Birmingham City replacing Academy with 'B' (and 'C') team

[Ealing Bee]

Brexit... Covid... overcrowded catchment area... need proper adult football competition... costing us a packet for little return now Bellingham's been sold etc etc etc


"As part of an ongoing review of the Football Club, the Board have recently undertaken a thorough evaluation of our Academy system and broader player recruitment process

As a direct response to the findings of the internal review, the Club will be looking at remodelling the Academy system and exploring a “B and C Team” model.

We believe that the reallocation of both staff and subsidy, will provide the Football Club with a unique and unrivalled programme, catered towards an elite group of young players who will regularly challenge for positions in the First Team squad.

This new and exciting direction will transform Birmingham City into a Club that gifted young footballers will aspire to join.

The Club acknowledge that the proposed changes will impact a number of current staff and players within the existing system."
More here: Club Statement - Academy Update


So, having taken some of our (ahem) best players, they're now taking some of our best ideas?

Good luck with that one!

 

[hanwellbee]

'unique and unrivalled programme'??? The bandwagon's reached the 'second city' has it?

 

[Ealing Bee]

'unique and unrivalled programme'??? The bandwagon's reached the 'second city' has it?

Well they had to get running water and indoor toilets installed first.


("We've got more canals than Venice, don't yow know")

 

[Peteseeger]

'will transform Birmingham City into a Club that gifted young footballers will aspire to join.' Blimey, they are truly deluded!

 

[badgerbee]

'will transform Birmingham City into a Club that gifted young footballers will aspire to join.' Blimey, they are truly deluded!

I think it's more of an acceptance that it's not currently a club that gifted young footballers would want to go anywhere near!!!

 

[JANORAK]

'will transform Birmingham City into a Club that gifted young footballers will aspire to join.'

- For about 30 or 40 games until the next available window....

 

[BFC1997]

Not sure it’s a very unique idea at all, and interesting timing given the recent sale of Bellingham.

Also strange timing given the impending changes around work permits potentially limiting the scope of recruitment at U21 level.

 

[Gee Bee]

I think it's more of an acceptance that it's not currently a club that gifted young footballers would want to go anywhere near!!!

They sold one for £25m in the summer.

 

[Gee Bee]

Not sure it’s a very unique idea at all, and interesting timing given the recent sale of Bellingham.

Also strange timing given the impending changes around work permits potentially limiting the scope of recruitment at U21 level.

They'll fish where we fish wont they, young internationals will still get work permits. Nearly all our recruits from overseas are internationals in their own countries age groups.

 

[Ealing Bee]

I read somewhere recently that Brum have sorted out their FFP problems, essentially by selling Bellingham and a couple of others.

Which is fair enough, except that while he has been given some money, Karanka has still been left with little to work with, hence their present struggles.

Anyhow, wrt to the thread title, they were forced to commit an "embarrassing" u-turn on their plan to close the Academy.

But more interesting - entertaining, actually - is this article in today's Daily Telegraph. It seems the Chief Exec is a complete tool, as this extract explains:

"Yet it is behind the scenes where Birmingham seem to be unravelling, with controversial chief executive Xuandong Ren continuing to run the club seemingly unchallenged. During Ren’s tenure, he has appointed Harry Redknapp, Steve Cotterill, Garry Monk, Pep Clotet and now Karanka, but it seems no manager can navigate a path to progress amid the chaos.

Ren, known at the club as ‘Dong’, was appointed in 2017 and is a hands-on operator who attended training at Wast Hills last season in full tracksuit. Long-serving senior employees, the fabric of the club, have mysteriously departed due to “Covid-19 reconstruction” and cutbacks over the past three years, including Julia Shelton, the club secretary for two decades, and financial director Roger Lloyd.

Recruitment staff have been furloughed, while Karanka was allegedly staying at the plush Hampton Manor hotel, where the top suite costs £500 a night, for three months after his appointment.

On matchdays, Ren sits behind the dug-outs and can frequently be heard swearing and shouting at officials. At a recent match, a local radio station had to turn their effects microphone off as it was picking up Ren’s bad language, while in December he was fined £7,500 by the Football Association for confronting a referee after a defeat at Cardiff.

The general consensus is that unless there is a change of regime the future does not bear thinking about."

More here: X-rated rants, swingeing cuts and a manager on the brink - how Birmingham City descended into chaos

 

[rebus]

Need to sort out their A team first.

 

[beebopalula]

'Dong'

 

[Untouchable]

Recruitment staff have been furloughed, while Karanka was allegedly staying at the plush Hampton Manor hotel, where the top suite costs £500 a night, for three months after his appointment.

You can guarantee that they got Karanka to sign his contract somewhere in Solihull, Catherine de Barnes or Hampton in Arden before they showed him the delights of Small Heath.

 

[TW3Bee]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1360295152963715072

"He knows the formula to get teams out of this League, and I'm confident he will do it again"

 

[Ashford Bees]

'unique and unrivalled programme'???

W@nkers. I want them to get relegated even more now.

 

[8corner]

Given the "strength" and "quality" of their first team squad, what sort of level would the C squad be??? Fixing up a pre-season tour of the Hayes & District League?

 

[BaildonBee]

A Birmingham City relegation would please me very much. A dinosaur of a club with no strategy.