Championship so far: Birmingham City

In the second installment of the “Championship so far series”, it is Midlands outfit Birmingham that will be looked at.

After managing to experience a hugely successful campaign last term which saw them finish in 4th place, the Blues missed out on the chance to return to the Premiership after suffering a defeat in the semi-final of the playoffs.

It would be fair to say there has been plenty of upheaval at St Andrews since then, with the popular Chris Hughton replaced by Lee Clark – a man who has yet to prove himself at Championship level.

The Results

As most people read this, they will probably be thinking of Birmingham’s most recent outing.

It would be fair to say that the Blues fared disastrously and despite playing against a Barnsley outfit who had recorded just one point out of the last thirteen away games, the club were hammered in 5-0 style. That defeat also put an end to a long unbeaten run at home and it will certainly be interesting to see just how the Blues fare in their game at the weekend.

Prior to that, their form had been average to say the least although they had at least managed to record successive home wins over Peterborough and Bolton. However, it is clear to see that there are big problems on the road for Clark’s men, with the club picking up just one point out of three Championship away games.

Now that the home record has been blasted to pieces, Clark certainly needs to reshuffle his outfit and sort out this form on the road.

The Summer Buys

It could be said that Birmingham’s major piece of business during the summer was bringing Clark in and at the time of writing, his position is certainly questionable. Nevertheless, we’ll now move onto players and the Blues certainly did manage to bring in several experienced heads during the summer months.

Darren Ambrose was arguably the most impressive purchase at the time although on current viewing he has struggled to replicate the form that saw him become such a hit at Crystal Palace and has chipped in with just the one goal.

It would be fair to say that most of Clark’s additions have struggled for game time, with the likes of Ben Gordon, Peter Lovenkrands, David Lucas and Ravel Morrison all struggling to establish themselves in the first team.

At this moment, Hayden Mullins seems to have been the most impressive purchase, with the former Portsmouth defender proving valuable with his versatile performances.

Recent signing Paul Caddis also made an immediate impact, although his career at St Andrews has stuttered somewhat in recent days after he was forced into surgery for a dislocated shoulder.

The Verdict

With Birmingham currently positioned in 19th, Lee Clark certainly hasn’t experienced the start that he would have hoped for at his new club.

Moreover, the fact they were humiliated in 5-0 fashion in their most recent clash is unlikely to have endeared him to his own supporters and for this reason, we have major concerns about the Blues.

They looked absolutely dreadful in the game against Barnsley and now the home record has been broken, it remains to be seen how much pressure will be on their shoulders in their away fixtures.