‘People will have to move on’ - Lee Bowyer issues warning to Birmingham City players after defeat

Birmingham City boss Lee Bowyer called out his players’ lack of passion following the defeat at St Andrew’s
Joe Forte
By Joe Forte
Published 16th Mar 2022, 08:58 BST

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Lee Bowyer sent a warning to his Birmingham City players after his side suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Middlesborough last night (15 March).

An own goal from Nico Gordon and a stunning strike from Aaron Connolly was enough to earn Chris Wilder’s side their first away win of 2022.

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The result leaves Blues in 19th place and 13 points clear of the relegation zone.

Following the game, Blues boss Bowyer criticised his players’ passion.

Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer was furious with his players following their 2-0 defeat to MiddlesbroughBirmingham City manager Lee Bowyer was furious with his players following their 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough
Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer was furious with his players following their 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough

He said: “Tonight wasn’t good enough, in lots of ways.

“I’m the person in charge and I take full responsibility for that. But sometimes your players have to look at themselves.

“We lost every battle, all over the pitch, so that hurts me a lot. Just accepting defeats, rolling over and pulling out of tackles, that’s not what this football club’s about. I didn’t see enough passion.”

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With this week marking a year since his arrival as head coach at the club, Bowyer was reluctant to hold back on the defeat.

“You’re not in a relegation fight in the past four years unless you have performances like that.

“It shocks me because I don’t accept it. But that’s the running thing here and that’s what we need to change. In the summer, people will have to move on.”

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