It’s always good to wait a bit before posting, I find. Put down your thoughts while the emotions of the game are still raw and you’re liable to say things you might later regret, or that prove in hindsight to be inaccurate. Hence the slight delay in posting this Fans View (nothing to do with being a lazy sod, honest).

The visit to Birmingham was always going to be one of the more difficult ones, given the fees that they’ve spent on players (spunking more on Jay Stansfield than cost of the whole of our squad) and I think the likelihood of a struggle was in everyone’s minds as they set off for St Andrews.

The ground has undergone huge changes over the years – last time I was there in 1998 was on a rickety terrace down the side of the pitch, whereas now three sides of the stadium look modern, with just the main stand, housing the dugouts, yet to undergo replacement to complete the bowl. Don’t know what the plans are but I would think that should the Blues get promotion to the Prem they’d be silly not to use some of that windfall cash to complete the transformation.

St Andrews from the away end

The approach to the ground is far from PL standard. Small Heath has never been the most beautiful neighbourhood, but nowadays it seem very unkempt and unloved, not helped by the recent long-term strike by the refuse collectors. However, the place certainly has character and I loved the combination of masjids and churches side by side.

The game itself panned out pretty much like I expected it to. Birmingham had most of the possession whilet United set out to spoil the game and look to threaten on the counter. It almost worked when Cameron Brannagan’s long-range shot forced Ryan Allsop into a full length save. However, that was a rare chink of sunshine in an otherwise overcast performance.

Livewire forward Kyogo Furuhashi had already missed two golden opportunities, putting the ball wide with just Jamie Cumming to beat and then heading over from a cross just four yards from goal, before Birmingham took the lead. Like most of their threatening moves, it came down Oxford’s right, where Ethan Laird was a constant threat. It was his drive to the byline and pullback that allowed South Korea international Paek Seung-ho to sidefoot the ball home from 10 yards and break the deadlock.

The second half was much more even, with Cumming having little to do. Of course, the same could be said for Allsop, with United’s most threatening move coming at the death, when Mark Harris got in front of his marker to meet Stan Mills’ cross, but the U’s forward could only divert the ball wide. And so the game finished 1-0 to the home side.

Looking at the result in isolation, you could argue that to go down to a promotion favourite by a single goal isn’t so bad. But to look at it in the context of the previous two league games (both also single-goal defeats) maked you think there’s an issue somewhere, and then to look at the performance that led to the result gives further cause for concern.

It was great to have Brian De Keersmaecker make his debut in midfield, and he looks like he’ll be a great addition to the side – strong in the tackle, a good passer and a bit of a leader. The defence was largely sound, although probably should have done better to prevent Kyogo’s two chances and Paek’s goal, but up front is mostly where the worries are. Oxford rarely look like scoring in open play.

Przsemysłav Płacheta is the only player in the side with exceptional pace – and we saw against both Hull City and Birmingham that they had three or four genuinely quick players at the top end of the pitch – and he’s so fast that his other team mates can’t keep up, so he ends up delivering crosses with no one in the area to meet them.

There’s no one really capable of playing on the left – even Shemmy faded when he went over to that side to accommodate Mills on the right – and there isn’t a proper creative midfielder in the building who is capable of unlocking Championship defences.

So where does that leave us with just one week of the transfer window remaining? It leaves us needing to ship several players out, unfortunately, before we’re likely to see anyone else coming in. There is a clear need for a wide-left player and for a creative midfielder. Two of the hardest positions to recruit, especially for a club with fewer resources than most, if not all, of its competitors.

Get it right, and we’ll be bursting with optimism. Get it wrong and it could be a long, hard season ahead.