Bowyer and Deeney have been 'sold a pup' with Birmingham City and fans have had enough

Following years of discontent and growing apathy, Blues fans have begun a campaign against the club's controversial owners and have urged the EFL to investigate the ongoing situation at St Andrew's.

The hashtag #BSHLOUT (Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited) has circulated furiously across social media following Birmingham's loss to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup.

The mood will only have become even darker following the Blues' shocking 6-2 defeat at Fulham on Tuesday night, and a protest is said to be being planned for the club's next home game against Sheffield United.

However there is much more to Birmingham fans' unhappiness towards their club's owners than their poor results on the pitch, according to talkSPORT Midlands football reporter and Blues supporter Ian Danter.

"They [Birmingham fans] don't know who the club ownership actually is," Danter said on Tuesday's White and Jordan show. "There is such a cloak of secrecy surrounding those who pull the strings at St Andrew's.

"Trillion Trophy Asia took the club over from the previous ownership Birmingham International Holdings who were of course owned by Carson Yeung who went to prison for money laundering.

"What we've got is a situation where after the succession of low place finishes in the Championship, under this regime… they're currently 18th in the table at the moment, Birmingham.

"Yes, we've moved on from the reckless overspending of 2017 from Darren Dein and those associated with that in the Harry Redknapp era, but we're now in a point where fans feel so disenfranchised Jim, Simon, so utterly fed up.

"The ground is looking tired, the ground is of course half empty because there are repairs that need to be done. There is no communication as to when the ground is going to be fixed - the lower portion of the Tilton and Kop stand.

"How much is it going to cost? Do we have the money or are we completely reliant on the money the club made from the sales of Che Adams and Jude Bellingham?

"There's just no communication whatsoever."

Asbestos was discovered at St Andrew's prior to the start of the season, and season ticket holders have had to be balloted to be able to have the chance watch their team due to the closure of the effected stands - an issue that has remained unresolved.

And Jordan agrees that the up-keep of the stadium and results are not the only issue at Birmingham City that has sparked fear amongst the fan base, and that the problems run much deeper.

"This club is losing substantial amounts of money, some of it's understandable because of the COVID situation, but from what I can see… they've now lost from 2016, when this ownership model took control, they've lost something like £80million.

"Lee Bowyer's gone there, he had to be told something by somebody to leave Thomas Sandgaard and Charlton who was coming in with a big bag of money at Charlton and wanted ambition, and was convinced enough to go to Birmingham.

"They've seemed to have invested greatly over the last couple of years, I mean Troy Deeney's just gone there so he must have been sold the same pup as Lee Bowyer was sold.

"There must be someone pitching a woo to someone to get them to go there."

Birmingham were struck with a nine point points deduction by the EFL in 2019 for a breach of the EFL's profitability and sustainability rules, which led to the eventual resignation of chairman Xuandong Ren.

Birmingham City's owners have faced a £70million loss, one that is seeming to be bankrolled, but it is unknown who is doing so, and whether they will continue to do so.

And Danter believes the EFL urgently need to look into what's going on behind the scenes amongst this fragmented hierarchy to avoid another undesirable scenario such as a points deduction, or worse, from happening.

"I think the EFL are either too busy with the Derby County situation or the Hull City takeover that's still not ratified six weeks after the paperwork went in to actually concentrate on this.

"That's not to run the EFL down, but they've got to look at this."