BIRMINGHAM CITY RELEGATED TO LEAGUE 1 & VILLA NEED A MIRACLE VS OLYMPIACOS | Second City Podcast

they would do. We are here. We lost because of how poor we have been this season. It is still a big shock because we have survived for so many years with bad owners and with bad teams and of our 13 years in the championship this year, this season was one of the most optimistic at the beginning. You know, there are really new owners coming. I think if you told me in that first home game against the leaders that I would finish. so it would be as if I had just received the contrast because we went. I remember after the first or before the first game I was at Hennessy in dig buth and uh uh you know I remember I was wearing um I don't know.

Why, but I remember I was wearing the 16 17 home shirt? I don't know why I just remember I was wearing that jersey and I was so optimistic and Tom Brady was there for the game and we won one to zero and it was, you know. It was fantastic and then I don't think I've been there all season for one reason or another, but I ended up back there after the game on Saturday and I was wearing the same shirt and we just got

relegated

. I was like, how was this? It was like how was it, how was it, how did this happen, you know, um, but like I say, I only have myself to blame, I made a bad decision with the manager in October, Rooney, you know?

Isn't he the right man? We had bad luck with Tony that time. My situation, yeah, I think recruiting wasn't as good as we all thought at the beginning of the season. We have signed some good players this year, but we also have an imbalance. In the team still many of them probably have high salaries that they shouldn't have and we have also signed some really bad players in my opinion, like not many, but there are some really bad players there, like when we had injuries. We had to have players like Olly Burke Phin and Emanuel IU and you really noticed that that's where teams get

relegated

when the players coming in are nowhere near the level of some of the other players on the team and I wonder.

Also, not just in terms of revenue, but obviously the decision to let Kevin go in January probably backfired as well. 100%. I think it's 100% Kevin. We lost the number of late goals we gave away this season, especially the last one. In the third game of the season, in the away game at M Wall, we lost in the last minute, at QPR, we lost in the last minute, so the teams that were in and around us at that time, players like Kevin Long, there 100% we would have gotten one or two extra points with him. on that team for the

second

half of the season 100% I know it's not glamorous.

I know that it is not what the club wants to do in the long term and the style of play for a center back, but who cares this year is staying ahead in this

second

half. the season was about staying up um and he would have been ideal and we've really struggled in that department and he was a yeah, I completely agree, being an extrovert is a big mistake so you know, yeah, it's a little hard to process. shock even though we've been ready for this for a few weeks, I really still thought we'd get through this somehow, um, but also, uh, football is a passion and it's a hobby and it's something that we obviously love and you know . but it's not life or death too, you know, it's not like you know, I think for some people it is and you can say you probably went through it like when Villa got relegated or when you went through really bad times, it really is life or death for some people and it's like you know, just move on, you know, it's like and I think Takeover has been a big thing in the blues and the future is very bright and obviously they've really walked the talk.

Lately, um uh, so we have to stay positive with all that and obviously it would have been very different if we had fallen under the last owners in terms of the future and so on, but I don't think the acquisition alone can solve a problem. culture of losing and you know, it doesn't take much to get fans to come back. I don't blame the fans but it doesn't take much for them to go back to that mentality of anger and frustration and I do it obviously not ideal but maybe falling and having to rebuild is maybe what we

need

and remembering how to win from new.

Look what I changed. Did I change? You know, the IP change went down to League One, then they had consecutively. Promotions, I'm not saying that's going to happen, but they're in a much better place now, even players like Sunderland, you know, obviously they got stuck in League One for five seasons or whatever, but we're a much better team now in the championship that if they had miraculously held on that season with Coleman and Simon Grayson like they were a disaster across the board, oh yeah, and that's why they're a much better team, obviously, sacking Tony Moy. delay that project, but even look at us, you know, even though our first season in the championship was a complete disaster and we were still rubbish, we had two years to learn how to win again, yes, I think it has to be like that, it's a It's a shame because obviously we have a lot of players now with big contracts leaving who are out of contract.

