Long leaves for Birmingham

[Cirrus_Minor]

A very capable central defender, especially at this level. Never really broke into being a first choice player but seemed content to sit on the bench. Good luck to the lad.

[Downhamclaret]

Always came in and did a good job what ever division we were playing in best of luck Kevin long

[NewClaret]

Always liked Long and thought he played very well when needed but as others have said, the Mee/Tarks combination was hard to break in to. Sacrificed his career to be a great back-up option for the club, which we should be very grateful for. Good luck Kevin along, wish you all the best.

[fatboy47]

Good solid lad...and a very decent centre half...if he wasn't then Dyche wouldn't have entertained him.

[buzzclarets79]

Bit of respect eh for a long serving servant of the club.
There’s a reason why he’s been here so long under several managers, they knew if it came to it he could be called upon on but didn’t kick up a fuss and be a disruptive if didn’t play week in week out.
Good luck Kev, I’ve little doubt if he gets a run of games from now until end of season he’ll have plenty of suitors come summer

[Barlickclaret]

With it being a permanent move just till end of season, maybe he has plans for next season already sorted.

[Duffer_]

In footballing terms it was a pretty hard gig. A small number of games with big intervals in between. How do you keep yourself physically and mentally sharp enough to play in the PL without warning, knowing you will have to step back when others are fit? Yes, sure he was rewarded well but I don't think we could have asked for a better fourth choice CB. He got up to speed quickly, made relatively few errors and had a great attitude. I wish him good luck in the next chapter of his career.

[fidelcastro]

Certainly wasn't clear from what you wrote and it was more a jokey reminder that we had another "link" to the "Coyle era" still here, but if you want to get all offended and upset by my lighthearted remark then I suppose you are right in line with the modern trend, so we'll done

I'm not offended in the slightest, but you tell yourself I am if it makes you feel better.

[ClaretTony]

This one caught me out - article now written at

https://www.uptheclarets.com/long-servi ... birmingham

[Cabbage]

Good luck Kevin. As others have said, when called upon never let us down. Met him this season and he had a photo with my son. Seemed a nice guy.

[NewClaret]

This one caught me out - article now written at

https://www.uptheclarets.com/long-servi ... birmingham

You obviously have the Westy one written CT, any others?

[ClaretTony]

You obviously have the Westy one written CT, any others?

Had Lowton & Westwood written for some time but I’d no idea on this one.

[Stayingup]

Good luck to Kev Long. Don’t remember him ever letting us down. Been very loyal, but he’s been paid very well along the way so it was clearly of mutual benefit.
I don’t see a purge. The word doesn’t seem to fit right…. I associate it negatively and I don’t think it should be perceived like that.
I see a manager moving on older players, players who are limited to a particular style/type of play and thus have no future here. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s the right way to go.

Quite right and good comment.

[burnmark]

We have a rival for signing reveal videos….

https://twitter.com/bcfc/status/1611090 ... NsFztelEPw

Quite good this!

[JR1882]

With him & Lowton together I’d imagine we just shifted 30k a week off the wage bill.

[Elbarad]

Hopefully he gets some playing time there. Kevin never put a word wrong about his situation, at least as far as I'm aware. Good luck to him. I hope he enjoys his football.

[NRC]

This one caught me out - article now written at

https://www.uptheclarets.com/long-servi ... birmingham

I never realized he was left-sided!

[Rowls]

Thinking back over his career with us, it's a massive shame he picked up that injury at Newcastle when there was a real chance he could push for a place in the starting lineup.

[ksrclaret]

Good God Kevin Long is never a left-sided centre half.

Had Owen Coyle ever seen him play before his signing?

[AGENT_CLARET]

It's nice he's got his first job after being paid to go to the gym for 13 year's

[123EasyasBFC]

He has made his own dressing room, one that doesn’t involve fringe 30s hangers on.

Has kompany lost the dressing, this guy must be on the wind up

[AGENT_CLARET]

With him & Lowton together I’d imagine we just shifted 30k a week off the wage bill.

I know, a nice little saving of £1.5 million a year straight away

[Stantheman]

Good luck to him been a loyal servant but he wasn't good enough with the ball so was never hoping to be Vincent's side

[Colburn_Claret]

Good luck Kev, I hope you shine for them

[Bosscat]

Had to smile when I saw this

20230105_221337.jpg (413.39 KiB) Viewed 1720 times

[jojomk1]

Good luck to him, never let us down, quite shrewd of Dyche keeping him on the books,excellent back up.

He was kept on the books by other managers well before God Almighty Dyche

[bfcjg]

He was kept on the books by other managers well before God Almighty Dyche

[NL Claret]

In footballing terms it was a pretty hard gig. A small number of games with big intervals in between. How do you keep yourself physically and mentally sharp enough to play in the PL without warning, knowing you will have to step back when others are fit? Yes, sure he was rewarded well but I don't think we could have asked for a better fourth choice CB. He got up to speed quickly, made relatively few errors and had a great attitude. I wish him good luck in the next chapter of his career.

