Birmingham City Season Preview 2023-24: A New Era, Early Business & Troy Deeney
John Eustace, the transfer window, Troy Deeney and early thoughts on Birmingham City ahead of the 2023-24 EFL Championship season.
Here we go then. It’s early July. I’ve already answered the call to FourFourTwo for their season preview and within the NTT20 Squad, we’ve organised season previews day-by-day to help each other understand how each of their respective clubs fare this season.
Unfortunately, alphabetical order means that Birmingham City are first and well, it’s not easy is it.
As it stands, the football club is mid-takeover with the expectation being that the deal will officially go through on July 13.
However, that does little for the short term except increase expectation ahead of what is sure to be another season where we muddle through and look to start putting the bad times behind us, trying to build on the identity of being competitive each week while a new one is created from the top down, likely to involve us winning more than we lose for once.
We entered this summer in a horrific state. No training ground after it was burned down last season. The stadium will remain below full capacity until just before Christmas. Only four footballers contracted to stay at the club beyond June 2024, and noises suggest one of those wants out while another is being courted by a Premier League club at a time when us fans still don’t know the exact P&S picture.
Even when the takeover goes ahead, there will be enormous change at the top. A new CEO. Potentially new directors. Overhauls of various departments, which could include the football department whenever they see fit. Unhelpful when you've only employed an academy director, manager and recruitment team in the last 12 months.
However, early noises and additions have been somewhat positive and having written a couple of previews already, I thought I’d extend on them and create something more in-depth.
The Gaffer
I've made no secret of my admiration for John Eustace.
He took the job last July a week into pre-season, had signings thrown at him with little permanence, a squad with an awful age demographic, too few players with games under their belts and clear imbalance, a terrible training ground, half a stadium, ongoing off field issues and noise and yet he led the club to safety with relative comfort.
The task becomes tougher this season. Or at least, he won't get away with just keeping the team in the division whatever means necessary and it being a job well done.
The new owners may not have too much say this summer with them not expected to officially take over until 13th July and P&S remaining a problem for budgetary reasons. But talk suggest they aren't the types to wait around and hope things work. They will want to see things implemented quickly. With revenue streams short at the club, having a team performing well and with a style of football people want to pay to see will be critical to helping boost the club on and off the field.
Furthermore, Eustace won’t be responsible for the recruitment of players this summer – that falls on Gardner, his recruitment team and contacts (hi, Darren 👋). My personal belief is that if the owners start to question things, Gardner will save face and protect himself rather than protect the man he brought to the club in order to keep his job and save face having led the recruitment this summer.
Eustace has a lot to contend with and most of his talking will have to be done by his players on the pitch. No excuses. Competitive. But also new and improved too.
Thankfully, Eustace is knowledgeable to understand what he is being tasked with. He’s a very capable coach and one whose preference is for a high energy, high tempo style when he has the tools at his disposal. We saw that in the way we started most games last season and the challenge is those above bringing in the right tools for a manager who can and will adapt accordingly, but who also needs players that can think and adapt themselves rather than relying upon Eustace and his staff to do it for them.
The window
In: Tyler Roberts; Koji Miyoshi; Krystian Bielik; Ethan Laird.
Rumoured: Dion Sanderson
Out: Jobe Bellingham; Maxime Colin; Troy Deeney; Harlee Dean; Jordan Graham; George Friend; Ryan Stirk; Adan George; Keke Simmonds; Mitch Roberts
A lot of outgoings. Colin and Deeney (I’ll get to that one in more detail further down) are the big two, the former for his longevity, availability and versatility, the latter for his voice and leadership behind the scenes, Dean did okay but wasn’t available enough and split the fanbase, Friend couldn't stay fit, Graham never really found his place and the young lads need to go an earn a living after being messed about by the club.
