‘He looks like an amateur’ – Birmingham City fans lambast ‘useless’ star after dire Watford defeat
Birmingham City started 2026 with a defeat as Watford ran out 3-0 winners at Vicarage Road on New Year’s Day.
It was yet another dreadful performance from the Blues as their hopes of reaching the playoffs this season continue to slip away.
Chris Davies remains under heavy pressure at Birmingham City after failing to extinguish their poor form.
However, the manager will be ruing the performance of James Beadle, who had a shocking performance between the sticks.
Defeat. pic.twitter.com/9UlfJbvsRj
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) January 1, 2026
Birmingham City fans roast James Beadle during Watford defeat
Plenty of Birmingham City players have been awful in recent weeks, but few will have played worse than Beadle.
Beadle joined Birmingham in the summer on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion, and has quickly established himself as the number one at St. Andrew’s.
The goalkeeper struggled throughout at Vicarage Road in what turned out to be a demolition job on Thursday.
As a result, fans were fuming with the performance and were quick to take to X to express their frustration with the display.
This Beadle not catching anything is getting ridiculous and dangerous. Looks absolutely amateurish.
— VINNI3 (@quintonblues) January 1, 2026
Beadle is utterly useless
— SP 📸 (@Terraces12thman) January 1, 2026
Beadle getting beat at the near post is embarrassing #BCFC
— warren (@wmy_bcfc) January 1, 2026
Send beadle back useless
— daniel_o (@daniel_vinnie24) January 1, 2026
Many supporters were quick to point out his inability to catch the ball as one of his most infuriating qualities on New Year’s Day.
Trampoline hands Beadle.#bcfc
— Coooooops (@Coooooops06) January 1, 2026
Sorry but Beadle is not championship worthy
— Thomas (@Bcfcthomas) January 1, 2026
Beadle doesn’t help our cause at all, constantly punching the ball away when a catch would help ease the pressure,honestly don’t think he can catch, very poor #kro
— Paul Johnson (@paj130563) January 1, 2026
How bad was Beadle in Birmingham’s defeat to Watford?
According to Fotmob on 1 January, Beadle had an awful game against Watford.
The goalkeeper only made three saves and underperformed his expected goals against by 0.73.
On top of this, his passing accuracy was also woeful, finding a Blues player just 50 per cent of the time.
| James Beadle’s stats vs Watford | |
| Minutes | 90 |
| Goals conceded | 3 |
| Saves | 3 |
| Goals prevented | -0.73 |
| Passing accuracy | 50% |
Therefore, Davies may have to consider dropping Beadle if this awful form continues as more defeats could soon be on the horizon.
Then, the manager could soon find himself out of a job, and difficult decisions need to be made if he wants to remain in the St. Andrew’s dugout.
Hopefully, Davies can solve the Blues’ current problems as soon as possible and begin to push the side back up the table.