havanatopia Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) Good day everyone. As a crow might fly St. Andrews is a mile closer to Ashton Gate than The Hawthorns, 78 miles to 79. By car St. Andrews becomes a rather awkward place to reach and according to various maps is between 92 and 100 miles with The Baggies easily reached off the M5 in 89 miles. All in all though rather little difference. The history of our opponents has been well discussed in previous threads of the same fixture so I would like to talk about China and the West Midlands today folks. There is a rather cold wind blowing through the UK's second city in recent times. That, according to some fans from the four largest clubs in the West Midlands, is because of the Chinese revolution of takeovers. First it was Hong Kong based Carsen Yeung who bought Birmingham City in 2009 and then, this summer, Dr. Tony Xia bought Aston Villa, Guochuan Lai bought West Bromwich Albion and Mr. Guo Guangchang's Fosun International bought Wolverhampton Wanderers. The company was founded in Hong Kong but has its HQ in Shanghai. Apparently Wolves now have the fourth wealthiest owner amongst the 92 league clubs with Guo's personal wealth of 4.1 Billion according to Forbes. 250 miles south west of Shanghai is Quzhou, the birthplace of Xia Jiantong now known as Tony Xia and the new owner of Villa. His background is rather more, shall we say, obscure, than that of Guangchang and I, for one, would be a lot more comfortable and optimistic with the prospects of Wolves in the relative near term. But of course reputation and perceptions can be misleading and mired in obfuscation. Meanwhile, its back to Shanghai for the new owners of West Brom. Guochuan Lai's Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development company bought the Baggies in September claiming to have been a supporter since 1978. Somewhat of an odd statement considering he would have been just two years old at the time. That might have been around the time City went up to the Hawthorns and won with a single goal from Gerry Sweeney. As I recall my Dad and eldest brother went for that match and promptly broke down a few short miles from the ground courtesy of the 'big end' going according to a later mechanic report in the Morris 1800. And so back to our opponents today; Birmingham City have recently completed the majority sale, presumably by representatives of the Hong Kong incarcerated Carsen Yeung, to a Paul Suen Cho Hung and his Trillion Trophy Asia company. In turn this company is owned by Wealthy Associates International Limited registered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. And that offshore company is wholly owned by Paul Suen. Suen has holdings in energy and marine businesses as well as other diversified interests. From the relatively little one can dig up from openly available sources it appears, at least on the face of it, that both Villa and Birmingham have less reason to be cheerful, if any cheer can be had at all from a foreign takeover, than either Wolves or West Brom. While all 4 clubs are now controlled by men of Chinese birth they all possess an international education and global business interests. The latter two clubs just seem to have made more clean and better sales than either Villa and Birmingham City. The one possible shining star, for Birmingham fans at least, is the fact that Paul Suen has a reputation for clearing up the mess of distressed companies and the club most certainly fits into that category; they should have a man who can invest in the club, perhaps not to the extent we will likely see at West Brom and almost for sure at Wolves, but make them challengers for promotion. Hong Kong's Suen is, after all, known as 'The King of Penny Stocks'. All of that aside my burning question is why 4 clubs within a radius of about 30 miles have all fallen to Chinese owners, three from in or fairly close to Shanghai and one from Hong Kong? That journey started with Birmingham, of course, in 2009 and since which the Chinese community in the West Midlands, which is significant, has watched Brummie football. There are, for example, around 35,000 Chinese students, alone, studying in the West Midlands so its a bit of a magnet. The Chinese also tend to buy things well over perceived market value, because they can. So, en masse, the 4 clubs probably have huge potential to now market themselves to China and that was no doubt a partial reason for all 4 clubs falling into Chinese hands in fairly quick succession; and not when they became publicly available or at least rumoured to be. There were, for example, discussions going on behind the scenes at West Brom for some months. The challenge will be to grow these clubs all of which, including Villa, are not modern day household names outside the UK or Europe. There is also the question as to whether these owners have the acumen or understanding to do so. We have all seen how a savvy foreign businessman has come in and completely messed up a football club with its peculiar idiosyncrasies and Britishness. One thing I do find interesting and I think probably bodes well is how all four now have British coaches or managers. How much time each one is given remains to be seen but perhaps the Chinese owners prove more competent and more patient than the likes of those at the helm of Charlton, Leeds and Blackburn and two of those have now gone back to British managers. Gary Rowett seems to have managed the turbulence at St. Andrews rather well and he has Birmingham purring along rather nicely. I believe he and Lee know each other well. It will be an interesting spectacle with both men on the touchline today. And, like most of our matches this season, a close encounter seems to be a likely outcome. I am quite happy if we win by a Fulham style thrashing of course. Can we edge it by a single goal? The international break in football can throw up bizarre results so who knows. Well done to all those going today, hope its an enjoyable drive and we have a positive result at 5pm. UTC. Edited November 19, 2016 by havanatopia 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongo88 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Good post Hava, as always. Just one question - why would a crow want to fly from Bristol to Birmingham? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanatopia Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 6 minutes ago, pongo88 said: Good post Hava, as always. Just one question - why would a crow want to fly from Bristol to Birmingham? Absolutely no real reason at all squire but apparently they do only when the rather more attractive Thrushes, Finches & Tits head in the opposite direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton_fan Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Not a happy hunting ground for us. If we play well then 1-1 or 2-2 is possible, if not then a 2-0 defeat on the cards. We need to score first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, havanatopia said: Good day everyone. As a crow might fly St. Andrews is a mile closer to Ashton Gate than The Hawthorns, 78 miles to 79. By car St. Andrews becomes a rather awkward place to reach and according to various maps is between 92 and 100 miles with The Baggies easily reached off the M5 in 89 miles. All in all though rather little difference. The history of our opponents has been well discussed in previous threads of the same fixture so I would like to talk about China and the West Midlands today folks. There is a rather cold wind blowing through the UK's second city in recent times. That, according to some fans from the four largest clubs in the West Midlands, is because of the Chinese revolution of takeovers. First it was Hong Kong based Carsen Yeung who bought Birmingham City in 2009 and then, this summer, Dr. Tony Xia bought Aston Villa, Guochuan Lai bought West Bromwich Albion and Mr. Guo Guangchang's Fosun International bought Wolverhampton Wanderers. The company was founded in Hong Kong but has its HQ in Shanghai. Apparently Wolves now have the fourth wealthiest owner amongst the 92 league clubs with Guo's personal wealth of 4.1 Billion according to Forbes. 250 miles south west of Shanghai is Quzhou, the birthplace of Xia Jiantong now known as Tony Xia and the new owner of Villa. His background is rather more, shall we say, obscure, than that of Guangchang and I, for one, would be a lot more comfortable and optimistic with the prospects of Wolves in the relative near term. But of course reputation and perceptions can be misleading and mired in obfuscation. Meanwhile, its back to Shanghai for the new owners of West Brom. Guochuan Lai's Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development company bought the Baggies in September claiming to have been a supporter since 1978. Somewhat of an odd statement considering he would have been just two years old at the time. That might have been around the time City went up to the Hawthorns and won with a single goal from Gerry Sweeney. As I recall my Dad and eldest brother went for that match and promptly broke down a few short miles from the ground courtesy of the 'big end' going according to a later mechanic report in the Morris 1800. And so back to our opponents today; Birmingham City have recently completed the majority sale, presumably by representatives of the Hong Kong incarcerated Carsen Yeung, to a Paul Suen Cho Hung and his Trillion Trophy Asia company. In turn this company is owned by Wealthy Associates International Limited registered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. And that offshore company is wholly owned by Paul Suen. Suen has holdings in energy and marine businesses as well as other diversified interests. From the relatively little one can dig up from openly available sources it appears, at least on the face of it, that both Villa and Birmingham have less reason to be cheerful, if any cheer can be had at all from a foreign takeover, than either Wolves or West Brom. While all 4 clubs are now controlled by men of Chinese birth they all possess an international education and global business interests. The latter two clubs just seem to have made more clean and better sales than either Villa and Birmingham City. The one possible shining star, for Birmingham fans at least, is the fact that Paul Suen has a reputation for clearing up the mess of distressed companies and the club most certainly fits into that category; they should have a man who can invest in the club, perhaps not to the extent we will likely see at West Brom and almost for sure at Wolves, but make them challengers for promotion. Hong Kong's Suen is, after all, known as 'The King of Penny Stocks'. All of that aside my burning question is why 4 clubs within a radius of about 30 miles have all fallen to Chinese owners, three from in or fairly close to Shanghai and one from Hong Kong? That journey started with Birmingham, of course, in 2009 and since which the Chinese community in the West Midlands, which is significant, has watched Brummie football. There are, for example, around 35,000 Chinese