A lot has been said about Jobe Bellingham. Too much of the noise has been unnecessary. The kid is 17. He signed a pro deal and obviously wants to press ahead with forging his own career. Was he going to benefit from staying at Blues? Who knows. However, the Bellingham’s have shown they aren’t the types to hang around and find out and the club is a mess in so many aspects (off field changes, uncertainty around decision makers, poor facilities, muddled recruitment) that we can’t talk about his development at Blues with any clarity. Despite only winning promotion last season, Sunderland are miles ahead of us. Clear structure, clear plan, clear identity on the pitch & his former coaches being heavily involved only helps sweeten the deal. He’ll be better looked after there than he would have staying with us. And when you consider JJ and Hall are or were reportedly also looking at leaving, a picture gets painted. Bellingham was able to jump ship and honestly, I don’t blame him. Good luck to him. As for Blues, I’m sure we have a sell on fee.
The first two incomings have been interesting.
Tyler Roberts is very symptomatic of our transfer approach since Craig Gardner became Technical Director in that he has a clear and obvious link to Craig Gardner. They played together. I believe they may have the same agent or agency too. Of course, this process has worked well for Blues in recent seasons with some talented players joining the club and Tyler Roberts certainly fits the bill. There’s little doubt that he’s a talented footballer and a forward who offers something different in his technique. The question surrounds his fitness – while he had a bad injury a couple of years back, he spent much of last season in and out of the QPR squad due to niggly injuries that constantly disrupted he and his team. He wasn’t reliable and to date, he still hasn’t played 2k minutes in a single season. The challenge for Roberts is being somebody we can rely upon.
Then came Kijo Miyoshi, perhaps the first sign of our recruitment team truly playing their part. A Japanese international from Belgian outfit Antwerp is exciting as few of us truly know what he is like as a player. The reviews are positive too. However, he arrives while in recovery from an ACL injury. This could be a really fun and intuitive signing but as fans, we will have to be patient as he gets past that injury and adapts to a new country and physically more demanding league.
The next signings anticipated are all far more solid, perhaps what you would expect from more defensive players.
We saw last season what a good player Krystian Bielik is, a giant in midfield. He may have lost a yard of pace due to injuries (common theme here) but whose positional sense and quality with the ball is worth so much to the balance of the team. We saw Bielik at his best early in the season when he was fighting for his World Cup spot. Afterwards, a bit of tiredness and drop in motivation saw his performance levels drop before a solid enough end to the campaign. He has signed a three-year deal and the hope is that we get a fit and motivated Bielik that stays fit and who has got over some of the mental scars that remained last year in light of those knee troubles.
Finally, Ethan Laird. Unsurprisingly, this comes from a link between Gardner and his best mate at Manchester United, Darren Fletcher. I’ll be surprised if there isn’t a decent sell on fee in their favour. Still, Laird is a player of real quality and will add plenty to the right-hand side, capable enough defensively and a player that can really take us up the pitch from a defensive area either as a full back or wing back. That he’s 21 years of age and has serious Championship minutes under his belt is a positive too and I’m hopeful we get to see him, Chong, Bacuna and Hall link up down the right-hand side.
If Dion Sanderson signs, we can be sure about what we are getting with him. He’s a Blues player, one who wears his heart on his sleeve and plays with full commitment every week, almost never hiding from a battle and happy to let people know when he’s winning it. There is still a rawness to his defending, particularly the timing and winning of ground and aerial duels and hopefully the more experienced Marc Roberts and Kevin Long can make a difference there while Sanderson’s pace and willing compliments their deficiencies.
With Kevin Long signing a one-year deal and Josh Williams having signed a two-year deal, it leaves us with the following squad as things stand:
GK: John Ruddy; Neil Etheridge; Zach Jeacock
RB: Ethan Laird; Josh Williams; Marcel Oakley
CB: Marc Roberts; Kevin Long; Nico Gordon
LB: Emmanuel Longelo
CM: Krystian Bielik; Juninho Bacuna; Jordan James; Alfie Chang; Gary Gardner; Tate Campbell; Ivan Sunjic
WG/AM: Tahith Chong; Kijo Miyoshi; Tyler Roberts; George Hall
ST: Scott Hogan; Lukas Jutkiewicz; Sam Cosgrove
There is still a lot of work to be done, even if Sanderson is announced.
