Birmingham Mail Football LIVE is our daily blog bringing you all you need to know about football in the West Midlands.
Our clubs, Aston Villa , Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion will be our main focus with breaking news from Villa Park, St Andrew’s and The Hawthorns.
There will also be rumours and gossip from across the patch as well as coverage of the big football talking points nationally and internationally.
We will tackle the serious issues with comment and analysis, but also inject fun, fan reaction and the best of social media.
We're kicking off now!
Key Events
Sign off
That’s me done for the day, folks.
Back tomorrow when we do it all again - have a good evening!
ASTON VILLA: Turkish delight
Reports from media outlets in Turkey reckon Trabzonspor could make a loan bid for Jordan Amavi - who would then return to Villa should they return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: SIX years ago
That flew.
Big Zig remained something of a fan favourite throughout his time at St Andrew’s.
Here he is hanging out with Xavi.
VILLA/ALBION: Social media bantzzz
Interesting exchange here between Albion’s official Twitter account and that of a Villa supporter...
ASTON VILLA: Edging closer
Tony Xia is prepared to relocate to Birmingham if and when his takeover is rubber-stamped.
He’s also close to appointing the new manager of the club.
They (the fans) need to know I am one of them.
I will do whatever I can to promote the club.
I hope we can bring everything back on to the right track as soon as possible.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: Drinks break
It’s overcast to say the least in Brum today, but at least it’s nice where David Cotterill is!
Nice touch
Sticking with the Bears for a sec, and this is the trophy that’ll be contested by the Bears and Rapids tomorrow evening...
BIRMINGHAM CITY: The chase is on
Blues are 40-1 to win the Championship next season, and 16-1 to get promoted full stop.
Only Burton and Rotherham are less fancied by the bookies.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: That time of year!
The Rapids visit Edgbaston tomorrow, but the first home game of the T20 season for the Bears also sees another battle - the Mascot Race!
Blues’ Beau and Belle will be competing, and Blues supporters can get discounted prices:
ASTON VILLA: Dulcet tones
And for those of you with a claret and blue persuasion, here Gregg Evans’ Villa version.
Bluenoses, in case you missed it, you can find Brian Dick’s Blues Q&A in the first post - at the very bottom of the page.
WEST BROM: LISTEN TO ME
In case you missed the live Facebook Q&A with yours truly earlier, here it is below.
I (try my best to) answer your questions on all things Albion.
ASTON VILLA: Interesting...
Is the two-horse race about to lose a horse?
Sky Bet currently have him at 1/4.
Previous favourite Tim Sherwood is now 8/1 and Gary Rowett is out at 10s.
ASTON VILLA: International duty
Another excellent result for England U21s in Toulon yesterday, as they hammered Paraguay 4-0 to make it three wins in a row.
Jack Grealish was a sub in the game, having netted twice in the previous match against Guinea.
Japan up next!
WEST BROM: Tenuous
It may be a tenuous one, but ultimately could be a good sign for Albion fans.
Gaston Ramirez’s release from Southampton has been confirmed today - and Middlesbrough is expected to be his next club.
The Uruguayan was on loan at Boro in the second half of last season, and impressed, helping them secure promotion to the Premier League.
It means the number ten role could be filled at the Riverside - a spot James Morrison had previously been tipped to cover.
Talks between Morrison and Albion remain ongoing.
WEST BROM: Tone is off to the Euros
McAuley, Evans, McClean, Chester, Pulis...
The Albion gaffer has been confirmed as one of the pundits for ITV at this summer’s Euros in France.
ASTON VILLA: Defender wants out
Aston Villa defender Jores Okore has admitted this could be “an end to it all” for him at the club.
The Dane, talking to Ekstra Bladet, says he’s planning on remaining in the Premier League for the forthcoming campaign.
He said:
“This can also be an end to it all for me at Aston Villa.
“If I was 29-30-years-old, the situation would probably have been different.
“I am 23-years-old and will play football every weekend. I expect and I hope that is also going to happen in the future.”
LIVE: Baggies Q&A
Joe Chapman is fielding your questions in a couple of minutes on Facebook
Departures far and wide
Can’t do too much wrong in football these days without losing your job.
Two departures in the season between our three clubs - though as we know they were both from the same club.
WEST BROM: Sandro deal "nearly done"
Portuguese newspaper O Jogo are today reporting that midfielder Sandro is on the brink of a move to Sporting Lisbon.
The Brazilian was on loan at Albion for the second half of the season, and with the Baggies undecided on whether to make the temporary stay a permanent one, the Champions League side appear set to snap him up.
A deal with QPR for €1.5m is “nearly done”.
Sandro’s cousin Icaro Silva has been reported as saying:
I’m not aware of the development of the negotiations, I only know that there was a responsible person in Lisbon to take care of everything and it seemed nearly done.
It would be a great step in Sandro’s career.
Sporting are a Champions League club, who fight for titles, that’s why he’s so excited about the possibility of signing.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: Brock Brazil bound?
Blues striker Nicolai Brock-Madsen could feature for Denmark at the Olympics this summer after being called up to their warm-up squad.
Brock-Madsen is yet to score for Blues having endured a tough first season in England.
Boss Niels Frederiksen said:
I think with the last players in place, that we have put together a great and powerful squad for our Olympic preparation tournament in Korea.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: 25 years ago...
Blues lifted the Leyland Daf Cup in 1991 on this day - here’s Brian Dick’s take on it here.
WEST BROM: Ciaran Clark, anyone?
Yesterday, I wrote about how Albion should take a punt on Ciaran Clark.
The Irishman, who is off to the Euros this summer, is tall, strong, excellent in the air and about to enter the prime of his career.
Take a read here why I think Albion should sign him up.
Note: Not Tony’s real account
VILLA/BLUES: Auf Wiedersehen, Robert!
Forest announced the release of former Bluenoses Robert Tesche and Chris Burke yesterday - with plenty of fans wanting the return of the former.
Villa man and ex-Forest loanee Gary Gardner took to Twitter to wish the pair - and Kelvin Wilson - well.
Could we see Tesche join Gardner back in the Second City?
WEST BROM: Season never ends
It doesn’t really, does it?
For young Sam Field, that’s very much a positive at this moment in time.
Having made his debut in the Premier League as a late sub against Liverpool, Field got the call from the England U18s and will head out for a double header in South Korea.
Read Sam’s thoughts on the whirlwind end to the season here.
ASTON VILLA: Detachment
USA boss Jurgen Klinsmann says he’s been impressed with Brad Guzan on international duty - and want him to focus on the Copa America and forget Villa’s demise.
The German told MLS Soccer:
Confidence means everything to every player, especially as a goalkeeper. As a goalkeeper, if you concede goals, you get blamed.
And if you make mistakes, you cannot make many mistakes. So it’s a good feeling for Brad that he started this period now positively.
It’ll take him a couple of days to shake off the entire season they played in Europe or Mexico.
They went through a lot of games for a long grind, so now just to detach themselves from what was a very tough one for Brad with Aston Villa - give him a few days to just leave that aside and grow into his team here and into Copa America.