students, alone, studying in the West Midlands so its a bit of a magnet. The Chinese also tend to buy things well over perceived market value, because they can. So, en masse, the 4 clubs probably have huge potential to now market themselves to China and that was no doubt a partial reason for all 4 clubs falling into Chinese hands in fairly quick succession; and not when they became publicly available or at least rumoured to be. There were, for example, discussions going on behind the scenes at West Brom for some months. The challenge will be to grow these clubs all of which, including Villa, are not modern day household names outside the UK or Europe. There is also the question as to whether these owners have the acumen or understanding to do so. We have all seen how a savvy foreign businessman has come in and completely messed up a football club with its peculiar idiosyncrasies and Britishness. One thing I do find interesting and I think probably bodes well is how all four now have British coaches or managers. How much time each one is given remains to be seen but perhaps the Chinese owners prove more competent and more patient than the likes of those at the helm of Charlton, Leeds and Blackburn and two of those have now gone back to British managers. Gary Rowett seems to have managed the turbulence at St. Andrews rather well and he has Birmingham purring along rather nicely. I believe he and Lee know each other well. It will be an interesting spectacle with both men on the touchline today. And, like most of our matches this season, a close encounter seems to be a likely outcome. I am quite happy if we win by a Fulham style thrashing of course. Can we edge it by a single goal? The international break in football can throw up bizarre results so who knows. Well done to all those going today, hope its an enjoyable drive and we have a positive result at 5pm. UTC. Thanks Hav,interesting read-wonder do the gas have such insightful match day threads I wonder??!.. Edited November 19, 2016 by Robert the bruce Autocorrect .! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashton_Red Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Already in Birmingham, what pub is everyone heading to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 4 minutes ago, Robert the bruce said: Thanks Hav,interesting read-wonder do the gas have such insightful match day threads I wonder??!.. They do. Here`s an example; 8-0 to us today. FTG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1960maaan Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 And life has resumed after the bloody pointless break, welcome back @havanatopia , @BigTone we're waiting If we get back to how we were before the previous break , odd goal win for City. If we continue the form pre this last break 0-0 . Let's get back on track now , COYR. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTone Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 1 hour ago, havanatopia said: Good day everyone. As a crow might fly St. Andrews is a mile closer to Ashton Gate than The Hawthorns, 78 miles to 79. By car St. Andrews becomes a rather awkward place to reach and according to various maps is between 92 and 100 miles with The Baggies easily reached off the M5 in 89 miles. All in all though rather little difference. The history of our opponents has been well discussed in previous threads of the same fixture so I would like to talk about China and the West Midlands today folks. There is a rather cold wind blowing through the UK's second city in recent times. That, according to some fans from the four largest clubs in the West Midlands, is because of the Chinese revolution of takeovers. First it was Hong Kong based Carsen Yeung who bought Birmingham City in 2009 and then, this summer, Dr. Tony Xia bought Aston Villa, Guochuan Lai bought West Bromwich Albion and Mr. Guo Guangchang's Fosun International bought Wolverhampton Wanderers. The company was founded in Hong Kong but has its HQ in Shanghai. Apparently Wolves now have the fourth wealthiest owner amongst the 92 league clubs with Guo's personal wealth of 4.1 Billion according to Forbes. 250 miles south west of Shanghai is Quzhou, the birthplace of Xia Jiantong now known as Tony Xia and the new owner of Villa. His background is rather more, shall we say, obscure, than that of Guangchang and I, for one, would be a lot more comfortable and optimistic with the prospects of Wolves in the relative near term. But of course reputation and perceptions can be misleading and mired in obfuscation. Meanwhile, its back to Shanghai for the new owners of West Brom. Guochuan Lai's Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development company bought the Baggies in September claiming to have been a supporter since 1978. Somewhat of an odd statement considering he would have been just two years old at the time. That might have been around the time City went up to the Hawthorns and won with a single goal from Gerry Sweeney. As I recall my Dad and eldest brother went for that match and promptly broke down a few short miles from the ground courtesy of the 'big end' going according to a later mechanic report in the Morris 1800. And so back to our opponents today; Birmingham City have recently completed the majority sale, presumably by representatives of the Hong Kong incarcerated Carsen Yeung, to a Paul Suen Cho Hung and his Trillion Trophy Asia company. In turn this company is owned by Wealthy Associates International Limited registered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. And that offshore