Players like Hogan, who just completely disappeared. I don't really know what's going on there and I think so, who else is leaving? probably Gary Gardner is probably basically a lot of players leaving with big contracts and it's a shame that now we're not going to have a championship budget to rebuild that so it may set us back even more because now we have a rebuild for a

league

one season and then if we get promoted, then we'll have to recruit, probably recruit again to the point of making it a competitive championship team, so it slows down in that sense, but I think.

The Blues

need

to get back to being a happy place to go to in terms of results, and maybe a year, maybe two years, however much they end up in League One, maybe that's what we need, but we have to accept it and we can not. Be snobby about it because we're in Merit, you know we were the third worst team in the championship this year. I think basically every exit would point to that, so that's it, I don't want to go too far. in the strange pitch invasion at the end, it's just weird, I think people I don't know, I'm not against pitch invasions, but it's just weird and like a guy scored an absolutely world-class goal from the halfway line, It was quite fun.

To be, yeah, it's weird, man, it happened like it happened last season and in the last game, where a lot of it started as very young kids, although the under 10s started as a pitching invasion and uh and then, If then. it just became a massive kick on the field, it's really strange, so we didn't stick around to see off the players or anything that even I wouldn't still be willing to do, but it really wasn't worth hanging around, so. yes, it's been a tragic season, let's be honest, the worst in our lifetime for the blues, but you know, six managers, only 13 wins all season, no

league

doubles, we can't have any complaints, three away wins home, as we said last week, three wins away from home, yes, but I hope so.

I think you know these people that are there now, they are the right people to change things and we are so big now. Did you see Tom Brady? He received a mention in Tom Brady. I didn't watch it, but Netflix did. Last night's special, yeah, it was called the Tom Brady roast, not the kind of thing I want to watch, but um, uh, they were, they had a dig at Blues, you understand how we apparently suck and to be fair, we have this season, so yeah. is what we're going to do, hopefully in the next few weeks, once Villa's season is over, we'll do a sort of full review of the season.

I think we're not looking back? It's similar to the one we did at Christmas for 2023, so I'll save all my full thoughts on the season for that, so just for this Norwich game, actually, funnily enough, I'd score the Norwich game probably with a b because in We actually played as if we were the best team we had. we won one to nil we did our job that day but the damage was done and that's my review of the three match w the damage is done but my man of the match would be for this game would be Beck I really hope he stays I think he is One of the few players who has had some falls this season, but lately I think he has done his best.

He's been moved around all season, but he's always shown passion. He's always been calm at the back, so he would be my man of the match. I hope he stays next year, I don't think he will, but yes, losing players. The thing about Beck is that the reason he ended up leaving Derby was because if he still wanted to be picked for Poland he had to play at a Championship minimum and I mean he'll probably go back to Derby now that they've been promoted yeah probably yeah , yeah, probably, um, yeah, probably. I also have a couple of stats for you, Dan, before we finish this.

Partly Burmingham City were sixth, obviously, when you sacked John Eustace for Wayne Rooney in mid-October, since that appointment Birmingham City have only won 32 points from 35 games and also, and this is something I noticed when I looked at the final table on Saturday, where while they have not been very good this year and deservedly go down according to everything we have already said. I thought you were a bit unlucky in some way and it's partly because of how Rotheram has been this year, but Birmingham City had become only sixth. team in the history of the championship went down with 50 points or more, obviously in the Premier League you used to say around 40 points to stay safe and in the Championship because there are four extra teams you would say around 50 points, so it actually surprised me.

To see what you got, you got to 50 points and you went down a little bit like the year you got, this season you went down, you possibly got enough points to stay up, yeah, that's very true because I think the first one. 10 years ago and we came out on top with the header from Lee Clark and Paul CIS. I think we had 44 points, so we stayed on top, which is mental, you know, it's um, yeah, but like I say, we can't complain like you. I mentioned Ram because I think it's not like that when there is a team that is so far away from everyone else it means the point counts get a little corrupted yeah like at the top of the table the leaders are in the playoffs with 90 points and they're like the first team to get 90 points and not automatically get promoted, yeah, it's um, yeah, and like you say, very similar to our Premier League season because I think we were going down. with 40 and I think it was only because we pushed for an extra goal which we conceded and then went down with 39, so yeah, one of those, unlike you, went up with 35.

