Friday night’s return of the action in the Championship following the international break brings us another west midlands local derby when 4th placed West Brom take on 18th placed Birmingham City, who are reeling from a recent 9-point deduction handed down from the Football League.
It’s not all been plain sailing though at The Hawthorns in recent weeks as former manager, Darren Moore was shown the door following some very average results from West Brom as the hosts struggled to win at home in the Championship.
Moore oversaw just two home victories during his last 12 matches in charge, with the final straw being held by bottom club Ipswich Town to a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns. Under 21 manager, Jimmy Shan has taken over the reigns in the interim and The Baggies have responded, winning back-to-back matches in the Championship with wins over Swansea City (3-0 at home) and a 1-0 win away at Brentford just before the break.
However, a local derby is up next, and as The Baggies have registered just one win from their last seven matches on home turf, they still have ground to make up in front of their home faithful.
The international break couldn’t have come any sooner for Gary Monk and Birmingham City as The Blues were subjected to a fourth defeat on the trot in the Championship last time out away at Preston North End in a 1-0 loss at Deepdale.
And if previous defeats to Hull City, bitter local rivals Aston Villa in the Second City derby and Millwall weren’t bad enough, Birmingham City have recently been handed a 9-point deduction due to infringement of the EFL’s profitability and sustainability regulations.
This significant penalty has seen Birmingham City plummet from the relative safety of a mid-table 13th placed position and seven points adrift of the play-off pack, down to 18th place and now just four points above the relegation zone.
Birmingham now need to re-group and I suspect manager Gary Monk will once again use the ‘siege mentality’ that helped them avoid relegation at the end of last season again to great effect this term.
Perhaps just as worrying, is the fact that the goals seemed to have dried up for Birmingham as the visitors have failed to score in each of their last four matches, but the priority on Friday night for Monk’s side will be not to lose a fifth straight match.
The form-book generally gets thrown out of the window on derby day, and while West Brom may edge this encounter, it may well be a low-scoring affair at The Hawthorns.