Birmingham City

Mid-season report: Birmingham City

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 28 December 2012

As the Championship reaches its halfway point, Sports Mole looks back at how Birmingham City have performed during the opening five months of the season.

After the departure of Chris Hughton to Norwich City in the summer, Lee Clark took charge at St Andrew's looking to guide the club to a successful season.

The club's supporters would have been hopeful of a second successive campaign challenging at the top end of the table, but Clark's men have not had it all their own way during the opening months of the season.

Here, Sports Mole looks back at how Birmingham have fared so far.

August

Birmingham began the season with a draw at home to Charlton Athletic before they lost 3-2 away at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.

The month concluded with the Blues exiting the Capital One Cup to Coventry City.

September

Birmingham registered their first victory of the season when they recorded a 1-0 win over Peterborough United.

Four points from their next two games against Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest saw Birmingham move up the Championship table but they were dealt a blow when Craig Davies netted four times to condemn the Blues to a 5-0 defeat to Barnsley.

However, Clark's side hit back in their final game of the month as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0.

October

October proved to be a tough month for Birmingham as they recorded just one victory out of their five matches.

They began the month with back-to-back defeats against Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town before they recorded consecutive draws with Leicester City and Millwall.

The Blues ended the month with a morale-boosting triumph away at Leeds United thanks to a stunning Leroy Lita strike.

November

Ipswich Town beat Birmingham 1-0 at the beginning of November before goals from Chris Burke and Marlon King handed their side a 2-0 victory over Bristol City.

A 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers followed four days later, before two losses in three games saw Birmingham sit just above the Championship relegation zone.

However, Birmingham ended the month strongly when King struck a late goal to earn his side a 3-2 win over Middlesbrough.

December

Clark witnessed his side's topsy-turvy form continue in December, as they began the final month of the year with a narrow defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Consecutive 2-2 draws against Crystal Palace and Burnley followed that loss, with the Blues scoring in the last 10 minutes of each game to secure a point.

The club returned to winning ways on Boxing Day as a Curtis Davies double handed Birmingham a 2-1 victory at Oakwell against Barnsley.