To talk about the 3-0 victory over Coventry, Ivan Sunjic’s outstanding performance in midfield, the relegation struggle, and the forthcoming games against Rotherham and Huddersfield, Alex Dicken (BD) and Brian Dicken (BD) were joined by Ben Hawker from Blues Breakdown and Ryan Deeney.
Saturday’s matchup between Blues and Rotherham is followed by a trip to Huddersfield, who are one spot and one point behind Blues in the Championship standings, on Saturday. This season’s last day of play will see Norwich City visit St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
The subjects discussed in the podcast’s Q&A segment included Sunjic, Alex Pritchard, and Krystian Bielik. The complete transcript can be seen here.
Would you offer Sunjic a new contract if he was willing to accept a pay reduction?
“As happy as I was by his performance, the answer is no if the Blues are to advance. Not in my opinion. It’s time to add skillful ball-handlers to the midfield, like Paik. We require more all-around center midfield players. Although I appreciate it, I can’t turn around after just one performance.
“I assume that the eight senior players without contracts already have a solid understanding of whether or not they will receive contract offers. Three games remain, and the release date is one month away.
John Ruddy and Keshi Anderson, who I’ve spoken to in the last two weeks, haven’t really indicated that discussions about a new contract have taken place. Was that the greatest the Blues team ever performed under such circumstances?
“I don’t know if it was the best, but I don’t remember ever being more surprised by a performance’s tone. After the Cardiff game, we had very much written them off as a failed flush. Simply put, I didn’t think they could ever again decide what kind of course they would go in.
It’s the one that shocked me the most, but it’s not the greatest; on the last day of the season, you had to work hard to defeat Garry Monk’s Blues, who destroyed a Fulham team that hadn’t lost in six weeks. Though not necessarily the greatest, it was undoubtedly the most unexpected.
“I know they’re conversing with one another. At a recent press conference, Rowett stated that they had been speaking, but I don’t believe Tony Mowbray had any influence on the choice to play Bielik. What Mowbray wanted is not at all what Rowett wants from his center-backs. Bielik may play a role similar to John Stones as a hybrid midfielder-defender, according to Mowbray, who moved him earlier in the season.
It’s not necessarily what Rowett wants Bielik to be doing; he wants his center backs to stay in their places and be center backs. Rowett made it apparent right away that Bielik was the best choice and that Mowbray had given him permission to complete the task in his own way. I’m also very confident that Mowbray would not have had any say in that choice.