I think it was a few years ago in the Premier League um, but yeah. like I say, we only have ourselves to blame and um, yeah, we'll be back, we'll be back, who knows when that will be, but eventually we'll be back and, uh, we'll probably wick and walk away next year, yeah, uh, we'll probably get together for a drink beer if we can talk about it and then uh I'll be almost late or I'll be that will be good yeah I was looking at other teams that we're going to play it was like Lincoln, like Mansfield, Stockport um Rex. although you will have reom next year Rex, yes, yes, yes, but we can't, like I said, we can't be snobby about it, we can't behave like we're above them because, uh, you know we are. there at Merit, but you haven't had a great week either, do you have your car?

Let's be honest, no, it's been a terrible week, let's be honest. Thursday night, you know, obviously should have been one of the better nights. I've had it once at Villa Park and it wasn't um, obviously, we knew it was going to be difficult, you know, with like tons of people and Martinez being out, um, but yeah, in the last few weeks, it showed in the game. Chelsea and the next two games have really shown that with the number of injuries and the lack of depth in the team we are running out of steam a bit. Some of those players like you know, some of those players have played an incredible amount of games just because of the depth of the team, you know, Douglas Lise hasn't been in good shape probably since the Lil game, um, but we don't have no one to trade him for, so he's still playing, but him, you know, or john mcin.

He may need a break and he has to keep playing, so having said that, you know, Thursday night was really disappointing, letting in four goals or going two nil down was bad, but fighting to get back to 2-nil 2 and then everything. To suddenly lose that and go back to a two-goal deficit at the end of the game was really very disappointing. I thought on the pitch, you know, we were losing two to nil and obviously the fans were scaring the players or certainly one to nil. The players weren't playing the way we like to play, they panicked and we gave up another goal.

Almost as if the occasion had affected them a little or the anxiety in the stands was perhaps fueling their performances. I was trying to tell the people around me. It felt like the 2010 League Cup semi-final, where we beat Blackburn by 64. We were a goal ahead in the first leg andtwo to zero within 10 minutes in the second leg. That match taught me a lot about football and the two-match knockout. games in terms of we were down two nil in the first leg in about 20 minutes and everyone was panicking and I was running around trying to keep calm, there's plenty of time where we'll definitely score tonight, just stay calm and keep believing and um we did it.

Let's go back to 2-2. We had a goal disallowed in the first half that would have made it one to zero due to a pull in the area. It's very, very soft, very, very soft. I don't think the referee had a great game. Again, European referees make some strange calls, like you foul for a little tug and disallow a goal and then Leon Bailey gets taken off like 20 minutes later and it's not a penalty, so how can you just give it a little tug? to the jersey of the Defenders of the foul? But, yeah, I was really disappointed, obviously the Villa fans who came out of the game were really disappointed, but as the days have gone on I'm getting more disappointed.

I'm sure we'll turn things around in Atenas or the PRI, uh, next week. I think Emmy Martínez will return. He's probably waiting for Emmy Martinez to return. I know Robin Olson has a book coming out. I had a good game yesterday, but before that, after the Olympic game against Aros, his numbers were that he concedes a goal every 38 minutes in an Aston Villa shirt, which I know is number two, but it's not good enough . You know, the number of games that he's played for us where we've allowed four goals or three or four goals is pretty high, and it's like what I said on the

podcast

last week or it might have even been the week before, as long as he can have a good game. the defense really struggles when he plays because he's not Emmy Martinez and I think the Brighton game probably showed there was more to it than that but he can have a good game but the defense isn't comfortable playing with him and that's the way it is. things, but Olympia Aros were celebrating that game, it was obviously one of the big European nights for them to go to one of the favourites, if not the favorite left in the competition, who is doing absolutely well in the Premier League this year and turn them around in their own place, you know, it's fantastic, but the way they were celebrating it was like the game was already over, the score line says 4-2, but actually we're losing two to zero, right?

