Media View: Expert insight on Birmingham

Phil Billing’s first-half header earned the Cherries a hard-fought victory at Oakwell as Scott Parker’s team bounced back from successive defeats against Luton and Hull.

Dominic Solanke and Jaidon Anthony were on target at St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium when the Cherries triumphed 2-0 against Birmingham in August.

The Blues have experienced fluctuating fortunes in the past couple of months and have slipped to 18^th in the table ahead of this week’s round of fixtures.

Since the start of December, Lee Bowyer’s team have picked up seven points from ten games, beating Barnsley and drawing with Cardiff, Preston, Peterborough and Derby.

An encouraging start to the season saw them win on the road at Luton and Sheffield United, their only other away victory coming at Middlesbrough in October.

Ahead of the clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Richard Wilford who covers the fortunes of Birmingham for BBC Radio West Midlands.

BIRMINGHAM CITY PROFILE

Ground: St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium

Nickname: Blues

Head coach: Lee Bowyer (appointed March 2021)

Captain: Troy Deeney

Current league position: 18th

Leading goalscorer 2021/22: Scott Hogan (ten in the Championship)

Last game: Birmingham City 1-2 Sheffield United

afcb.co.uk: How have Blues fared since the teams met in August?

RW: It’s been a very up and down season, not least because they’ve had a lot of injury problems.

Losing their loan player Tahith Chong so early in the season was very difficult. He’ll be back soon but he is their main playmaker.

They’ve had a lot of difficulties in terms of midfield and defence with suspensions. It’s been a bit of a make-do and mend season for Lee Bowyer.

It’s not an enormous surprise that they haven’t produced any real consistency over the course of the campaign so far.

afcb.co.uk: What do you think Lee Bowyer’s aims are for the rest of the season?

RW: I think the most important thing is to secure their Championship status. His goal at the start of the season, and it remains his goal now, was to avoid being involved in another relegation battle. Blues have been in the thick of it in four of the past five seasons.

Given what he inherited and given the fact his technical director Craig Gardner has admitted this is a bit of a cleaning house year, they can start to rebuild what will be a younger squad moving forward.

I think they’ve put themselves in a good position to stay well clear of the bottom three.

That said, you wouldn’t want to go through February without a win because that could start to turn the pressure on again. The next few games are quite important just to make sure they keep everything at arm’s length.

afcb.co.uk: How was the transfer window for the Blues?

RW: It was a decent transfer window. Most of the deals were loans but Juninho Bacuna, the one permanent signing, has made an instant impact including providing the assist for Lyle Taylor’s goal against Sheffield United. He’s brought some energy to the midfield.

We haven’t had a chance to see Taylor Richards yet because he’s not been fit enough to train fully. He’s a young lad from Brighton who clearly has a bright future and Blues want to have a good look at him.

The other key signing was Teden Mengi (pictured above), a teenage centre-back who they brought in on loan from Manchester United. He’s filled in for Dion Sanderson who got recalled by Wolves at the start of the window.

Mengi has done really well and is a very mature player for his age. He’s a good athlete who reads the game well.

Overall, it was a decent window in terms of the players they lost have probably been comfortably made up for by the players they brought in.

afcb.co.uk: Two in two for Lyle Taylor (pictured above) – give us your thoughts on his signing?

RW: He worked under Lee Bowyer at Charlton and is a very confident lad. He’s certainly not afraid to give the other players his opinion on the pitch!

He has fitted in very well. He gives them good movement and is very fit and agile. He’s given them a mobile focal point which I don’t think they’ve really had so far this season. He’s made a really good impact.

With Troy Deeney out injured at the moment, having Lyle join Lukas Jutkiewicz and Scott Hogan as options for a front two has given Lee Bowyer a little more that he can throw at the opposition.

Compared with Chuks Aneke, who went back to Charlton in the window, you would have to say Lyle is an upgrade.

afcb.co.uk: Who is City’s rising star?

RW: Jordan James (pictured above) is a 17-year-old midfielder who has had a surprising impact this season given that he started the campaign as part of the under-18s.

When they had an injury and suspension crisis, he was handed his debut and went on to start eight games in a row in the Championship which is a tremendous experience for him.

He’s full of energy and is just starting to learn that he can do a bit more at the top end of the pitch.

If he treats the openings he gets in the final third in the same way he does for the under-18s, he’s going to become a very good player for the club.

To get the number of games under the belt that he has in the past two or three months is only going to serve him and the club really well.

His dad Tony James was a good player at Hereford United and Jordan has taken to Championship football incredibly well considering it wasn’t something he would have expected this season.

afcb.co.uk: Are any key players either injured or suspended against the Cherries?

RW: Troy Deeney (pictured above) is injured. Tahith Chong is due back in training this week after spending three-and-a-half months out injured.

Taylor Richards is still out, George Friend will be a doubt with a calf problem and Jeremie Bela will be a doubt because he was unwell at the weekend.

afcb.co.uk: What’s your score prediction?

RW: Bournemouth could be nursing their shock FA Cup defeat or they could bounce back like a wild animal!

If Blues were to manage to get through error-free defensively, they could be capable of getting a 1-1 draw. I’m not going to predict anything more confident than that.

You can follow Richard on Twitter – @wilfordwm

Officials: James Linington (referee), Ian Cooper (assistant), Bhupinder Gill (assistant), Alan Young (fourth official).