company is wholly owned by Paul Suen. Suen has holdings in energy and marine businesses as well as other diversified interests. From the relatively little one can dig up from openly available sources it appears, at least on the face of it, that both Villa and Birmingham have less reason to be cheerful, if any cheer can be had at all from a foreign takeover, than either Wolves or West Brom. While all 4 clubs are now controlled by men of Chinese birth they all possess an international education and global business interests. The latter two clubs just seem to have made more clean and better sales than either Villa and Birmingham City. The one possible shining star, for Birmingham fans at least, is the fact that Paul Suen has a reputation for clearing up the mess of distressed companies and the club most certainly fits into that category; they should have a man who can invest in the club, perhaps not to the extent we will likely see at West Brom and almost for sure at Wolves, but make them challengers for promotion. Hong Kong's Suen is, after all, known as 'The King of Penny Stocks'. All of that aside my burning question is why 4 clubs within a radius of about 30 miles have all fallen to Chinese owners, three from in or fairly close to Shanghai and one from Hong Kong? That journey started with Birmingham, of course, in 2009 and since which the Chinese community in the West Midlands, which is significant, has watched Brummie football. There are, for example, around 35,000 Chinese students, alone, studying in the West Midlands so its a bit of a magnet. The Chinese also tend to buy things well over perceived market value, because they can. So, en masse, the 4 clubs probably have huge potential to now market themselves to China and that was no doubt a partial reason for all 4 clubs falling into Chinese hands in fairly quick succession; and not when they became publicly available or at least rumoured to be. There were, for example, discussions going on behind the scenes at West Brom for some months. The challenge will be to grow these clubs all of which, including Villa, are not modern day household names outside the UK or Europe. There is also the question as to whether these owners have the acumen or understanding to do so. We have all seen how a savvy foreign businessman has come in and completely messed up a football club with its peculiar idiosyncrasies and Britishness. One thing I do find interesting and I think probably bodes well is how all four now have British coaches or managers. How much time each one is given remains to be seen but perhaps the Chinese owners prove more competent and more patient than the likes of those at the helm of Charlton, Leeds and Blackburn and two of those have now gone back to British managers. Gary Rowett seems to have managed the turbulence at St. Andrews rather well and he has Birmingham purring along rather nicely. I believe he and Lee know each other well. It will be an interesting spectacle with both men on the touchline today. And, like most of our matches this season, a close encounter seems to be a likely outcome. I am quite happy if we win by a Fulham style thrashing of course. Can we edge it by a single goal? The international break in football can throw up bizarre results so who knows. Well done to all those going today, hope its an enjoyable drive and we have a positive result at 5pm. UTC. Condensed Version Birmingham A bird flying from Ashton Gate can shit quicker on St Andrews than it can on The Hawthorns. Birmingham should now be called China Town. City 2-1 for me Bye from Adelaide 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 1 hour ago, pongo88 said: Good post Hava, as always. Just one question - why would a crow want to fly from Bristol to Birmingham? We know a song about a crow flying over football grounds, don't we children? Well, those of us of a certain age do. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.D Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I've got a sneaky feeling we will scrape an unconvincing win today, 0-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldlandReddies Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Birmingham are a top, top side. Cant see us getting anything but a bad beating today. All downhill from here on in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finbarr_in_z Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 1 hour ago, pongo88 said: Good post Hava, as always. Just one question - why would a crow want to fly from Bristol to Birmingham? Even with the more than excellent piece, my first thought was "surely it would be a robin"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malago Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Sorry boys and girls, can't see anything other than a convincing Brum win by 2 or 3 goals, but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 16 minutes ago, OldlandReddies said: Birmingham are a top, top side. Cant see us getting anything but a bad beating today. All downhill from here on in. If I were you I`d get back under the duvet until it`s all over then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogkev Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Ah, the City match thread returns, thank God. We have our Saturday back! Agree, today and next Saturday will be tough games, and a bloody good marker of how good we are against the clubs that will lurk ominously around the play off places. A point will be a good return, a win would be outstanding. I'm going for a 1-1 draw, with Kevin Abraham scoring our