You know? in Halim, if you were losing two to nil in Halim in a 90-minute game, you wouldn't go into the CH, you go, yeah, come on, you know, so I think the other way around we wouldn't have celebrated the way. I have no problem with them, I'm not going to be the celebration police here because I understand that it was an absolutely incredible night for them and I really believe that we can turn things around in the next stage and you know, Emmy. Martínez as Emmy Martínez would say I am a believer. I think we can do it.

We'll need to beat 10 out of 10, but a bit like Lil's game in the second leg if we get the first goal within TW's first 20 minutes. You know, and Olympia Aras' games in the conference knockout rounds have been strange, so when they played Makabe Tel Aviv, I think they were at home in the first leg and they lost 4-1 at home and then they won the first leg. round 61 to go through and then against Fen Aache, the first match was 4-3 and then they won to nil in the second match and went on penalties, so in any case it shows that we are more than capable, if Makabe Tel Aviv can get there there and win 4-1. more than capable of going there and winning 4-1 and going through, so it could be another crazy game and it was a crazy game on Thursday, but we have to control Daniel Pense because he is a very, very good player and he is strange. that someone who was quite good with wolves has now been sent to Olympia, whether the salary is related to the wolves ffp who knows, and also the guy who was playing up front and who scored a hattrick, is also not nonsense, so, then.

Yes I think we can do it as we already saw in a preview but my three word match review for this game, for 42 will be keep the faith, I can only rate him as a man of the match, it is very difficult to pick one. I'll give it to Musa di because he got a goal and an assist. I don't know what he is, although the only thing he lacks is being able to get a goal and an assist and, even so, it seems that he lacks some confidence. I don't know exactly what's wrong with him right now because you know you have to get a goal and an assist to get back to two2 and then maybe you know we can see each other and me. suddenly maybe he panics or doesn't shoot when he wants to, in the first half he passed the ball when he really should have lined up a shot and it was one of those that a player who is confident and informed has that opportunity regardless of whether it goes in or not , so, it played well, so I hope you know that we can get it working again.

I'll go straight to the Brighton game and we were as simple as that too. For us, we weren't very good, we looked very, very tired, very, very leggy, we lost Morgan Rogers very early with another off-ball injury and that meant that we realized our lack of options, we bought Matty cash so that I had to do it. He plays in this H role, this hybrid like winger midfielder, where he had a good game this season against Burnley and it didn't really work out, but he's just playing out of a need, we had a need. I don't really believe much, I think it's the first time since 2016, it's our lowest shot count in the Premier League since 2016 in a 90 minute game, which says a lot that we didn't really believe or test much and it really seemed like the game was going to take Peter to zero to zero or one to zero.

There was such a lack of quality. Brighton had a goal disallowed for offside, we had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half and then I gave a small soft penalty um with about 10 minutes left it's soft but it's one of those that don't get disallowed it's a mistake by ezri Konza and, annoyed, Robin Olsen saves the penalty, but the rebound is scored um, I don't know, you know, my personal opinion, the rebound really shouldn't count because in a penalty shootout you can't and if the goalkeeper stops him, he will go directly to the striker to give him a touch, you know?

Okay, you know, since we got promoted we've had it and I think it's at least the third time it's happened, it happened against Spurs in 2020, it happened against Arsenal in 2021 and it happened here now, it's like you know, but it's what Which is um, I thought Simon and ding caused us a lot of problems, he was easily the best player on the park. um, yeah, it wasn't a good day, so yeah, in terms of grading, I'll rate it a D as well, um, maybe I could. It's been a little bit probably could be lower, but I'll rate him a D um just with the circumstances around him man of the match we're going to Robin Olon so I think last week after I gave him man of the match against Chelsea. he's back, he's back to back with them, so sometimes it's never good when you get control of the match because it means you're not really doing anything else, so yeah, no, no, no, no, no , no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no , no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, one , good, week, for us um, but next week could be a lot better, it could be a lot worse too, but we're going to be positive.

I'm feeling positive for Thursday, so yeah, bad week, let's move on, so true. um, yeah, we've had a Bad week in the football sense for both of us uh, going back to your point about penalties. I completely agree. I think penalties are too powerful these days. You have rebounds. It's like I've seen someone debate about a different thing. day but I saw someone say that maybe whoever is the player who receives the foul should be the one who takes the penalty. I don't know, discussion for another day perhaps, but yes, I completely agree with rebounds. R, it's all like, I think we talked about that.

