Opinion - Birmingham City's permanent mess

 A club in turmoil, Birmingham Ciy is preparing to part ways from its coach Aitor Karanka. The rumours of his dismissal have been spreading since Sunday evening, not really surprising news for the Blues who sit 20th in the Championship and under direct threat from Rotherham in the race for survival.

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Birmingham's survival hopes are hanging by a thread, this is due to the players of Small Heath having only three points more than the Millers, despite playing 4 more games than their relegation rivals.

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And the current form of the Blues does not lend itself to optimism in the business end of a season where anything can happen.

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Birmingham City have recorded just three wins in their last 19 matches. That's two less than Rotherham in their last 15 matches.

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The downward spiral of the Blues has therefore cost the manager's head but the problems are far from over for Birmingham. On the contrary, they are only just beginning.

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With only ten matches to play before the end of the season, their fate not even in their hands and without a new manager, the Blues are truly playing with fire.

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Owners absent, an academy in danger

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But is it really any surprise to see the St Andrew's club in such an uncertain position? Not really, because for some time, the Blues have had a habit of doing things the wrong way, like their owners: simply absent.

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Since wonder kid Jude Bellingham's record sale last summer to Borussia Dortmund (£22.75m), Birmingham City have made the surprising decision to remove the club's youth squads to revise their vision in terms of academy.

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In other words, the club has sacrificed, for budget purposes, one of the few sections that had been functioning well for a few years, the symbol of belonging to a club: its academy.  

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Questionnable players' involvement 

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Belonging. It is also one of the major problems faced by Birmingham City. At the epicentre of the sporting crisis, rare are the players who manage to stand out, to show even a burst of pride, or concern for the future of a club in great danger.

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Lost on the pitch and not only because of the sometimes suicidal instructions from the Spanish manager, the players have too often shown signs of resignation, as a symbol of a club already doomed.

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You would have thought Birmingham was going to build something from their successes against Sheffield Wednesday and Queen's Park Rangers, but they didn't.

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Karanka to leave, a new manager to save the Blues

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The dismissal of Karanka provokes new upheavals internally and from this slump, the idea of disorder again arises when supporters are starting to voice their discontent.

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The names mentioned to succeed Karanka and save the club have multiplied recently, with the departure of Lee Bowyer from Charlton.

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The former Blue is one of the odds on favorites to take the helm and save his former club from a crisis of which they could possibly never recover from. Bury's recent example is enough to worry Small Heath.

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Now is the time for action after all the statements and promises.