goal, assisted by Kevin Tomlin. COME ON YOU REDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 4 minutes ago, reddogkev said: Ah, the City match thread returns, thank God. We have our Saturday back! Agree, today and next Saturday will be tough games, and a bloody good marker of how good we are against the clubs that will lurk ominously around the play off places. A point will be a good return, a win would be outstanding. I'm going for a 1-1 draw, with Kevin Abraham scoring our goal, assisted by Kevin Tomlin. COME ON YOU REDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS So Kevin Fielding will only be beaten the once as well. Good stuff. A lot depends on how well Kevin Flint and Kevin Magnusson can control their forwards though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevthered Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 not feeling confident today....4-0 drubbing i'm afraid we are punching well above our station...soz boys n girls.....Hope it's reversed though need cheering up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogkev Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 6 minutes ago, kevthered said: not feeling confident today....4-0 drubbing i'm afraid we are punching well above our station...soz boys n girls.....Hope it's reversed though need cheering up What? Get with the picture, man. Today is a great day to be a Kev, and there's no way we'll lose this one 4-0! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offside Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I'm not feeling overly confident about this game, but hopefully my gut feeling is wrong and we'll get something. Not sure why, but I really dislike Brum so it would be good to get a result. COYR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hunt-Hertz Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 hours ago, pongo88 said: Good post Hava, as always. Just one question - why would a crow want to fly from Bristol to Birmingham? If I was a crow, it would definitely be the other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxo Jr. Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Our away form looks poor right now. Looking at the table so far, we win or lose far more than draw. Could be an interesting game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 3 hours ago, pongo88 said: Good post Hava, as always. Just one question - why would a crow want to fly from Bristol to Birmingham? Too far to walk ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 3 hours ago, havanatopia said: Good day everyone. As a crow might fly St. Andrews is a mile closer to Ashton Gate than The Hawthorns, 78 miles to 79. By car St. Andrews becomes a rather awkward place to reach and according to various maps is between 92 and 100 miles with The Baggies easily reached off the M5 in 89 miles. All in all though rather little difference. The history of our opponents has been well discussed in previous threads of the same fixture so I would like to talk about China and the West Midlands today folks. There is a rather cold wind blowing through the UK's second city in recent times. That, according to some fans from the four largest clubs in the West Midlands, is because of the Chinese revolution of takeovers. First it was Hong Kong based Carsen Yeung who bought Birmingham City in 2009 and then, this summer, Dr. Tony Xia bought Aston Villa, Guochuan Lai bought West Bromwich Albion and Mr. Guo Guangchang's Fosun International bought Wolverhampton Wanderers. The company was founded in Hong Kong but has its HQ in Shanghai. Apparently Wolves now have the fourth wealthiest owner amongst the 92 league clubs with Guo's personal wealth of 4.1 Billion according to Forbes. 250 miles south west of Shanghai is Quzhou, the birthplace of Xia Jiantong now known as Tony Xia and the new owner of Villa. His background is rather more, shall we say, obscure, than that of Guangchang and I, for one, would be a lot more comfortable and optimistic with the prospects of Wolves in the relative near term. But of course reputation and perceptions can be misleading and mired in obfuscation. Meanwhile, its back to Shanghai for the new owners of West Brom. Guochuan Lai's Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development company bought the Baggies in September claiming to have been a supporter since 1978. Somewhat of an odd statement considering he would have been just two years old at the time. That might have been around the time City went up to the Hawthorns and won with a single goal from Gerry Sweeney. As I recall my Dad and eldest brother went for that match and promptly broke down a few short miles from the ground courtesy of the 'big end' going according to a later mechanic report in the Morris 1800. And so back to our opponents today; Birmingham City have recently completed the majority sale, presumably by representatives of the Hong Kong incarcerated Carsen Yeung, to a Paul Suen Cho Hung and his Trillion Trophy Asia company. In turn this company is owned by Wealthy Associates International Limited registered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. And that offshore company is wholly owned by Paul Suen. Suen has holdings in energy and marine businesses as well as other diversified interests. From the relatively little one can dig up from openly available sources it appears, at least on the face of it, that both Villa and Birmingham have less reason to be cheerful, if any cheer can be had at all from a foreign takeover, than either Wolves or West Brom. While all 4 clubs