Sunjic and Cosgrove will surely be out of the door. It’s hard to imagine Oakley and Campbell remaining given their need for first-team football. The same may also apply to Nico Gordon depending on his pre-season performance. There are suggestions that James wants out of the club amid interest from clubs higher up the ladder while Hall only has only one year left on his deal and a decision may need to be made there. Then you consider links to Chong (Luton Town) and we could still see a lot of change. And the club probably won’t turn down offers for Etheridge, Roberts, Jutkiewicz and Hogan if the deal works in terms of wages.
Eustace still needs a lot of gaps plugging in his squad to avoid the imbalance issues of last season.
He needs a left-sided defender, preferably one that replaces what Auston Trusty provided as a left-sided centre-back option in a three and left-back in a four. If Laird is going to play right-back or right-wing-back, having that additional solidity in defence that allows the midfield and attack to press higher will be key.
The attack then needs considering. At present, we have Chong, Hall, Roberts, Miyoshi, Jutkiewicz and Hogan. The former is our star man. Hall has shown glimpses that he could be a phenomenal player and have a real breakout year. Jutkiewicz remains ever-reliable but is unlikely to help those around him play sharp and fast football. Hogan is similarly reliable in availability but his form and temperament is inconsistent. Roberts and Miyoshi bring something new to the side but there have to be reservations about injuries. If we play a 4-2-3-1, James, Longelo and Bacuna can plug gaps in the attacking four but are unlikely to sustain roles there while a 3-5-2 leaves us with three striking options.
Pace has to be sought. Real explosiveness in 1 v 1 situations that can lead to opportunities and worry for the opposition. Chong and Hall are quick. Beyond that, Roberts and Hogan can shift but aren’t rapid, their speed more about timing than rawness. We saw what Reda Khadra provided the team last year and a replacement would be lovely.
As for the striking position, I do believe Hogan and Jutkiewicz have roles to play, the former being a poacher that will hit runs where he scores goals, the latter being so reliable as somebody that will turn up game after game ready for the battle. Roberts can play as a 9 but his skillset is perhaps more use in one of the roles in behind, supporting the attack, linking play, looking after the ball and creating rather than being tasked with leading the line and grappling with centre-backs. A mobile striker that can bring others into play would be lovely but whether we can afford to bring one in with the three above mentioned remains the question.
Aside from positions on a pitch, I think there are character deficiencies too. We have lost a lot of experience this summer and already had problems last season that needed resolving.
Eustace doesn’t have somebody on the pitch that can conduct things for him. That reads the game, co-ordinates team-mates and makes adaptations accordingly to get us through periods, such as pushing a team-mate forward or dragging them back depending on the flow of the game.
We also lack players in the final third that consistently make good decisions. At times, we played some wonderful, structured football - a key attacking approach being Bacuna and Colin down the right-hand side linking, dragging bodies in then switching out to the left-hand side where Chong and Graham or Longelo could move 2 v 1 and try to make something happen. However, the inconsistency in our decision making can leave us relying on individuality as opposed to obvious structure and Eustace would surely enjoy having somebody who knows when to slow the game down, when to make the right pass and not get too ahead of himself on the pitch.
We then also have to consider whether we need to add if Etheridge, Gordon, Williams, Gardner, JJ, Chong and Hall depart for various reasons and additional transfers there.
Troy Deeney
Birmingham City captain Troy Deeney left the club following the expiry of his contract.
To phrase that another way, my cousin has left the club he and I support.
It’s been a weird couple of years. From him lying to me prior to the announcement of his signing to keep it a secret (he called and apologised that night) to the electric atmosphere on his debut against Derby County, being made club captain, Lee Bowyer casting him aside, the West Brom tweet, communicating with fans post-Blackpool, goal of the season, leading under John Eustace, Jordan “thatch” James, George Hall, injury and, finally, what looks to be his departure.
