Season 23/24 | The Official Match Thread | Birmingham City v Swansea City | The EFL Championship

[jackharris]

 

[bakajack]

Looking forward to a game for the first time in a while rather than the grim acceptance that another game is upon us.
Interested to see how LW stamps his mark on the team and will hopefully get an idea of the direction that he wants to take us

 

[Chief]

Appointed Mowbray today

 

[jackharris]

 

[Ringwood Jack]

Hope we sell out

 

[jackharris]

 

[Dillwyn the Dog]

Looking forward to a game for the first time in a while rather than the grim acceptance that another game is upon us.
Interested to see how LW stamps his mark on the team and will hopefully get an idea of the direction that he wants to take us

If he plays 5 at the back but can get his central 3 working then that will be progress. If we can stop our midfielders facing back to our goal and looking to play more positive, quicker and more aggressive football even better .

 

[NWJack]

Very tough test Saturday - I'd be happy with a point. Mowbray a very decent coach who knows how to set up a team.

 

[SuperSwan]

Need to see the front 5 far more proactive and mischievous to give us options, with Patino commanding that space.

Bashir central CB, and please no Cabango.

Acid test of a decent manager is whether Cabango is on the team sheet.

 

[jackharris]

 

[Blackpooljack]

One would gather Grimes is going to remain Capt.

 

[jackharris]

 

[bakajack]

Good following for our first away day under LW.
Honestly I don't care what kind of result we get up there as long as we can see the beginning of a direction to our style of play.

 

[cwmdonkinjack]

Need to see the front 5 far more proactive and mischievous to give us options, with Patino commanding that space.

Bashir central CB, and please no Cabango.

Acid test of a decent manager is whether Cabango is on the team sheet.

And you think Wood/ Darling/Naughton are better defenders? Ben is limited on the ball, but so is Wood, but good in the air and a solid tackler. Kyle has the best positional sense but his legs are going.

 

[bakajack]

And you think Wood/ Darling/Naughton are better defenders? Ben is limited on the ball, but so is Wood, but good in the air and a solid tackler. Kyle has the best positional sense but his legs are going.

From my time watching us:

Cabango is strong in the air but has massive lapses in positional judgement and game reading and is often prone to giving the ball away under little to no pressure, often giving away big goalscoring opportunities to the other team

Wood is better on the ball than Cabango but has a bizarre tendency to lose the flight of the ball when played over the top of him and let it bounce often getting himself into trouble defensively, normally one of the very first things coached to a defender is never to let the ball bounce

Darling is the best of the three, has a mean shot and very strong offensively in the air from set pieces. Perhaps lacking slightly for pace compared to the others but is comfortable playing as an inside right back in a back three.

Because of Darling's comfort in that inside right back slot the value of a left footer for the inside left back position is huge, this means either playing Humphries (our most comfortable ball player and best suited to the central defender position) on the left or playing Wood in that position. Based on all players available for me the back three has to be Wood, Humphries and Darling in the left, central and right positions respectively if we opt for a back three.

However with the news that Abdulai is missing after feeling his hammy in the cup game and Key still injured it is more likely we will see Darling playing as a right wingback and Cabango as the right sided defender in my opinion.