FM 2008 Birmingham City - Pride of the midlands

olliet94 · 10-02-2007, 09:19 PM

In 1875 Birmingham city football club were formed as Small Heath Alliance and from the very first moment have battled it out with fierce rivals Aston Villa for the ultimate crown: pride of the midlands. The 1960’s where the glory years for “The Blues”, which saw success in two Fairs Cup finals against the European giants of Barcelona and Roma and League Cup success brought the club and their fans much attention. They were in England's third division for the first time in their history by 1989, but that had a galvanizing effect on the Blues and served to renew interest in the team. Former St Andrews favourite Trevor Francis did his utmost to take Birmingham into the FA Premier League, only to be thwarted three times in the play-offs with defeats to Watford, Barnsley and Preston. But with Steve Bruce at the helm, the Blues finally secured their place in the top flight with a penalty shoot-out victory over Norwich City in the First Division play-off final in May 2002.

Steve Bruce and his Birmingham team however, were relegated in 2006 much to the disappointment of the Birmingham fans. Steve Bruce however was determined to guide his Birmingham City side back into the Barclays Premiership and with superb backing from the board got his team right back up there ready for this season.

Team Details
Nation: England
Year Founded: 1875
Status: Professional
Reputation: National
Chairman Status: Enjoying Life At The Club
Favourite Personnel: Jemaine Pennant, Steve Bruce, Barry Fry, Trevor Francis
Fierce Rivals: Aston Villa
Other Rivals: Wolves, West Brom, Stoke
Finances: Secure
Estimated Value: £32M
Pitch dimensions: Length: 101m Width: 68m
Maximum pitch dimensions: Length 111m Width: 75m
Stadium: St. Andrews, Birminagham
Stadium Capacity: 30016 all seater with under-soil heating
Training Facilities: Top training facilities
Youth Facilities: Average youth facilities + Youth Academy
Continental Competition: None
Media Prediction: 17th
Squad Average Age: 24
Squad Personality: Determined
Captain: Damien Johnson

First Team;

Goalkeepers:
Maik Taylor
Colin Doyle
Richard Kingston

Defenders:
Stephen Kelly
Liam Ridgewell
Johan Djourou
Matthew Sadler
Frank Queudrue
Rafael Schmitz
Stuart Parnarby

Midfielders:
Sebastian Larsson
Fabrice Muamba
Gary Mcsheffrey
Mehdi Nafti
Daniel de Ridder
Damien Johnson
Olivier Kapo
Wilson Palicios
Borja Obina.

Strikers:
Cameron Jerome
Gary O’Connor
Mikeal Forssell

Improvements;

I suggest improving the goalkeeping area of the pitch because there isn’t much cover.
A Left back and striker would also be essential. Maybe a backup left midfielder for backup to kapo?

Sameth · 10-04-2007, 12:09 PM

I've started with Blues, and I'm having a look around because the budget isn't brilliant considering the poor quality of the strikers.

Mika Aaritalo is a good buy first thing.

olliet94 · 10-06-2007, 10:21 AM

At the moment i think that birmingham are going to be the hardest premiership team to manage, with poor goalkeepers to be honest, no decent goalscorers and only 5million in the transfer kitty!

Ginger · 10-07-2007, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sameth:
I've started with Blues, and I'm having a look around because the budget isn't brilliant considering the poor quality of the strikers.

Mika Aaritalo is a good buy first thing.

Blose buying a Villa reject - tut tut.

kroshot · 10-14-2007, 08:26 PM

birmingham are the team i support so when fm08 comes out i`m going to start a long term game with them.tried the demo and we look rubbish o`connor and jerome cant score and the defence needs re-enforcing.with only a 6.6m budget i would suggest mika Aaritalo for about 250k brede hangeland 2.5m krisoffer haestad 1.5m sergi ignasevich free and possibly eddie johnson 2.5m

olliet94 · 10-15-2007, 09:24 PM

cheers kroshot keep posting bluesnoses

Sameth · 10-16-2007, 03:17 PM

I did really well in the demo, I did the following

£9 million budget, sold Sadler for £2million.

Bought - Samba £2 Million

Ignashevic - Free

Guillharme - £6 million

Aaritalo - £250k

Gourcuff - Loan.

At the moment, I've conceded the least in the league with Jerome the top scorer with 10 goals in the league.

kroshot · 10-16-2007, 04:40 PM

what tactic are u playing sameth i cant get anywhere near that.

Sameth · 10-16-2007, 05:20 PM

It's the same 4-4-2 that you are preset with, but with an attacking mentality 3/4 of the way, creative freedom 3/4 of the way, short passing, quick tempo.

Rest the same, with target man, tight marking, playmaker and counter attack. NO offsides.

It helps if you play Oubina and Muamba in the middle with 2 wide men (Kapo and Gourcuff).

Also make sure you've configured your target men ,free kicks and playmakers.

olliet94 · 10-17-2007, 09:52 PM

Anyone got any ideas on a decent goalkeeper to sign? the current ones i dont think are premiership standard.