Blues' New Signings - Profiles

Darren Randolph: 26 year old Randolph is an Irish international goalkeeper who has joined Blues on a free (a recurring theme with the signings so far this summer; for obvious reasons) from Motherwell. Motherwell fans were upset to see him leave, but wished him well, which is often a very good sign. Many said he was a terrific 'keeper and that he may aspire to play at a higher level, as he has the quality. It's clear that Randolph is a hugely talented goalkeeper and could be a huge coup for Blues, as he is only 26. This means if he has a good season next season, we can (will) sell him to Hull or Norwich for a couple of million.

Neal Eardley: A young full back with lots of experience, including a season in the premier league, Eardley joins Lee Clark's team off the back of a fairly average season, having only played 24 games in the league. With 16 international caps to his name, Welsh international Eardley is a talented full back who likes to go forward and can play on the right wing if needed. If Blues decide to play 3-5-2 this season, then the right wing-back spot seems suited to Eardley.

Kyle Bartley: At a very young age was touted as a possible star for the future, but a lack of game time in English football as well as being played out of position for Rangers have led to a stunt in his development. Rangers fans do not speak very highly of Kyle - 'slow, no positional sense and a thug' were some of the the terms used to describe him, however he was played out of position and infrequently there, so though worrying, these may not ring entirely true. It's clear that Bartley has ability, but whether he fulfills it is another matter. A year loan to Blues where he plays regularly should help massively.

Dan Burn: Burn has managed to move to a team where he isn't the biggest player - no mean feat. Standing at a towering 6'7, Burn is one of the biggest players in English football; coincidentally, Zigic is the only player in the Championship who is taller. This should make us a huge threat at set-pieces, providing we can beat the first man for once. Burn has drawn comparisons to Brede Hangeland, due to his calm, composed ability on the ball combined with his height and defensive ability. Another loanee, which outlines Blues' financial trouble and inability to pay for players, but hopefully he can do a good job for Blues this season.

Scott Allan: Following the success of Ravel Morrison's loan last year (eventually), Clark has decided to bring in a player who he views as a similar player, this time on loan (another one) from West Brom. Allan is a creative midfielder who can go past a man and create chances. Unfortunately for him, he has had very little consistent game time in the last few years, but this means that he is hungry for football at Blues. He has already expressed his desire to stay permanently, but our financial state may not make that a viable option. Allan looks like an exciting player and can hopefully have a successful season at Blues.

Shane Ferguson: The young full back/winger made a huge impression last season whilst on loan at Blues. Hopefully he can have the same effect again this year. Quick, skillful with a lovely left foot, the Northern Ireland international has impressed Clark and has signed on loan again, despite interest from elsewhere.

Andrew Shinnie: Shinnie is an exciting player for me, due to his terrific goalscoring record having played as an attacking midfielder. Effective playing up front or in midfield, 'Shinniesta' has impressed in pre-season and looks to have a promising future in football. He is only 24, has been capped for Scotland and was amongst the nominations for SPL Player of the Year.

Lee Novak: Novak brings hard work and tenacity to Blues' front line, as well as good awareness to bring others into play. He isn't the best goalscorer, as evidenced by his poor 4 in 34 goal return last season, however Clark has managed him before and believes he can get the best out of him. Novak was the foil to Jordan Rhodes during his record-breaking season, which shows that he does have ability to create and help the team.

Spain vs England - Cultural differences

In my comparison between Mata and Rooney, there were clear differences in play style, which when you look at them typify the differences between Spain and England. When you look at English players, we tend to appreciate and accentuate the need for physical attributes and energy. How many other countries would Scott Parker start for? In England he is loved by the media for his 'drive and passion', which basically equates to running around and slide tackling. In comparison to Spain, who have Xabi Alonso. A man who was quoted as saying:

"Tackling is not really a quality, it's more something you are forced to resort to when you don't have the ball,'

'You would come across an interview with a lad from the youth team and they've asked him his age, his heroes as a kid, and his strong points. And he would say things like shooting and tackling. I can't get into my head that footballing development would educate tackling as a quality.’’

