BRUM IS BLUE!

Well, Tuesday was a night of disappointment but at the same time I think it was a night of finally being grounded. Ambition is high but reality is far less glamourous and it looks as though Blues will need a period of adjustment back in the Championship before we reach the promised land, at least based on the last few games anyway.

Most teams do have a blip in the Championship and if we can hit form and go on a run then anything is possible, right now though mid-table consolidation looks like it will be a struggle to be achieved and then you’re in a relegation battle. There is no way it should have taken a 99th minute goal for Blues to claw a point against a club in turmoil that haven’t won all season, it’s embarrassing if you ask me and certainly screams that something isn’t right.

I appreciate some of the different discussion that I’ve seen in both the mainstream and social media, in particular conversations around Wagner having raised expectations to perhaps unrealistic heights. There is some truth in this but it’s also no excuse because if you have ambitions to be a big, big club expectations can’t be just to float in the middle of the second division. What you do is ask what the manager needs to achieve the expectation, provide as much as you can towards this and then leave them to it. You don’t keep your expectations a secret to make it easier on the manager, after all diamonds need pressure to form.

The second topic of discussion is Davies himself. I’m certainly not going to call for a manager to be sacked but do we then ignore the shortcomings with no repercussions? Without questioning what we are seeing in front of our eyes? Is it an excuse to say that he’s finding his feet in the Championship and if so how long do we leave it then? Is it good management to say you’ve made a substitution because you planned on doing it before the game rather than being flexible and reacting to what is happening in front of you?

I appreciate that Blues currently are suffering a spell of injuries but prior to the start of the season I felt we had a decent enough squad depth to handle this sort of thing. I suppose in reality Davies is unable to play his best team as a result but the question is, does he even know his best team? I’d also question the recruitment in the summer, has this really improved us because I’m not currently convinced it has at the moment so was such a big influx of players really needed? Maybe I’ll be proven wrong when they’ve had a few games under their belts, in fact I hope I am!

I think the biggest blow for me it’s that the players have performed poorly. I’m not going to lie I’d still be gutted having to accept that we may be here for a couple of seasons even if we performed well, but it would soften the blow and show a fight that isn’t almost some form Bluenose PTSD inducing flashbacks of managers descending into madness and our beloved club circling the drop. Its edging that way so I suspect everyone down the Blues is hoping that we don’t lose tomorrow and then we can regroup during the international break.

I think things will look better after the break to be fair, it’s been a tough start to the season in all honesty and without inflated expectations we are probably where people would think we should be. Stability is far better to build a base on than continually chopping and changing but I think it’s right to expect more of Davies and the players. Tonight will be a tough game, if we lose to Wrexham, a team we didn’t lose to twice last season and whom we eclipsed in the promotion run then are we as fans being too critical or is it fair to ask the question?