Great perspective that. I hope Big Kev gets a few seasons getting plenty of game time.

[jedi_master]

Good luck Kev.

[NL Claret]

When he got his potential chance in the team (Came on as sub at Newcastle) he did his ACL.

[IanMcL]

Best wishes for a future glittering finale and return to Ireland national team.

A huge thank you for your loyalty Kevin Long.

Go get 'em.

[arise_sir_charge]

When a club legend leaves it’s customary to retire their shirt.

I believe plans are afoot to retire his seat on the bench.

[CaptainKirk]

Been a very loyal player for us and always dependable.

And yes the purge continues. Wonderful and not before time, we move on to better more exciting times.

Better and more exciting?
Two promotions, half a dozen years in the Premier League, a European campaign, victories at Old Trafford, Anfield and everywhere else???
He has made a decent start and it is great fun, but nothing has been achieved yet.

[Clive 1960]

He's been a good servant who was happy to pick up a decent wage , personally I would want to play football not wait for a defender to get injured and play and then drop out when the defender is fit . But good luck to the lad .

[superdimitri]

We will be hard pressed to find a better player willing to remain backup for so long (pardon the pun). He stuck it out despite people like Gibson coming in and causing disharmony.

[wilks_bfc]

We have a rival for signing reveal videos….

https://twitter.com/bcfc/status/1611090 ... NsFztelEPw

Quite good this!

Was Kevin also our media guy?

[Lancasterclaret]

With the way he's conserved himself over his career, he's going to be the best walking footballer ever

[Paddy1882]

Everything that is wrong with modern football Kevin long, paid a small fortune to do very little. Not his fault by the way if there’s an offer he’s every right to sign it but in 5-10 years he must look back and think he’s wasted a lot of what is a very short career not playing. Anyway good luck to him

[chekhov]

He has after all been here “long” enough.




I’ll get mi’ coat.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Never quite got the seeming bitterness towards him regards picking up a wage and not playing, those with this view do realise that had he moved on we would have signed someone else to fill that role ?

Maybe he liked the club and environment, settled in the area he was living and was happy himself. Way too many people focus on money comes across a bit jealous at times.

[claretspice]

If we'd not been an established Premier League club with two legends of the club at centre back during his best years, my guess is that Kevin Long would be held in significantly greater esteem.

He's never been the most refined defender in the world, but as a nuts and bolts stopper he's always been very, very dependable and his willingness to be back-up saved Dyche innumerable headaches.

He's not designed for Kompany's style of play and it looks like Kompany is trying to bring in another defender anyway, so it's the natural time for him to leave - with all of our best wishes. Genuine unsung hero the last decade.

[Hapag Lloyd]

If we'd not been an established Premier League club with two legends of the club at centre back during his best years, my guess is that Kevin Long would be held in significantly greater esteem.

He's never been the most refined defender in the world, but as a nuts and bolts stopper he's always been very, very dependable and his willingness to be back-up saved Dyche innumerable headaches.

He's not designed for Kompany's style of play and it looks like Kompany is trying to bring in another defender anyway, so it's the natural time for him to leave - with all of our best wishes. Genuine unsung hero the last decade.

^^^^^
This nails it for me.

[mikeS]

Good luck to Big Kev. What a loyal servant of the clubhe has been. Best wishes to him for the future.

[Tribesmen]

Good Luck Kev hope to see you back in the international side in March and your stay at Birmingham works well for you .

The only down side i can see is that we have lost another Irishman at the Turf .

Love yer Kev

[boatshed bill]

We will be hard pressed to find a better player willing to remain backup for so long (pardon the pun). He stuck it out despite people like Gibson coming in and causing disharmony.

This is true.
However, I can see any player fulfilling the "back-up" role for a relatively short period but not 10 years or so.
Every player should strive for first team football, in my opinion.

[SussexDon1inIreland]

Best wishes super Kevin Long

UTC

[evensteadiereddie]

Fantastic service to the club and his move is due simply to the club's evolution, nobody's been purged.

[Marty Dobson]

Fantastic service to the club and his move is due simply to the club's evolution, nobody's been purged.

This.
Hope he gets plenty game time in Brum. word has it that he will prob move next season to finish his career in the U.S.A.
Thanks for your commitment Kev best of luck in the future.

[elwaclaret]

Best of luck to Kevin Long. Served Burnley as many used to do. He won’t be remembered as a star but his service was exactly what the club wanted of him.

Hope he can kick on and enjoy success playing and making the moves for his families future happiness as he enters the twilight of his career.

[4:20]

I'll be rooting for him to break into the first team and hopefully help Birmingham on a push to the playoffs. Good luck to him.