Why do we bring midfielders up to tackle and run around, rather than pass and move? Only English fans would pick Steven Gerrard over, say, Sergio Busquets. Don't get me wrong - Gerrard is a terrific footballer, but not as good as Busquets. However, in England, Busquets isn't held in high regard, probably because he doesn't run around sliding into challenges, giving the ball away or smashing a shot 30 yards over the bar.

The most Spanish-like player we have is Michael Carrick. You'd think we would treasure him and play him every game, right? Nope. 'All he does is pass it sideways' and 'He doesn't score enough goals' the English fans cry. 27 caps at the age of 31 tells you everything you need to know. We just don't want footballers to play for our country.

Running around a lot and tackling are very useful to have, of course, but you don't need to tackle if the opponent can't get the ball. You also don't need to tackle if you read the game well enough. We English cheer a tackle like a goal sometimes. A full-blooded tackle is something that defines English football and we wouldn't want it any other way. We train defenders and midfielders to tackle, rather than intercept. In Europe, making a tackle is often seen as a last resort, in that you've misread the game.

In Spain, youth development is different. They choose players based on football ability because, you know, they are supposed to be  football players after all. We pick athletes and teach them to play football, which is stupid, as they won't have the same talent. One reason for this is the emphasis on playing on bigger pitches from a young age, rather than small pitches and small sided games that improve ball control and possession. 

It's scary to think that had Messi been English, he probably wouldn't have made it as a footballer. Think about that for a second. Lionel Messi would have been playing semi-pro or Sunday League football. Imagine a 37 year old pub player trying to defend against Messi. He would have avoided a lot of attention due to his lack of strength and whilst he is quick, he isn't as quick as a lot of young players due to his size. Even if he was picked up by a scout, due to his technical ability, he probably wouldn't have ever got his chance. When he was younger, Messi was deemed too small and weak to be a footballer, but Barcelona saw his ability and potential and paid for his hormone treatment. Here, he'd get released. 

Obviously, it's all hypothetical and you may think I'm stupid for saying it. But just think; how many skillful players have we had in the last few years? How many players in the mould of Fabregas or Mata? You could argue Joe Cole was incredibly skillful, but he's a one-off really. Wilshere is the closest we have to Fabregas, but he isn't as good as we'd like to think. He just stands out in terms of English players, due to being better technically, but he isn't as good as Spain's midfielders. There are so few technically gifted English players, that surely it can't be coincidence.

To summarise, we need to bring up footballers not athletes. We need to bring up Iniesta's and Busquets', not Parker's and Gerrard's. If you're still not convinced that Busquets is better than Gerrard, then take a look at this: 

All by the age of 24:

Honours	Champions League : 2009, 2011 (FC Barcelona); Club World Cup : 2009 (FC Barcelona); Club World Cup : 2010, 2012 (FC Barcelona); Copa del Rey : 2009, 2012 (FC Barcelona); Euro : 2012 (Spain); European Super Cup : 2009, 2011 (FC Barcelona); Liga : 2009, 2010, 2011 (FC Barcelona); Spanish Supercopa : 2009, 2010, 2011 (FC Barcelona); World Cup : 2010 (Spain) Thanks for reading. .

Wayne Rooney/Juan Mata

'Sky Sports understands' (has made up that) Chelsea have offered Manchester United £10 million plus either Juan Mata or David Luiz.

Whilst this is clearly untrue, I thought it would be interesting to compare Rooney and Mata, as if true I'm certain Man U would agree immediately. Although I am a huge fan of Rooney, I can't help but think that Mata is the better player, even though both play in a similar position but are very different players.

Stats:
                                     Rooney:                                   Mata:

Goals last season:                12                                            11

Assists:                                11                                            13

Total contribution:                23                                            24

Games:                                32                                            34

As you can see, both players have very similar stats. There is very little in pure contribution to games stat to differentiate the two in terms of performance. So what does Rooney have over Mata? 

