Trevor Francis- Bringing Blues Back

10th July 2014

Today is the day when we find out who Birmingham City have signed for the upcoming season, and you will not be disappointed as they have more news on their transfers, they have signed a further 3 players bringing their total number of signings for this transfer window to a resounding 11.

So who have they signed:


Formerly of West Bromwich Albion, Allan has moved from one side of the West Midlands to the other in a deal believed to be around 60K. Allan is reportedly on 9K a week and his contract is to last 2 years. Allan spent last season on loan at Birmingham making 35 appearances scoring 3 goals.


Former Fulham prospect Dan Burn has left Fulham for Birmingham City for a deal worth around 3.5M. Burn had only just returned to Craven Cottage after a loan spell at Birmingham City, before Trevor Francis snapped him up. Burn is reportedly on around 22K a week and is Birmingham's top earner.


Shane Ferguson has signed for Birmingham city on a 3 year deal worth 819K a year. Ferguson has just returned to Newcastle after a highly successful campaign at Birmingham on loan, he cost Birmingham 4.6M. This so far is Birmingham's most expensive transfer.


Another former loanee to Birmingham has re signed for the club on a full transfer. Bartley cost the Blues 2.9M from Welsh side Swansea. Bartley was one of Birmingham's top performers last season and is hoping to have another good season again. He is on a contract of 18.75K a week for 3 years.


The first of Birmingham's signing to have not been a former Birmingham player. The 21 year old English striker is said to have been worth 1.2M, which is a surprise as he is one of England's most promising players. His contract is believed to be worth 12.75K a week for 3 years. This would have pleased the Birmingham manager has they were in need of a striker.


The second of Birmingham's signings that has not actually played for the club, he has had a previous spell at Blackburn but failed to make an impact. He doesn't come to Birmingham as the only player from the Scottish Leagues, Andrew Shinnie who before making the switch to Birmingham last season played for Inverness will be there to support him. Doran cost Birmingham under 1M which is great who a prospect such as he is. He is reportedly on 4.9K a week.


Trevor Francis, "I think all of these signings will have a role to play in the team, not only in the future but in this season's struggle for consolidation, their is a reason I have signed youth as opposed to experience players, this is because I am a big believer in the youth system and want to build for the future of the club as well as the present."

So far Francis has managed to spend a whopping 13.84M on transfers in this transfer window.

Dan is continuing his super form from last season but this time in the Premier League, a brilliant performance against Manchester United ended up with him scoring for the second time against the club from Manchester, he got player of the match in this game. Also against Bristol city he again put in another great performance.



Welcome to the Premier league boys, this is what it's all about. We need to crack on with things even though we have only got 1 point from the first 3 games, it wasn't great we got 2 of the best English teams in the first 3 games but hey-ho that's football. I'm not to disappointed with the performances this month I think this month has been a month of getting used to life in the Premier league and I saw that our form will pick up.

Birmingham City supporters wake to the news that manager Trevor Francis has left the club, this isn't really a surprise due to Birmingham's really poor form in the Premier League so far this season, only scoring 1 goal and only getting one point.

Speaking to Francis was our sky sports football pundit Jamie Redknapp, Francis and Jamie's father used to be really close friends, and Francis was about to send a few players to the QPR squad.

Jamie- "So Trev, disappointment as you leave the Blues, what was your main reason for this"

Trevor- "Erm it was the most difficult decision of my career, it took me 3 whole days to come to a decision, it was definitely the pressure that was put on to me, I think we could have benefitted from another season in the Championship, plus I just don't think the club is run well at all, I didn't get enough to sign a quality striker or to improve many positions"

Jamie- "So what are you plans for the future now?"

Trevor- "Ahhhh, Jamie I don't know, who's going to want to employ me as there manager now"

Jamie- "Don't worry something will come up, it's been a joy speaking to you, thank you for your time"

Trevor- "Thanks, Jamie"

Now Francis has resigned, speculation has aroused over who will succeed Francis, rumours has it that either Harry Redknapp, Sam Allardyce or Gus Poyet.

News has come from France that the Lille board have finally had enough of Girard, the former Montpellier manager joined Lille at the start of the 2012/13 season and had been in control of the club for just over a year and after Lille's very disappointing start to the season, the Lille faithful finally lost faith in Girard.

Lille are currently sitting in 11th in the Ligue 1 and after a pre-season expectation of at least 5th, its no surprise Girard had to go.