are now controlled by men of Chinese birth they all possess an international education and global business interests. The latter two clubs just seem to have made more clean and better sales than either Villa and Birmingham City. The one possible shining star, for Birmingham fans at least, is the fact that Paul Suen has a reputation for clearing up the mess of distressed companies and the club most certainly fits into that category; they should have a man who can invest in the club, perhaps not to the extent we will likely see at West Brom and almost for sure at Wolves, but make them challengers for promotion. Hong Kong's Suen is, after all, known as 'The King of Penny Stocks'. All of that aside my burning question is why 4 clubs within a radius of about 30 miles have all fallen to Chinese owners, three from in or fairly close to Shanghai and one from Hong Kong? That journey started with Birmingham, of course, in 2009 and since which the Chinese community in the West Midlands, which is significant, has watched Brummie football. There are, for example, around 35,000 Chinese students, alone, studying in the West Midlands so its a bit of a magnet. The Chinese also tend to buy things well over perceived market value, because they can. So, en masse, the 4 clubs probably have huge potential to now market themselves to China and that was no doubt a partial reason for all 4 clubs falling into Chinese hands in fairly quick succession; and not when they became publicly available or at least rumoured to be. There were, for example, discussions going on behind the scenes at West Brom for some months. The challenge will be to grow these clubs all of which, including Villa, are not modern day household names outside the UK or Europe. There is also the question as to whether these owners have the acumen or understanding to do so. We have all seen how a savvy foreign businessman has come in and completely messed up a football club with its peculiar idiosyncrasies and Britishness. One thing I do find interesting and I think probably bodes well is how all four now have British coaches or managers. How much time each one is given remains to be seen but perhaps the Chinese owners prove more competent and more patient than the likes of those at the helm of Charlton, Leeds and Blackburn and two of those have now gone back to British managers. Gary Rowett seems to have managed the turbulence at St. Andrews rather well and he has Birmingham purring along rather nicely. I believe he and Lee know each other well. It will be an interesting spectacle with both men on the touchline today. And, like most of our matches this season, a close encounter seems to be a likely outcome. I am quite happy if we win by a Fulham style thrashing of course. Can we edge it by a single goal? The international break in football can throw up bizarre results so who knows. Well done to all those going today, hope its an enjoyable drive and we have a positive result at 5pm. UTC. Top motor the Land crab. With cars of that era it was always the big end or a cracked engine block that finished them off , or rust ! Still an era , like the music , when everything was n't homogenous . I predict a hard match for both teams with us to nick it . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bristolcity Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 22 minutes ago, Luxo Jr. said: Our away form looks poor right now. Looking at the table so far, we win or lose far more than draw. Could be an interesting game. Won 7, lost 6, we don't need to lose this one we really don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchay Red Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Left just a bit earlier than I would for a home game. Plenty of parking spaces here at 1.30 and a short walk to ground. Bit different than BS3! Fingers crossed for a win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 A point today and next week at Reading are the minimum requirements.So 3 points out of the two matches would be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippycar Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 3 hours ago, havanatopia said: obfuscation As ever a informative and insightful preview Havanatopia and only the third instance of word obfuscation being used in over 2.5 million posts! And is case you don't fully understand its meaning, like me, this is what Wkii says: Obfuscation is the obscuring of intended meaning in communication, making the message confusing, wilfully ambiguous, or harder to understand. It may be intentional or unintentional (although the former is usually connoted) and may result from circumlocution (yielding wordiness) or from use of jargon or even argot (yielding economy of words but excluding outsiders from the communicative value). Unintended obfuscation in expository writing is usually a natural trait of early drafts in the writing process, when the composition is not yet advanced, and it can be improved with critical thinking and revising, either by the writer or by another person with sufficient reading comprehension and editing skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Full nelson Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 3-1 to the Blues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Red Thai Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 hours ago, finbarr_in_z said: Even with the more than excellent piece, my first thought was "surely it would be a robin"? No, it would be a Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nogbad the