“If you had asked him, he probably would have told you it wasn’t an ideal start for him. But when you replace some things, you’re modifying the formations themselves, and we’ve noticed that being said about the physical condition of players who want to play the way they want to, it’s going to take time. I think enthusiasts simply want to give you a little more time so that you can implement what you want to do in the future.
Birmingham City will record their first win under Wayne Rooney against Southampton today.
The Blues have suffered back-to-back defeats to Middlesbrough and Hull City since Rooney replaced John Eustace two weeks ago and enthusiasts expressed their frustration on Wednesday night.
Rooney arrived to create a new style of play, but the Blues have had little luck and are mounting calls for the manager to allow the team to get back to normal. The Blues slipped to 12th in the league after their 2-0 loss to Hull. in the middle of the week.
Southampton fought back for a point at Preston on Wednesday and will provide the Blues with tough opposition. The Saints took a step forward with the summer appointment of Russell Martin. After 4 consecutive defeats in September, Southampton are now unbeaten in five games and fifth in the table.
Alex Dicken is at St Mary’s to provide you with updates and research from inception to lunchtime.
Southampton inflicted a third successive defeat on new Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney with a 3-1 thrashing at St Mary’s.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Carlos Alcaraz ensured Southampton’s dominance was reflected on the scoreboard at half-time. Backup Jay Stansfield cleared the Blues’ delay before Saints captain Adam Armstrong finished the scoring in the 85th minute.
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Former Premier League referee Mike Dean criticised Birmingham City’s failure to penalise in the first half at Southampton.
Wayne Rooney’s Blues endured a torrid first half, goals from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Carlos Alcaraz and, in fact, were deservedly down 2-0.
However, if there was any doubt about whether Harwood-Bellis was offside for his early header, there surely wasn’t any related to an incident in the 30th minute when Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu came out to claim a ball from the edge of his domain. The Blues appealed for a penalty, but referee David Webb refused to award it.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Dean criticised him. He said: “It’s embarrassing to be fair, it’s a bad decision. The Birmingham player had the ball back, the goalkeeper simply broke his back.
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The Blues had 10 minutes in the second half after Stansfield scored, but Southampton deserved to win. Goals from Harwood-Bellis, Alcaraz and Adam Armstrong.
3-1. Adam Armstrong pinches Roberts to score Southampton’s third.
Two final tweaks for the Blues: Roberts and Miyoshi upgrade Aiwu and Jutkiewicz.
Aiwu to land a small blow. Jutkiewicz made an absolute turnaround today at best.
Two adjustments for the Blues: Bielik and Burke go for Gardner and Hogan. The Saints make their own trade. Joe Aribo replaces Alcaraz.
Seconds after arriving at Stansfield, he tucked the ball into Harwood-Bellis and bent it into the most sensitive corner. Brilliant finish. Game on. . . .
Jay Stansfield is the first. Dembélé is substituted. 57 minutes elapsed. Dembele was fighting to score the game.
Adam Armstrong headed in a cross from Walker-Peters that went wide of the post. These two players show the quality that the Blues are facing today.
The groups are back and unchanged. forty-five more to come. . .
Harwood-Bellis and Alcaraz with the goals. The Blues were awarded a penalty, but Southampton ruled and deserved their lead. Another big team discussion is coming up for Wayne Rooney.
Les Bleus were gifted with another. Adam Armstrong played on purpose but his effort failed.
Blues enthusiasts and Wayne Rooney are convinced they will receive a penalty. Burke was eliminated by Bazunu. Cleaned. Referee David Webb was not interested.
After reviewing it, I don’t know how it wasn’t a penalty.
Southampton got behind the Blues so easily. Nothing advanced defensively compared to the last two games.
And when Les Bleus regained possession, they collapsed all too easily.
Another goal for Southampton. Alcaraz. Sulemana Drameh and an undeniable pass for Alcaraz to intervene. 2-0
Just before that, Oliver Burke had undulated the look of the other end.
Southampton led 1-0. Harwood-Bellis heads in an Armstrong cross from a penalty corner. Les Bleus had done to protect at the beginning but could not manage the second phase.
Aiwu had done very well to keep a Walker-Peters cross out of harm’s way. Armstrong was waiting to attack him. All of Southampton at the moment.
He went out. A catchy version of Keep Right On has just been released. Wayne Rooney also gets a lot of support. Great day for Rooney and the Blues.
Started. . .
Substitutes Jay Stansfield, Koji Miyoshi and Gary Gardner warm up with the starting eleven. Perhaps that suggests they’re part of Rooney’s game plan today.
Emile Heskey presents himself as a Sky Sports politics expert for today’s match. He asked about Rooney’s debut (two defeats in two) and supported his former teammate in England.
“If you had asked him, he probably would have told you it wasn’t an ideal start for him. But when you replace some things, you’re modifying the formations themselves, and we’ve noticed that being said about the physical condition of players who want to play the way they want to, it’s going to take time. I think enthusiasts simply want to give you a little more time so that you can implement what you want to do in the future.
Les Bleus now have the ability to play more directly.
“I can put the players on the field and move the ball forward, and look to win the balls back in the moment, that’s good,” Rooney said Wednesday. Of course, it’s arguably not just that, but Jutkiewicz and Burke give the Blues a physical outlet. Interested to see how #BCFC prepared with this XI.
Unsurprisingly, Southampton’s squad includes many former Premier League players. Adam Armstrong is someone to keep an eye on. The Saints captain has scored seven goals this season and has a record seven goals in eight appearances against the Blues.
Your #SaintsFC will face the #BCFC pic. twitter. com/WkALuMrhtn
Wayne Rooney has made 4 adjustments to the Blues’ line-up for today’s match against Southampton.
Emanuel Aiwu made his first appearance for the Blues at St Mary’s at the expense of Kevin Long. Jordan James and Ivan Sunjic come into midfield in place of Juninho Bacuna and Koji Miyoshi, who are suspended.
Lukas Jutkiewicz made his first league start of the season. Jay Stansfield falls to the bench.
(4-3-3): Redhead; Drameh, Sanderson, Aiwu, Longelo; James, Bielik, Sunjic; Burke, Jutkiewicz, Dembélé
Substitutes: Etheridge, M Roberts, Long, Laird, Gardner, Khela, Miyoshi, Hogan, Stansfield
The Blues lost 4-1 in their last game against St Mary’s in 2011. Chris Wood scored the consolation goal that day.
Another defeat for Les Bleus would mean five consecutive defeats away from home. The last time the Blues lost five games in a row was in 2018.
The Blues have won one of their six previous visits to St Mary’s: a 2-1 win in August 2008.
The Blues are looking for their first win under Wayne Rooney after damaging defeats to Middlesbrough and Hull City.
We expect Rooney to make adjustments today. We didn’t have much time to prepare for this game on the education floor because the team travelled last night and stayed at Southampton.
Southampton (a) Let’s wait for the day when Wayne Rooney gets his first win. The Blues will overtake Southampton (currently fifth) with a win at St Mary’s. The #BCFC has to be another one of the last two games. pic. twitter. com/uRYIj8eNeB