More Of The Same

The stat that greets the eyes of Birmingham City is not a pleasant one: one win in the last nine games in all competitions. After the promising start to the season, namely a fantastic October where Chris Hughton picked up the Manager of the Month award, Blues seem to be dwindling slightly and slowly running out of steam just when they need to pick up the pace.

Two tough away games and two lackluster performances in the past week have seen Blues fall down the table to 14th place in the league. After Sunday’s one-nil loss thanks to a poor display and a trademark Kenny Miller goal, typified by usually reliable Curtis Davies getting himself sent off, it looked to be a completely different story earlier this evening at the KC Stadium, when birthday boy Chris Wood put the Blues ahead just after the half hour mark.

Blues were able to reach half time a goal to the good despite a decent amount of Hull pressure, but it was back to the drawing board just two minutes into the second half when ex-West Brom midfielder Robert Koren equalized for Hull and let the Tigers out of their cage. From there on out Nicky Barmby’s outfit were on the front foot, and despite Blues’ attacking 4-4-2 formation – a statement of intent there by manager Chris Hughton – Hull kept on pressing and scored what turned out to be the winner in the 68th minute courtesy of Aaron McLean, beating Boaz Myhill at the near post.

The two losses paint a bleak picture for Birmingham, however the positives to be taken from the Hull game is, obviously, the fact that we managed to score a goal and also have another 7 shots on target. But as they say, a team could have 100 shots on target and not score, but the stat that matters the most is the goals they actually scored, and at the moment things don’t seem to be clicking for Hughton’s side.

It will be a welcomed break from away games this Saturday when Doncaster come to St. Andrews, where Blues have not lost all season. They will be looking desperately to continue their home form and get their promotion charge back on track, although, it’s looking less likely by the match that we will be able to complete such a feat. But never say never.