There are surely not many British football fans who haven’t heard of the bizarre situation Birmingham City have found themselves in going into the next round of the FA Cup.
Birmingham City are set to play against Coventry in the fourth round of the tournament. However, Coventry have been playing their home matches at Birmingham City’s St. Andrew’s field this season because of a complication with Coventry using Ricoh Arena.
But in the FA Cup fixture, Birmingham City are set to be the home team at their own stadium. Luckily for Birmingham City fans, the clubs are looking at a solution so that both sets of fans can split the tickets 50/50.
Despite this, in a press conference discussing the game, Birmingham City manager Pep Clotet admitted that he will be treating the game as an away fixture. Fans were concerned with the manager’s statement. They think the side should setup to intimidate their city rivals and show them who really owns the stadium.
Disagree with this, we should he making them feel intimated at their "home" ground. We should absolutely not be treating this like an away game.
— James Cope (@James_Cant_Cope) January 16, 2020
So negative – we should be treating this game as a home tie and comfortably beating them
— Jamie (@Jamie61482521) January 16, 2020
Make sure you don’t go to their place thinking it is their place when in fact it’s our place which they think is their place. If you do – we’re in trouble.
— David Ayres (@davidjayres) January 16, 2020
Does that mean you’ll pick a defensive side as we’re playing away?? #BCFC
— Gareth Williams #DYSPR (@gazwil1973) January 16, 2020
— Will ? (@BluesWillll) January 16, 2020
Out
— don #TTAOUT (@DonovanPurves99) January 16, 2020
Do you think Pep Clotet was serious when he said he was approaching the game like an away tie?
Yes
No
What do we think?
There is a possibility that Clotet’s words were said with a slight hint of sarcasm. For the sake of Birmingham City fans, we hope that Clotet has the confidence to set up a team that is willing to go out on the offensive.