The Lille supporters are obviously sad to see him leave but respect the boards decision and do believe it was the right think to do for the club, as they want to be competing in Europe next season.

Speculation arises as to who the Girard will be succeed by, there have been a number of names linked with the Job including: Frank de Boer, Luis Enrique and Frederic Hantz have all been touted as favourites to become the new Lille manager., but with managers such as former Birmingham City manager Trevor Francis declaring interest in the job, it's going to be tough for the Lille board to decide their next manager.

Ah no, you resigned
oh well it was coming and resignation looks better on the cv than a sacking
also, go for the Lille job!

In a Bizarre turn of events Former Birmingham manager Trevor Francis has been announced as the new Lille manager, we knew that he had put his interest forwards to the Lille board, but not be anywhere near the favourite to take the position, this is somewhat a surprise to many people.

The Lille board released this statement:, "We are delighted to inform the LOSC supporters, that we have appointed a new manager, many of you will not of heard of this man but he is known as a legend in England and was the first million pound player there, he is Trevor Francis"

We have yet to hear from Francis on the subject, as he had to get involved straight from the word go but his personal assistant has said, "He is extremely happy to be managing a club like Lille, and hopes he can be the catalyst to a recovery, he knows the challenge that he faces but he is adamant he can pull it off."

We know he rejected offers from West Bromwich Albion and FC Augsburg to take the Lille hot seat, this has pleased the Lille supporters already with many of them realising he picked a team in a country he knows little about to a team in a country he knows a lot about.

In a very uninspiring month for LOSC Lille Martin has been a stand out player, scoring a few goals while at it. He hasn't actually won a player of the month award but this is because the team have played so poorly. The one game he didn't play in the team looked the worst they had been since I joined, he is the hub of the team and if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have gotten any points out of this month.


Well this month has been abysmal for a team like Lille, it's not that we haven't played well its that we haven't been able to see out a game from winning positions in many of the games we have played this month we have been winning and got complacent and ended up only getting one points.

Not the best of starts to your Lille career, hopefully you can sort it out!

After a very poor showing in the French ligue one for Francis's LOSC side, they find themselves in a very disappointing 13th place. This is not solely Francis's fault with former Lille manager Girard selling a number of key players and bringing in poor replacements, this has left Francis with very little chance of salvaging anything this season for Lille.

The former Birmingham manager's sacking will have come as a big shock, as through difficult times the main focus should be stability. But with his one win in the league from 6 games there would have been obvious concern that the club might start to drop down the table further.

Over the last few years there of course has been a growing concern about Lille future as they seem to be a club that is going on a downwards spiral, and it was always going to be difficult for Francis to do anything here.

After Lille's defeat to FC Lorient about his sacking, he told us, "Obviously I am disappointed to be sacked, but to be entirely honest I'm not entirely sure that Lille was the right for me, and I really hope that this won't be the end to my managing career, I wish the club the best in their difficult times ahead, and hope they can pick themselves up as soon as possible."

Oh noes!, two Clubs gone in a short space of time

2014-03-03 17:37#163791 captainbrickarms : Oh noes!, two Clubs gone in a short space of time

Yeah I know, really disappointed but the Lille team is actually woeful.

After a very disappointing season for the Potters ending in relegation from the Premier League, manager Mark Hughes has been sacked from the club. This has been one of the most tantalisingly close relegation battles ever, with any team from 13th to 18th being able to face the chop on the final day, all it would have taken is for Stoke to have gotten one point from their last game and they would have been safe.

A new manager has already been appointed to take the Potters back to the Premier League and of course what better man to do so then Trevor Francis.

Francis has had a horrible season so far firstly only being able to muster up one point with Birmingham city, but source say given time they would have become better, and only being able to guide LOSC to one league win in 7 games after eventually being sacked.

But there is one thing that no-one will forget; his brilliance in being able to get Birmingham city promoted back in the 2013/14 season, this was a brilliant feat for Francis as they were predicted to finish 17th, this potentially meaning a relegation battle for them. Obviously Stoke want Francis to repeat his success with Birmingham and make sure that they stay in the Premier League.

We spoke to Francis before he met up with the staff at the potters, "It's a delight to be the manager of Stoke, I'm sad that it's under these conditions, but in a way I didn't want to see Birmingham getting relegated, I know a lot of players will leave the squad, but I know that we will have enough quality in the squad to bounce right back."

I have some verrrryyy bad news, my football manager Birmingham game had become corrupt, which is very annoying so I'm disappointed to tell you I can't carry on with this story