Season one saw him play 21 games, starting 15. He scored four goals and assisted three more. Troy was tasked with leading the team but there was something missing to his game. Bowyer didn’t provide his team with a structure which is why individuals occasionally shone in moments rather than any patterns of play or structure being visible, and his public conduct caused rifts inside and outside of the club. On the pitch, the players were effectively making it up as they went along in possession. Troy finished the season with the best goals and assists to minutes played ratio in the squad but never found a meaningful partnership and the loss of Riley McGree cost him the one player capable enough of controlling the ball, finding Troy’s feet and playing - there was an insane stat about 70% of passes into Troy being from McGree during that period. As a result, Troy struggled to cement himself, often unsure of what was being asked of him beyond running and spending his games chasing wing-backs - something Scott Hogan can attest to.
Season two was better. He made 33 appearances with 24 of those starts, often rested during a three-game week, of which there were many thanks to the winter World Cup. He scored seven goals and provided one assist but it was more than that. John Eustace walked in and gave the team a different feel, one where the team was more united, structured and competitive each week. The leaders were given a different role, made to feel important whether they played or not. We saw a different Troy Deeney. One that was able to battle without being as isolated, who could lead by example, link up with team-mates and support the attack. He received five bookings and all of them were for dissent or unsportsmanlike behaviour while standing up for younger team-mates who found themselves in bother, as if to say “these are my boys, pick on me instead”. This isn’t to say he was running the show each week but his performances and influence on the team was far stronger when he did play than the previous year. His underlying numbers were impressive for the actions he did commit in the final third but the number of actions were low, owing to factors both of his and his team-mates making. Injury struck amid a tough run of results and Lukas Jutkiewicz returned to good effect as the team made it over the line, and that’s how the story of the season is remembered from a striker’s perspective.
I can’t deny feeling sad at how things played out. We all hoped for a Deeney swansong, banging in goals and leading us to better times. Instead, he joined in his early-to-mid-30's, managing a body he had put on the line for Watford for so long and wasn’t the same player we remember scoring 20+ each year. He joined a club that has been an absolute mess for too long and needed as much sorting out off the pitch as on it. He joined a club without competent, top-class decision makers on and off the pitch. He joined a club trying to sell a dream it couldn’t commit to.
People debate the merits of his ability and that’s par for the course. Some rated him, others didn’t. That’s fine. Everybody has an opinion. I just struggled to deal with the lazy jibes that became commonplace amongst some, such as:
“He’s lazy and overweight”. He isn’t the quickest and has a unique build for a modern-day footballer but Troy has taken his physical state seriously to extend his career and never shirked a battle or put in anything less than 100% when playing.
“He earns too much”. If reports around wages are true, Troy was earning two and three times less than his fellow strikers and was one of the lowest paid senior players in the squad. While being captain, joining in with leadership meetings and leading by example. Same goes for John Ruddy, actually, who took the armband when Troy was injured. Good pros, smaller packets.
“He cares more about his media career than Blues”. Yes, Troy has spent time in the media. He has contracts. He is making plans for the end of his playing career, like any footballer in their 30’s should. He’s also doing his coaching badges too. Mark Noble put plans in place to become West Ham Technical Director. Michail Antonio and Callum Wilson have a podcast with the BBC. Despite looking ahead, Troy was Blues captain and nothing short of a quality character, as backed up by his manager and others at the club, including players and parents of younger players.
I even saw one guy say that Troy left his family to fend for themselves and his Mom still lives in Chelmsley Wood. Where do people get off making up this shite? Deleted his comment when called out, the gobshite.
I appreciate people may not like Troy. He knows himself that he can be marmite figure. He’s a big personality with a big gob. He has said some controversial things and said other things have been taken out of context. Anything for a click. He has been far too honest for his own good about his life, career, contracts and conversations when he has spoken. He also has a habit of speaking out publicly in a way that footballers speak in and around football but that the general public don’t see or understand, hence the George Hall situation, a totally normal conversation behind closed doors between footballers and clubs but something that seems crazy to us as supporters – we'd automatically expect our captain to tell someone to fuck off if they asked about one of our players, but football doesn’t work like that.
