“Yeah, we won but it wasn’t the (insert club) way.” I hear this day in, day out on TalkSport whilst on my commute. And that statement is the very reason I hate modern football. Let’s be frank - football in its current guise is a shell of its former self. I’m talking about the fantastic teams of the late 90s and early 00s.
Which brings me to today’s rant.
The Blues teams from that era would beat this current crop every single time. That’s not to say the current crop aren’t on the same level skill-wise, it’s that football has changed. The physicality and sheer determination of Blues sides of years gone by have dwindled away. They don’t play the ‘Birmingham way’. Too easily this team has folded like an accordion.
But it’s not solely down to the players. Performance seems to mean everything now, not the result.
Chris bangs on about performance on the podcast and its importance to the club as a whole. Whilst I agree it would be nice to win and win well, the result is all that matters. I’d take 1-0 wins from the first game of the season until the last if it means we keep winning games.
Football is often called the Beautiful Game, and this style is preferable to the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. But the reality is football is often ugly - and Blues have done ugly very well in the past, often with relative success.
Chris Davies has talked about resilience and the ability to put games to bed. We aren’t in the type of form that suggests we’re going to win by two or three goals, so winning 1-0 is preferable at this juncture of the season. Winning breeds the confidence we so desperately need.
After three defeats on the spin - the first in Davies’ managerial career - he needed that 1-0 win against QPR as badly as our fans needed a glimmer of hope. Results elsewhere have reignited the flame of playoff hope.
Davies needs results. We need results. But some fans seem to believe the way we win matters most.
Absolute nonsense.
We need points.
Ruud Gullit promised sexy football at Newcastle and delivered absolutely nothing but dross.
My point, dear reader, is this:
Forget performances.
Focus on winning first.
Keep Right On
Andrew