Battling Blues

An intelligent defensive display saw Blues pick up a vital away point in their quest to survive another season in the Premier league and avoid the ever-present relegation trap door.

Blues began the game the brighter side, with Jerome heading close early on. There was bad news for both teams in the space of a minute as Arteta pulled up with a hamstring injury and a few seconds later Bentley signalled that something was wrong and he too had to come off - David Murphy coming on the field to replace him.

After a little pressure from Everton - namely a shot from Beckford which was saved by Ben Foster - Blues broke against the run of play and Jordan Mutch's expert cross found the head of Jean Beausejour who netted for the second time in two game.


Everton regained momentum after Blues look the lead and had chances of their own. Beckford had the perfect chance to equalise when the ball fell to him, however an air shot from him and some desperate defending from Carr and Foster saved Blues from conceding.

Eventually, Everton did manage to find the back of the net. Stephen Carr conceded a soft corner after being under pressure, and Osman swum the ball into the box. Cameron Jerome's failed clearance then set up Heitinga who let rip a fierce shot which found its way past Lee Bowyer on the line to make it one all just ten minutes before the break.


With Premier League games never without a contriversioal moment nowadays, this game saw referee Peter Walton book Jordon Mutch. With no yellow card. Instaid, he lifted his arm to the air, gesturing to Mutch that he was in fact being booked. Improvisation at its finest.

The second half started as the first half had ended, with the home side in ascendancy. As Birmingham struggled to get a foot hold in the game, Everton piled on the pressure - but for all the time on the ball they had, they couldn't get into goal scoring positions of any sort to convert that possession in to a much needed goal.

That was all thanks to the Blues defence who put their bodies on the line and their head in the way of everything in order to stop Everton from scoring and to prevent themselves dropping back into the relegation zone - as a point would see them leapfrog West Ham.


Although Blues swam against the tide for much of the second forty-five, they had have some chances. Jordon Mutch, who had an impressive game, let rip a 25 yard shot which went wide of Howard's post - and just before that he had been at the other end of the pitch, blocking a shot from Saha inside the box.

The battling performance from Blues, who absorbed all the pressure Everton put on them, made sure that they went away with a point which from an away game against a strong and professional side in Everton is a great point.

It's Bolton in the FA Cup on Saturday now and although in the quarter finals, I wouldn't blame McLeish if he rested some key players, especially with a lot of the team injured after their victorious Carling Cup exploits this season - after all, the league is our bread and butter, and our next Premier League game is a six pointer away to Wigan.

Full Time: Everton 1-1 Birmingham City

When we're good we are quite good but when we're bad we're...

...awful.

Sometimes there aren't enough words to sum up performances like the one today (other than a lot of effing and blinding) but somehow I've managed to find some. Ten things that we all learnt today...

Number 1, and probably the most important: 4-5-1 just doesn't work at home. We can't play it at St. Andrews. Cameron Jerome, bless his little heart, runs his legs off to no avail because whenever he gets the ball, he looks up and there's... no one there. We scored goals playing 4-4-2 at the start of the season; we change formation and we score none. Maths isn't needed - but 4-4-2 is. (Although, it doesn't help that the fans are chanting it at Alex: he's a clever man, he's worked it out for himself.)

Second point: Keith Fahey is not and never will be a winger. He doesn't have the pace; he doesn't have the ability to stay on the wing for more than five minutes without drifting into the middle. He is a good, Premier League quality, player. But just not on the wing.

Thirdly, blaming Cameron Jerome is foolish. The ball goes out of play... "FOR GODS SAKE JEROME!" He doesn't chase down a ball in the 70th minute after running the line on his own for the whole match... "USELESS! HOW LAZY ARE YOU JEROME?" He runs to get the ball, controls it, looks up and there's no one to pass to... "YOUR'E USELESS JEROME!" The world ends... "FFS CAMMY, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" - You get the picture. Funny thing is, it isn't his fault. I actually felt sorry for him today; he needs a partner. And from what I've seen, it's not Zigic.

That brings me onto my fourth point: we need to play Matt Derbyshire. We've seen what he brings to the team, albeit through a substitute performance against Blackburn and two cup games against lower league sides, but the runs he makes are superb and he is just who we, and Jerome, need. Jerome to chase down the balls and win the headers; Derbyshire to be there to link up with him. Or visa versa, really.

Number five... pretty straight forward point, as I have to talk about the match at some point: Everton deserved that today. In one sense, I'm happy for them... in another I just want to cry and shout and stamp my feet. But we deserved nothing, and nothing is what we got. Credit to Everton.

My sixth point is Roger Johnson. Of late, I don't think he's been playing well. Today, he finally broke his St. Andrews duck... in the wrong end. I felt so sorry for him, really I did. But then I thought, hold on, Roger is one player in the team that won't be fazed. It was a stupid, stupid own goal to concede, but in true RoJo spirit, he just got back up again and carried on fighting. Thank you Rog.

Man of the match is my seventh point. No one deserved it. The fact Ridgewell got it, was because of his goal line clearance in the first half (which was fantastic, may I add) But other than that, no one performed how they can play. They need a think about things and hopefully this break will do them good.

Number eight; we've been sussed out. We can't play how we used to play, because teams know our little tricks and our style. Beausejour was injured today, but when he is back playing we need him in the team, while McFadden is out at least, for that speed down the wing. Our play right now is so slow, we need something to surprise people and to speed it up a little.

Nine: As well as Everton's second goal, the thing that summed it up for me today was when Zigic and Dann both left the ball for each other... and then five minutes later, they both went for the same ball, and Zigic head butted Scott Dann. It really was unbelievable. Just... words fail me. You had to laugh otherwise you'd cry.

Number ten is just a little thank you, really. Thank you for this incredible run Blues. No one would of believed we could go a year unbeaten at home, but we have. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we've lost this run though: now there's no pressure to carry on the run, and maybe now we can go out to win home games, rather than try to just defend our title.

Full Time: Birmingham City 0-2 Everton

look up 'comeback' in the dictionary..

..and you'd probably find;

1. the act of making up a deficit, as in a contest or game, or
2. a return to a former higher rank

however im not talking about either of those definitions. in the world of football, namely 13th march 2010, the word comeback was used to describe birmingham city. and their comeback was simply magnificent.

it felt odd being 0-2 down at home after 22 minutes, and when cameron jerome pulled one back, i think we realised 'oh, shit yeah. were playing football' and we kicked on.

now i have to admire everton, the way they pass the ball about and create attacks is sublime. they kept us out for most of the first half, and most certainly outplayed us. however, the second half was another story.



this half was birmingham's. they were the ones passing the ball around the oppostiion, they were the ones doing neat little tricks, flicks and one twos, and the route one football (hart to jerome to gardner to goal) was nothing short of fantastic.

in my opinion, a 2-2 draw was deserved by both teams; everton had the first half, blues had the second. and im delighted with that comeback, that performance, those goals, and most importantly, with the way we were on par with a team that finishes in the top 10 season after season, if not the top 7.

we still don't know how to give up, do we?
next up; sunderland away - 20/03/10