In the L game, penalties are so geared towards the attacker scoring and now they are limiting what a goalkeeper can do to discourage the player, as well as how they actually rigorously manipulate a foot on the line and so on. You can't try to play mind games like, ultimately, especially if you're playing a shootout, like you need someone to miss, so you need to keep some Jeopardy in there fresh, can we get into the cleanup? So there's a lot in your entry in the vont? uh no less than the club is doing a free screening for the second leg, but I think they're all sold out at terrorist VI in the lower grounds, but they might open up another area. so maybe just look, anyway it's a cool idea, Blues, we did something similar on one of our last days of survival, um, cool on The Blues because we got something important, the main thing outside of the game, obviously, was that Blues had the nerve to do the end of season awards last night also the day after we were relegated but people said they shouldn't do it and it's not just about the men's team although it's like they have awards for the women's teams and youth teams and stuff, so it's still worth doing for that reason, but yeah, they did the awards at the IC last night in town and Jay Standfield absolutely swept the board, won all the big awards, so player of the players, player of the season. fans player of the season young player of the season goal of the season for his goal against Plymouth he literally won everything I think it was all the major awards that were handed out um it must have been a bit of a somber occasion but um congratulations to him anyway , I was wondering if they give a manager of the season award in bles because if they had five nominees we would still miss out on one which is quite notable and ironically it would probably have been John Eustace, the man who obviously later went to Blackburn. and then his team's win on the final day helped bring us down, which is interesting, but yeah, that was the main thing on Blues on Sunday after the game and there hasn't been a real announcement yet about what's going to happen now for the next one. season this leads to now and the whole Tony Murry situation and it happens to row now and so on, but obviously I don't have much to say about Mo's health still being a priority and so on, so we'll see what really happens in the coming weeks of the offseason and I am sure that when the time is right, we will find out more information.

We're going to take a quick detour away from Blues and Viller, obviously this is the second one. City Podcast and we have a lot of West Brom fans, in the Second City of course so they are in the playoffs so what we can do in the next few weeks obviously the Blues are not going to play and while we are still giving news and stuff, maybe just take a quick look at how they've done in the playoffs, so they finished fifth this year under Carlos Coran and will play South Hampton in the playoffs. semi-finals and then, if successful, they will play either Leeds or Norwich in the final.

Yes, obviously with Norwich losing on the last day and West Brom winning on the last day, they gained a position, so they will no longer play as leaders. the semi-final, yes, I'm sure the leaders have to be most people's favorites. I mean, I don't think they're very good either, but they're one of the guys, aren't they? They find a way even when they're not great. find a way to sneak into these things but they have improved massively this year with Carlos Coran this is their third year in a row in the championship and it's been a long time since they had three seasons in a row in the championship but all the baggies fans The ones you talk to really rate Coran and the work he's done there, I imagine after someone like Steve Bruce, he probably feels like a Guardiola type there and obviously Isma didn't work out, it didn't work out either.

Of course, yeah, God, I totally forgot about him, yeah, um, but yeah, we'll keep you posted for next week, so the playoffs are always excited in the championship and then a quick word, although you could say that , as a Premier League fan, is possibly the most boring playoff teams you can list from this season, it's true and I also think that we obviously won't be in the championship next year, but you should also keep an eye out for the teams that could be relegated from the Premier League. and it's like Burnley Sheffield United uh no or Luton it's like they're all here recently maybe it points to a wider issue about the disparity between the Premier League and the Championship these days that the same teams keep going up and down but um Yeah , anyway we will be attentive to the bags for next week, and also to another local team.

Sol Hall Moos had a great game on Sunday at Wembley, they were in the National League playoff final so all the moos just got founded and I actually looked for it. they were founded on my 10th birthday, they were founded in 2007 and yesterday they were in the playoff final against Bramley with the opportunity to get into league two andbecoming a football league club for the first time and they are actually very unlucky. They lost the game on penalties and that was the shot that went to zero, then took it back to 1-1, then 2-1 down brought it back to 2-2 and then they got knocked down on penalties, so really unfortunate , but what a story that is!