In my opinion, Rooney is better at controlling the game. Whilst Mata may be a better creative passer (arguably) there are very few players, certainly in the English game, who can control the game the way Rooney does. His range of passing is superb and he dictates the tempo of games. In some ways, he is similar to Scholes. He has a very good passing range and a thunderbolt of a strike from range. However, Scholes was a much better short passer and incredibly calm under pressure. What Rooney has instead is pace and strength. Rooney is deceptively quick; he doesn't appear to be that quick but he has a lot of pace, similarly to players like Mario Gomez. 

Obviously, Rooney is a better defender than Mata. He works harder defensively and is more physical. He often makes defensive tackles and helps out in midfield, which is invaluable for a forward player. His attributes make him perfectly suited to central midfield, so I'm not surprised that Sir Alex tried to play him there. 

Don't think however, that Mata can't compete. The Spanish magician has the ability to drift past players with ease that Rooney would kill for. Mata goes past players like they aren't there at times, due to his quick feet, electric acceleration and close control that is typical of Spanish footballers. He is probably a better creative passer due to his incredible vision and short passing. He is superb at finding space - he doesn't need to run as much as Rooney because he knows where he needs to be. He's always available and in space between the midfield and the defense, where he can hurt teams. Both players are superb finishers so it's difficult to compare them, but Rooney has a better shot from long range.

It's actually difficult to compare them and pick a winner. I'm a huge fan of both players, but for me Mata edges it, as I think he is better to watch in terms of playstyle. All in all, I think Rooney is a terrific player, but he isn't worth more than Mata. I think both in the same team, under Mourinho, would be deadly and would put Chelsea in pole position for the title.

Lee Clark's Azzurri Army

Italian football is famous for three main things: Catenaccio and the defensive style of football that is stereotypical of Italian football, 3 at the back formations and sweepers and Pirlo's magnificent beard.

Pirlo's brilliant beard is nothing compared to Keith Fahey's majestic moustache

Unfortunately, it appears Pirlo won't be Hayden Mullins' replacement to play alongside Jonathan Spector in midfield, so instead Lee Clark has decided to bring the unorthodox (at least in England, where playing with 5 in midfield is still considered revolutionary) 3-5-2 system to the Second City.

Blues aren't the only team to use a 3 at the back system in England; Wigan gained a lot of admirers and partial success with their system, but after many seasons of great escapes they finally succumbed to the drop. This was little to do with the system - at times Wigan were unplayable, but their seeming unwillingness to spend money was suicide in a league where mid-table sides are spending £15 million pounds on a player and a striker who played for a team who nearly went down is being priced at the ridiculous price of £25 million pounds.

Manchester City attempted a similar system at times, but it seemed a half-hearted attempt. Mancini (Italian, of course) tried to get his players to play a 3-5-2 system but they did not like it. Their team seems suited to it, with quick centre-backs and attacking full-backs in Maicon and Kolarov, but for whatever reason it did not work for them.

The most successful 3 at the back system I have seen in English football recently has been Udinese  Watford, who, using players from their Udinese's academy and, of course, an Italian manager, narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League. The key to the team are really the wing-backs. Without quality wide players the formation becomes narrow and weak defensively, if employing a 3-5-2 system. Wigan played closer to a 3-4-3 system in reality, so width going forward was not so much an issue.

So what makes a good wing-back? Do Blues have a proper wing-back? Sitting halfway between midfield and defense, they are needed in attack to add width and stretch teams. The best team in the country, Manchester United, rely heavily on their wingers to create space. Individually, they aren't as good as Chelsea or Manchester City (arguably), but the others play very narrow at times which makes them easier to nullify. Wing-backs in a 3-5-2 need pace and stamina to get up and down the line, but they need to be able to cross the ball and dribble, as they will do the winger's job. They also need to be solid defensively, as otherwise the centre-backs will be pulled out of position. Obviously there aren't too many players that can do all of these well, so it's fortunate that Blues do have players that can. David Murphy will be, in my opinion, a terrific wing-back due to his ability going forward. Neal Eardley looks a very good option on the other side. Liam Davis has been very impressive in pre-season and with Shane Ferguson possibly coming in on loan, Blues seem spoilt for choice at LWB. 

