Bowyer progress at Birmingham

Wonder if Aneke will be available on loan in January. Was worth a punt for Birmingham but not good enough to step up to the championship 

Wondering if Lee wants to come back to Charlton so he can learn off of Jacko 😂 

Tracey won't let him go a second time anyway

Addick Addict said:

golfaddick said:

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

SouthWest_Addicks said:

Wonder if Aneke will be available on loan in January. Was worth a punt for Birmingham but not good enough to step up to the championship 

Yup. A little cheeky loan bid in January should be on the cards. 

I think some of you have short memories......we loaned FROM them Leko. Don't be surprised seeing him being recalled in January but not getting anyone back. That could really leave us up shit creek. 

The only issue with that theory is how Leko has previously performed for Birmingham:

41 games
zero goals
zero assists

It's actually worse than Aneke's record in the Championship. Therein. perhaps, lies the reason why they were happy to let him go 

But if you compare Aneke to Leko overall in the championship...
Aneke

Dazzler21 said:

Addick Addict said:

golfaddick said:

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

SouthWest_Addicks said:

Wonder if Aneke will be available on loan in January. Was worth a punt for Birmingham but not good enough to step up to the championship 

Yup. A little cheeky loan bid in January should be on the cards. 

I think some of you have short memories......we loaned FROM them Leko. Don't be surprised seeing him being recalled in January but not getting anyone back. That could really leave us up shit creek. 

The only issue with that theory is how Leko has previously performed for Birmingham:

41 games
zero goals
zero assists

It's actually worse than Aneke's record in the Championship. Therein. perhaps, lies the reason why they were happy to let him go 

But if you compare Aneke to Leko overall in the championship...
Aneke

P30, GS2, A2 (1GS per 15)
Leko
P72, GS5, A5 (14.4GS per 15)

Difference is Leko's played all across the pitch in those games. (Except defence).

Leko's record was, indeed, a lot better for us than for Birmingham. My point was more questioning why Birmingham and Bowyer in particular would want him back when he hasn't had a goal or assist in 41 appearances for them. I'm also struggling to think of any players that Bowyer has welcomed back once he's sent them out on loan. Bowyer doesn't want someone back who he doesn't think will fit his system which, let's face it, is all about conceding possession, stopping the opposition from scoring and hoping that his side nicks one at the other end.

But, perhaps, the most telling thing is what Leko himself said on his return:

“I just feel right at home here, the whole club, the fans, everyone is just welcoming. I really love it here, I love playing here."

It might be a dig at Birmingham or simply an expression of the fact that the Club and specifically the likes of Tracy Leaburn actually made him feel wanted. 

killerandflash said:

It's interesting that both Adkins and Bowyer got "new manager" bounce at their new clubs last season

Bowyer's continued for a few weeks at the beginning of this season, but that good start has faded badly now

In Bowyer's case he has a game plan (which Adkins didn't seem to) that he sticks to. The issue is the classic "no plan B" and "strength overdone" syndrome that means when the game goes against him (and specifically the opposition scores) he actually has no methodology as to how to change things.

His stats in this regard, so far as wins are concerned, are freakishly consistent -

At Birmingham:

2-1
2-0
1-0
2-1
1-0
1-0
5-0
2-0

Final season with us:

2-0
1-0
1-0
2-0
2-0
2-0
3-2
2-0
5-2
1-0
1-0
2-0
1-0
2-1

So, 17 of his last 22 wins as a Manager have resulted from clean sheets with all bar one of those wins without conceding being 1-0 or 2-0. The game we won 5-2 was against Wimbledon when Bowyer brought on Aneke and Williams after 53 minutes as we were losing 2-1 but that was a rare occasion when he actually let the handbrake off and only because he really had to.

Bowyer works on the premise that if his sides stop the opposition from scoring then they can't lose. Which is fine as long as they don't concede but as we found, following that spell last season when the Famewo/Inniss partnership worked so well together, once his sides start to leak goals he has no solution.

Which is where he is now at Birmingham - in the situation where because they can't score they can't win - 580 minutes without a goal of any description and not one goal in open play in the last seven matches. No team in the Championship has scored in fewer than the five games they have scored in either.

 

I wanted Birmingham to fail as I found Bowyer's exit from us to be a bitter one and I blamed him for it.

I go back on that now and wish him all the best.
He gave us some great memories and I hope his managerial career is a successful one.

Hope Birmingham stay up and they solidify championship status...before they can then proceed with ambitious further investments.

Given how similarly he's done at both Charlton and now Birmingham, and the limitations he's shown in both I think its safe to say that unless he undergoes some sort of reinvention he's probably at best a Championship manager who is perfectly suited for a club in a crisis needing an immediate rescue but perhaps not a man for the long term project.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing perhaps. I'm sure he'll probably have a fairly decent career, just probably not one spending years in the Premiership (as a manager/coach.)