Football Season Guide

All change at Birmingham this summer. They had an horrendous nine games after lockdown and flirted with the drop, failing to win a single game. That was partly thanks to Pep Clotet announcing he would leave at the end of the season. He was eventually sacked. They have now brought in former Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka and he is very familiar with this division so it should be a decent appointment. They have sold young star Jude Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund which was always going to happen. They seem to lack a lot of class in attacking areas and, with Scott Hogan back at parent club Aston Villa, do not have a lot up-front. Karanka, though, has made some useful signings with former Boro players George Friend and Adam Clayton both joining. Jonathan Leko is also an interesting arrival from West Brom. Birmingham are not used to winning at the moment so are likely to need a strong start to the campaign.