One area that could be potentially worrying is at centre-back. Kyle Bartley looks a very good acquisition, as he has plenty of experience for his age and bags of ability. He is fairly quick as well, which is ideal for this position, as they may have to deal with wingers and the space in behind the wing-backs. Dan Burn looks like a decent centre-back for the middle of the 3, due to his aerial presence, but I'm not sure how good he actually is - he is quite highly rated but doesn't have much experience. Paul Robinson is a very good defender, but I hope his lack of pace isn't exposed in this system. I do believe Mullins could play very well in the centre of the 3, in the Daniele De Rossi-type role, where he can read the game and intercept the ball, but it looks like he may not be here come the start of next season. We may have a lack of pace at the back and I hope this is not a problem next season. 

With 5 in midfield, the idea is to keep the ball using numbers to overwhelm your opponents in midfield. To do this, you need players who can pass the ball, obviously, but you need pace as well. Olly Lee, Koby Arthur, Andrew Shinnie, Tom Adeyemi and all of the wing-backs have pace, which will help us to create chances and press the opponent high up the field, which will hopefully make us an exciting team to watch. With the talented Wade Elliott and the the tenacious Callum Reilly in central midfield, we can keep the ball and create. Reilly especially can score goals from midfield, which is always appreciated. Zigic may not be the fastest, but he may flourish in a 3-5-2 system. With the pace of Green, Shinnie, Asante and Arthur buzzing around him and Novak working hard to press and create, he may get the room he needs to display why Valencia once paid around £16million for him. 

All in all, Blues' fans could be in for an exciting season. No matter what happens this season, it will be interesting to watch. A team unlike any other we have seen in recent years, with a young manager who has fresh ideas will make this an exciting season.

Nathan Redmond - Once a Blue

"This club will remain etched on my heart and soul for life" posts an emotional Nathan Redmond. The young winger leaves behind angry Blues fans, angry towards the board for getting us into a situation where we have to sell young talent that want to play for the club. It isn't jut the fact that we sold him, it's the price; 3 million is a joke in today's market, where Jonjo Shelvey is worth twice that, and Wilfried Zaha is worth four times that. 

All Blues fans are disappointed, but some for different reasons. Many are sad to see a talented youngster leave the club, when it's clear he loves the club. Others think he's overrated, but £3m is a pittance for his potential and it shows how dire a state the club is in. The sales of Davies and Redmond have sparked anger from the helpless Blues faithful.

So what can Norwich fans expect? Redmond has bags of talent and potential but it remains to be seen whether he fulfills it. Blistering pace and ability to beat a man on both sides are what caught the eye of many scouts and managers. Without end product though, it would be pointless. Whilst Redmond's crossing could use some work, this is something he can work on. Don't expect David Beckham style crosses, but he isn't a bad crosser. What really sets him apart is his shooting ability off either foot. Zaha is a better dribbler but can't shoot as well and Ince is more one-footed, which makes Redmond more dangerous. It's for this reason I think he'll end up as a second striker rather than a winger.

Is Redmond really ready for the Premier League? I'd argue that he isn't really ready and I think he knows this. If it was up to Redmond I think he'd stay for another year or two, as Clark appeared to get the best out of him and knew how to handle him. He had long time friends at the club, like Hancox, which is something that could be an issue for a young footballer. He will, undoubtedly, be a Premier League level winger in years to come, but at the moment I think the Championship is his level. Having said that, he has impressed for the England U21's and he clearly has a lot of ability. It will be interesting to see if he can make the leap.

£3m is a steal for a player of Redmond's skill and potential. Norwich fans can be very happy with the deal and excited to see him in action, whilst Blues fans remain disappointed and slightly disheartened.