Troy’s time with Blues didn’t bring the success we all hoped for. It just hurts knowing that the legacy for many appears to be that he didn’t care, or that he cared too much about other things in his life. It hurts because I know how much he cared, how much he tried to do for the club and community, how much he tried to look after team-mates, how much he wanted to change the narrative of “oh woe is us” to “we’re Birmingham fucking City” and how much his head coach wanted to keep him around.
The result has been two years that have presented more of an emotional rollercoaster than any of the previous 20+ supporting the club because of the increased personal attachment. It has certainly opened my eyes more to the brutal business of football and the thick skin you have to have to be involved in it.
Despite all that, there was some good.
The first story to share comes on September 15th. The night my Grandad had a Cardiac Arrest within the ground. I was at home that night, under the weather, one of few home matches I missed that season. I heard the news about the cardiac arrest but it was only towards the end of the game I received news that it was my Grandad. Amid the phone calls, tears, panic and general chaos, I paced back and forth and realised my laptop was still on, as was the game. We were being dicked 4-0 so the game was already insignificant, even more so to me and my family now. Yet as I looked down, I noticed Troy placing the ball on the penalty spot. Time seemed to slow down. For 15-20 seconds, I watched my laptop and saw Troy power home one of his famous penalties. For a brief moment on an awful night, I was able to smile as Troy plundered home his first ever goal for Blues.
The second is less of a story but just the acknowledgement of how his move engaged not just the Deeney side of the family but others too. Our eldest daughter now has two Blues shirts with “Deeney” and his respective numbers on the back, which she wears with pride. She points out every Blues top she sees and mocks those wearing claret and blue. The same goes for a lot of people in Chelmsley Wood. A local boy wearing the shirt of the team many support. It’s wonderful.
Finally, I won’t share the full conversation out of respect for Troy. But while speaking with him the other day, he reflected on his time at Blues by saying “we all lived a childhood dream out to captain my hometown team”.
That’s how I should remember it too.
Troy Deeney. Birmingham City footballer.
Birmingham City captain.
Closing thoughts
I guess my lines about Troy take away from the general context of this piece, which is designed to preview the upcoming campaign.
Where were we? Oh, right, what we need and how this season will pan out.
Honestly, I’m not too sure.
In many ways, it’s an extremely exciting time to be a Birmingham City fan. We are about to be taken over by guys who appear to be very impressive on the face of it, ideas coming to the fore that we couldn’t have dreamed of becoming a reality over the past decade and some of the signings this summer represent genuine progress for a club that has spunked money on the wrong people for too long.
I can’t help but be cautious, however. There is a lot that needs sorting out on and off the pitch. As per the top of this piece, about 75-80% of the senior players in our squad will be out of contract come the end of the season and it’s the case that most of those will need to move on for the benefit of the football club. We can’t go mad in the window despite new money coming in because of the past mistakes made by those in charge of the club. We have the stadium and training ground to sort out. Huge changes are going to be made at the top of the club under the new ownership. Every department will come under scrutiny, including the first-team, academy and women’s teams. I can also see politics and how the club “looks” to the outside world playing a key factor in some of those decisions.
In terms of where we finish, that depends on the final few additions. The early signs are positive but if the season started tomorrow, we wouldn’t have a senior defender on the bench, minimal attacking options and assuming we do what we can to get rid of Sunjic, Gardner would be the only midfield experience and he was barely available last year.
The division will be tougher this year. We’ve lost two basket case football clubs and another that weren’t likely to compete financially and received moneybags Ipswich Town, another sleeping giant in Sheffield Wednesday and the incredibly well-run Plymouth Argyle, while Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton won’t want to hang around in the Championship long after relegation from the top flight.
I don’t say this to be negative, but when we’ve got people talking about top six and top half finishes, I think we need to temper enthusiasm slightly and see how things play out, even if the XI is starting to look rather tidy on paper.
I think it’s best to leave an official prediction until later in July and see how things play out both internally and across the division. There are certainly reasons to believe the club is about to embark on an exciting journey but that journey can’t be rushed.