It would be like if a club founded 16 years ago could have been in a division below the Blues, we, um, and they are only two divisions below us as it is and we could have played them in the EFL trophy or something next time. season on Bristol Street. Motors D um, so yeah, a big shame for them it would have been, uh, it would have been great to have seen another Midlands Club, a very local club, in the football league, but we wish them all the best for next season, um and yeah and keep an eye out if we can go one step further next year so the games next week I think it's going to be a double game week we normally tap on a Monday and we're kick off on Monday so yes I think it will be a double, yes we will probably do it later, it will be a double game week, yes, so obviously I have already talked about the Olympic game, we have a comeback, a two goal deficit, it would be interesting Al See the team that comes out, obviously it will depend a lot on who is fit, but it will be interesting to see how the game takes on, assuming Martinez is back and assuming T mons is back, I think it will really be touch and go and with luckily, Morgan Rogers is fit.

I will be interested to see how he lines up especially defensively, if he will go for the kza Carlos Torres Luca deine uh four at the back. Which I really felt like he was going to do in the first leg and he didn't do it and I think part of it was quite costly. I said last week that we should have gone more defensively in that game, but I'd be interested to see. If he goes with a little more attack, Alex Morena could play and then put Conor on the right side and that gives us a little more offensive defense.

The next goal in this tie is absolutely fundamental. I think if Olympiakos gets it. I think you know my my. The belief that we will pass will start to fade, but if we get the goal, you know, even if that goal comes in the 81st minute, we still have a chance, so keep the faith, it will be close and I'm really excited. because it's an 8:00 kick-off, which is strange for an away game in Europe to be an 8:00 kick-off now, so we've got that and then on Monday we've got Liverpool in the Premier League, obviously. because we lost against Brighton. the chance to secure the Champions League for next year, while it's still in our hands, I think we'll do it anyway just because you know it will depend on Spurs winning, do it anyway, have you seen that?

M: Yes. let's do it anyway Barry from E sorry, sorry, I think just focus on the next game, do everything you can against Olympiacos because you know the European final would be something spectacular, so, in the game against Liverpool , it's hard to say, it depends, you know? come on P, it could go to penalties against Olympiacos, at which point you know we'll be pretty gutted against Liverpool already, but Spurs will have already played and maybe we'll see, it's obviously Klopp's last. away game, that's why it's Monday night kickoff, so you know Carrier and Sky can put in a full hour and a half of Klo lomo, yeah, even though they have nothing to play for, really, yeah, yeah What was the school when? you played them earlier in the season uh we lost 3-0 it was like the third or fourth game of the season oh right okay interesting so it's hard to say I'll accept a draw a draw would be more than enough for us um and It would be a great result, it will probably depend on what happens on Thursday night, what the atmosphere will be like, you know, if we turn things around against Olympiacos, the atmosphere will be amazing on Monday night, so obviously.

It's the last game of the season, so they're going around the field at the end, so try to stay, but obviously it's going to be like a 10 o'clock finish, so, yeah, that's really cool, should we finish it? up there for this week, so yeah, let's finish the day Dan, thank you to everyone who has been listening and watching over the last few weeks, and all your lovely comments we've seen them all and you know we try to respond to as many of them as possible um, hit the bell on YouTube, so you know, sometimes, especially now that we're playing on Monday night, who knows what day we're releasing the Pod, so if you hit the bell, you'll get a notification. uh when the new episodes come out, subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, whatever you're listening to or watching, yeah, and you can follow us on our social media with your hand on Second City pod, which is 2ndd City pod, I hope looking forward to the next one. week in which we will obviously be looking at Villas Fortunes in those two games and with the Blues not playing and looking at West Brom in the playoffs, I could have a little chat about what should perhaps happen with some of the players who are now out of contract with blues and if we keep him or release him, I might think about that a little bit too, so I'm looking forward to it and until next week Cal continues, yeah, well, I was going to say good luck Dan, but you're not playing .

So I hope we'll be in a better mood next week. Let's be one of those, yes, but yes. I will see you next week. Dan and up at Villa on the Villa. See you then.