real shame that they can't all play at once. Maybe a 4 2 4! That would certainly accommodate their midfield losses this summer.

Talking of those... Birmingham lost 3 of their midfielders since relegation. Oliver Kapo and Daniel De Ridder to Wigan and ex-boss Steve Bruce and ex-gooner prospect Fabrice Muamba to Bolton. Mikael Forsell and Mauro Zarate also decided that the Championship was not for them and they joined Rafael Schmitz at the bus stop.

Kapo and Muamba will surely be missed, as will Forssell [Ed. Note: he must be enjoying Hannover 96, having scored 10 on his pre-season debut] but Birmingham pretty much managed to hold onto a lot of their quality players and even added some serious Championship experience to their front line.

In comes Lee Carsley from Everton, who will still have plenty to offer at this level despite being 34. He is joined by another oldie up top, Kevin Phillips. Phillips (35) shoved the ball passed Championship keepers a mere 24 times last term for West Brom, helping them seal a trip to the big dance and he will once again be a handful to defenses this season.

They also nabbed former bin man Marcus Bent from Charlton for an undisclosed fee.

Kevin Phillips: An oldie but a goodie!

So who do they have up front this year Bigus? Garry McSheffrey, Cameron Jerome, Kevin Phillips, Marcus Bent, Garry O'Connor and James McFadden (also plays left wing). That is one formidable front line.

Each one of those players could and SHOULD score 17-20 goals in this league with 40-odd starts. I doubt that manager Alex Mcleish will be able to keep them all happy and the Bongo board will see this overloaded position as an opportunity to make some money. I can see McFadden (brought in from Everton for 5 million) and Cameron Jerome moving on. Many consider McFadden as a Premiership player and Jerome will have no shortage of suitors at Championship level.

At the back Birmingham boast experience at this level with Martin Taylor. He was a rock at the back when they gained promotion 2 years ago. He will be joined by Liam Ridgewell, Stuart Parnaby, Radhi Jaidi, David Murphy and former Middlesborough wing back Franck Queudrue. All though McLeish has told Queudrue he can leave, I don't see anyone rushing to pay his Premiership wages.

The only area for improvement in this Brimingham team is in midfield. They will surely feel the loss of Kapo and Muamba. Should Carsley or Damien Johnson get injured then they may struggle in this area.

Alex McLeish. Over rated in Bigus' eyes but will he be able to stop the hangover?

So where will Birmingham City finish?

They should finish in the top two with this team, but we all know about the famous Premiership hangover and I think that Birmingham may take a couple of months to settle back in this division. Will they be able to get the job done away to Burnley or Doncaster in a mid-week fixture? This is a crucial season for them. Fail and they will need to sell and rebuild, stars will want out and the division will start to look like home. I can see them heading back up via the playoffs. Top 6 for me.

-Bigus

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Eduardo: Birmingham City's Reaction

The loss of Eduardo is a huge, but not devastating, loss for Arsenal. By now you have undoubtedly seen what we here have all seen as far as reactions go from Arsenal, via Arsene Wenger, as well as their loyal gooner army. You may have also seen the reaction of Croatians wanting to exact personal revenge on Martin Taylor. What you may have missed out on are the react quotes given by Birmingham City personnel and those close to the club. Step inside to see a bit of the odd, blame-the-victim, bizarro world that these people have cocooned themselves in.

First off, we have Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish. His initial reaction, taken from the tunnel after the game, is understandable. He jumped to the defense of his captain, saying that Taylor was very upset about the injury and was not a dirty player in general. I can buy that, and the stats bear him out. The red card given to Taylor was his first in eight-and-a-half years. Definitely not the disciplinary record of an out of control psychopath.

As Saturday went on, more footballer's opinions were solicited, and it seemed that those associated with Birmingham were eager to talk. Steve Bruce, BCFC's previous manager, went so far as to say the following, "He (Taylor) has mis-timed the tackle, and I've seen it. Some would say it is not even a yellow card." I'm sorry, but that's going too far. The foul was a hard foul with little to no attempt to play the ball. The only reason that is not a card is if the ref missed it. The foul itself is borderline between yellow and red, and Mike Dean chose red.

My favorite reaction (and I use that sarcastically) so far has come from Stephen Kelly. He says that Mike Dean only red carded Taylor because he had seen the leg break. Once again, I'm sorry, but this just isn't possible. Dean looked as shocked as anyone, after he had given the red card, when he looked over to check on Eduardo. Go find the video if you have not seen it already, you'll see. Also, to say that the red was produced because of the break is to say that Eduardo's weak bone structure cost the Blues the chance to play the game with 11 men. Blame the victim, indeed.

Joining the fray, goalkeeper Maik Taylor echoed the whispered contention that the injury was caused as much by Eduardo's footwork as Martin Taylor's tackle saying, "Eduardo has stepped across and he has just caught him." If it is true that Martin Taylor was just going after the ball, was in control and not lunging etc., how is it that he did not react to the movement of the ball and instead stayed locked on Eduardo's leg? As for whether or not Martin Taylor was lunging or sliding, I'll let this point of impact picture be my answer to that. One last point on Maik Taylor. Elsewhere (I've lost the link and therefore stand to be corrected if wrong), he claimed that he had a close-up view of the non-foul (in his opinion) as he was "right behind it". The foul happened at the center circle. As mentioned above, Maik Taylor is the keeper. Unless he was roaming Rene Higuita style, he could never have had such a great view. Quit lying to help your teammate.

The one BCFC player who seems to be doing his part in keeping his mouth shut is Martin Taylor. He must also be commended for making the effort to go see Eduardo when he was still in a Birmingham hospital to offer an apology. His record supports the assertions that he is a decent guy on the field, and his actions off the field back it up. Now if only his teammates (and Steve Bruce) could follow his example.



image courtesy index.hr

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We're Not Kidding When We Warn You

It's almost Theisman-esque, although not quite Cisse-esque (Warning: also gruesome). But after the jump is a picture of Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva and a picture of what used to be his ankle.





The challenge from Birmingham City's Martin Taylor didn't look that vicious in real time, but the look on Eduardo's teammates' faces (particularly Cesc Fabregas) immeditately told the story of how bad da Silva was hurt.

A furious Arsene Wegner declared Taylor should never play football again. That's probably a bit harsh, as again, in real time it didn't look intentionally vicious. But it's a pretty grim reminder, especially to casual soccer fans, who look at people sliding into each other then scream, "Get up you pansy."

These are big, fast, strong men, who are wearing very little protection on their bodies. A couple of cleats at the ankle, and it could be the end of what seems like an extremely promising career.

[Update: After a couple of hours to sit with this, it actually seems worse. And maybe Wenger was right. Live, the challenge didn't look too vicious, but that was one angle, from a distance. These two pics here and here tell kind of a different story. In one Taylor looks like he's aiming for Eduardo's shin and in the second, he looks pretty self-satisfied with his handiwork. So fuck that guy. And the FA should come down harsh on him and manager Alex McLeish, who clearly thinks the only way to compete with Arsenal is through rough play and cheap shots.]

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