Bad Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 3 hours ago, havanatopia said: Meanwhile, its back to Shanghai for the new owners of West Brom. Guochuan Lai's Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development company bought the Baggies in September claiming to have been a supporter since 1978. Somewhat of an odd statement considering he would have been just two years old at the time. That might have been around the time City went up to the Hawthorns and won with a single goal from Gerry Sweeney. As I recall my Dad and eldest brother went for that match and promptly broke down a few short miles from the ground courtesy of the 'big end' going according to a later mechanic report in the Morris 1800. That West Brom game was March '76 havana, on our way to the top flight. Like the Alamo in the 2nd half, but the non stop support was fantastic and must have been a big factor in City holding on to take the points. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curr Avon Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 #BIRvBRC: Fielding, Little, Flint, Magnusson, Bryan, O'Neil, Smith, Pack, Tomlin, Paterson, Abraham. #BristolCity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EstoniaTallinnRed Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 For all those ex pats who receive the Radio Bristol commentary, I have been told there will not be one today due to internet problems. We will have to rely on the good members who keep us up with the action. So my thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecko Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Still no Reid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curr Avon Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 #BIRvBRC subs: Lucic, Golbourne, Moore, Smith, O'Dowda, Engvall, Wilbraham. #BristolCity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formerly known as ivan Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Smith playing and on the bench? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCFC Grim Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Reid playing, Smith on bench. I like that team! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinreliant Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 8 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said: That West Brom game was March '76 havana, on our way to the top flight. Like the Alamo in the 2nd half, but the non stop support was fantastic and must have been a big factor in City holding on to take the points. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Cashley in goal was awesome that night. WB left winger Willie Johnson ? laid on chance after chance but we held on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curr Avon Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Bcfctweets correction to lineup 16s16 seconds ago Bristol City FC @bcfctweets #BIRvBRC: Fielding, Little, Flint, Magnusson, Bryan, O'Neil, Reid, Pack, Tomlin, Paterson, Abraham. #BristolCity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAman08 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 It'll bite me on the ass later if we play well but I'm not really in love with the starting XI. We are playing 3 defensive midfielders together. That's basically a back 5 with wingbacks. Super defensive again. Hope I'm wrong but the starting XI recently have left me wanting more and the results haven't been great since it's changed(since Cardiff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRISTOL86 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 6 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said: Smith playing and on the bench? He's every f*****g where. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAman08 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said: It'll bite me on the ass later if we play well but I'm not really in love with the starting XI. We are playing 3 defensive midfielders together. That's basically a back 5 with wingbacks. Super defensive again. Hope I'm wrong but the starting XI recently have left me wanting more and the results haven't been great since it's changed(since Cardiff). I've seen the changes. It's much better with Reid in there. This mean Bobby forward and Tomlin on the left in a 4-3-3? I don't mind that one bit if it is. If it's a diamond midfield I'm less in love with it especially as Little needs a bit of protection with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCFC Grim Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 4 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said: It'll bite me on the ass later if we play well but I'm not really in love with the starting XI. We are playing 3 defensive midfielders together. That's basically a back 5 with wingbacks. Super defensive again. Hope I'm wrong but the starting XI recently have left me wanting more and the results haven't been great since it's changed(since Cardiff). Reid's playing not Smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAman08 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 minutes ago, BCFC Grim said: Reid's playing not Smith. Yea I've just seen it. Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brizzlelou Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) 12 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said: It'll bite me on the ass later if we play well but I'm not really in love with the starting XI. We are playing 3 defensive midfielders together. That's basically a back 5 with wingbacks. Super defensive again. Hope I'm wrong but the starting XI recently have left me wanting more and the results haven't been great since it's changed(since Cardiff). I wouldn't class Reid as defensive personally. Edit - just seen that you might have thought Korey was playing! Edited November 19, 2016 by brizzlelou 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Reid normally attacking not defensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Army 75 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Went last season. Thing I remember most is a bloke to the right of the away fans . Scarf man my boy called him . Getting extremely angry with the city fans . We found it hilarious as did many other city fans . Strange bloke . As for today I'm going 2 1 city Abraham and Tomlin. COYR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clevedon Red Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 No Matthews again. Time to send him back and replace in Jan?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1891 B.C. Sweden Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Come On You Reds!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Crying out for a good right back and right winger. Paterson flattered to deceive so far. Freeman not good enough. O'Dowda too raw. Like the rest of the team though and prefer Tomlin wide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shtanley Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Pack and Reid in the team. Happy about that. Hope Engvall comes on today though because I'm tired of Wilbraham coming on for us to play hoofball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Need to get out of the blocks today or it could be a long 90 minutes... Line up looks ok,with exception of Little -they will target him for sure.. A good start,maybe a point,a sleepy one,3-0 to Brum.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TV Tom Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 The 2 full backs are definitely our weak links 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garland-sweden Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Always Believe, COYR!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original OTIB Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 8 minutes ago, RedDave said: Crying out for a good right back and right winger. Paterson flattered to deceive so far. Freeman not good enough. O'Dowda too raw. Like the rest of the team though and prefer Tomlin wide I wouldn't say I prefer Tomlin wide, but I can see the logic. He's been dropping far too deep as a no. (often through frustration - similar to Rooney) 10 thereby leaving no link to Tammy. Hopefully Reid is that link today. The link to Tammy or whoever up top is very, very key. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogkev Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 We must beware the beast of Clayton Donaldson. The guy loves tearing us to shreds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehinton Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Thank god LJ has realised that Korey and GON can't play CM together 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChippenhamRed Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 3 hours ago, OldlandReddies said: Birmingham are a top, top side. Cant see us getting anything but a bad beating today. All downhill from here on in. A top, top side who aren't even in the playoffs and have just one point more than us from the same number of games. That's the spirit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Red Thai Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2-2 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartcliffe red Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 24 minutes ago, RedDave said: Crying out for a good right back and right winger. Paterson flattered to deceive so far. Freeman not good enough. O'Dowda too raw. Like the rest of the team though and prefer Tomlin wide Rather than a slim tomlin? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenkibby. Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Anyone having trouble with player? Won't let me access the commentary saying I need to re/subscribe !!!!! Bloody thing is a f..... nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiale Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Surprised so many think we will be battered today - Birmingham are a good benchmark, a solid team that is there or thereabouts most seasons... so let's see what we can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CotswoldRed Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 First game of the season today where both head and heart say we'll get nothing out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticks Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiale Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 COME ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EstoniaTallinnRed Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Radio Bristol commentary is OK, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EstoniaTallinnRed Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 The Poppy ball has deflated, it was to actioned for charity after so it will need some air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNBT Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 COYR's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest macco Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 COYR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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