We seem to like the cups...

So we're 90 minutes from Wembley again after the comfortable victory against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this afternoon. 3-0 in the end but really it could and should have been more. Easy this cup lark, isn't it?!

An early break to kill the game almost instantly was just what a needed against a Sheffield Wednesday side that has been poor of late and not won since way back in December. Capitalising on this was Jean Beausejour who scored his first goal in a Blues shirt after just five minutes of the match, side-footing the ball expertly into the net.

It was clear soon after that we were the team in control. Early goals are always vital to a teams performance as we witnessed earlier on in the week, on Tuesday against Newcastle. Fahey and Hleb created a good partnership and understanding in midfield together; both staking a claim for inclusion in the Wembley squad next Sunday.


The second goal of the afternoon came curtsy of a brilliant through ball by the man I just mentioned Hleb, who passed the ball to Martins on the left. He ran like a train through the defence and slid the ball into the back of the net with only eleven minutes off the game gone. The famous back flips were unveiled and Blues were now in cruise control to sail onto victory and through to the quarter finals.

Hleb really was showing his Premier League quality, as were the rest of the team, but it was especially unfortunate to see Alexander unfairly tackled and taken off through injury after only 20 minutes of play. Bentley came on as a substitute for him, which is a big indication of how far we have come if we can take Hleb off and bring Bentley on in an F.A Cup fifth round tie against Sheffield Wednesday! Albeit that both of them are on loan...

Blues had a handful of chances in the rest of the half, with Fahey's excellent free kick being palmed away, and the most clear cut chance being when Bowyer picked up the ball on the left and drove in a shot which seemed to him Cameron Jerome, who was unable to get control of the ball before it bounced passed the post. And Blues went in at half time with a comfortable two goal lead in a game they were dominating.


The second half started like the first, and Blues made a substitution which saw Phillips come on in place of Jerome. The game was all but over just 10 minutes later. A corner from Fahey was driven into the box almost on the goal line, where Bowyer seemed to come behind the keeper - much to the surprise of the Wednesday players! - and guide the ball into the path of David Murphy who fired in from close range.

Obafemi Martins almost got a brace after a smart Bentley run and a great cross clipped Martins on his heal and somehow managed to go just over the bar! But Blues were already in the driving seat and the miss wasn't too costly.


Although the away side piled on a late spell of pressure, they never really threatened Colin Doyle who seemed comfortable and assured all game and did everything that was asked of him. In fact, all the players played really well today and it was a great game to watch. Stephen Carr hardly ran all game but he didn't need to; Parnaby and Johnson were a solid partnership in defence and Murphy also had a good game with a goal to his name too. The midfield of Bowyer, Bentley, Fahey and Beausejour controlled the game with Fahey again playing a great central role as he did in the previous round against Coventry City.

Roger Johnson was substituted for Jordon Mutch near the end of the game, much to the disappointment of the centre half (we all know what he's like!) It's great to see a player so determined not to be substituted, but he's a player we need for the final and a silly injury or a stupid sending off was not something we wanted.

So, it was a comfortable win against quite a poor Sheffield Wednesday side. We didn't pick up too many threatening injuries and hopefully Hleb will be fit for the bench for the final next Sunday. All that's left to say now is well done today Blues, and I'll see you all at Wembley!

Full Time: Birmingham City 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Thinking of Wembley

I think we should have guessed what the game would turn out like when kick off went wrong. Or when Newcastle went 1-0 up after a minute and forty seconds.. What really did it for me though, was when Stephen Carr nearly impaled someone sitting in the Family Stand when he angrily threw a pitch fork over the advertising hoardings. In short: tonight just wasn't our night.

Going one nil down so early on in the game is real confidence knock, especially to a team with one eye on Wembley and the other on not picking up any injuries. But after that early blip, we pretty much ran the rest of the first half. We had the majority of the possession and were getting in good places, but we just couldn't find that killer ball and we're lacking any form of shot on target. But then again, so were Newcastle, it was just lucky breaks and bad defending from Blues than got them their early goal that proved very costly for the home side, and very beneficial to the travelling Geordies.

The flag happy linesmen didn't really help the shots on target total though, who rose their arm pretty much every time Zigic went near the ball. Surely he's not that stupid to be offside that many times, but I guess we won't know until we see the game again... which I doubt many of us will be doing any time soon!
Obafemi Martins looked lively again like he did in the Stoke game at the weekend, but lacked the cutting edge. His control is brilliant though: if only Cameron Jerome had that touch! He seemed to overdo it at times too, much like team mate David Bentley, who strangely won man of the match. He wasn't at the races tonight and went missing at times during the first forty-five, and when he did get the ball, granted he put in some decent crosses and did some good running, but sometimes he just overdoes it and tries to do too many fancy turns: just get it in the box Bentley!


It was a pity the first half had to end, as Blues were the team in control and the team who shaded the half; despite lack of real chances as other than a Gardner shot after a nice passing move went just over, we didn't really have too much to shout about. The second half again started badly for Blues as they went two goals behind after a goal from Leon Best. One goal, we may have been able to do, but two seemed pretty impossible - and the rest of the game proved this.

Heads dropped as Newcastle began to seize the game into their control. Blues tried to get back into it but with no avail. Roger Johnson almost did a Wayne Rooney when the ball fell to him just outside the area but it fell agonisingly wide of the post, and the defender walked away to chants of 'Rooney! Rooney!' from the Tilton. Zigic also came close a number of times, especially with a header that went just over the bar, and Roger Johnson again came close when he headed the ball hard from a corner, only for his effort to fall straight to Harper in the Newcastle goal.

With 20 minutes to go Blues began to surge forward more, with Cameron Jerome - who came on earlier in the half in place of Martins - causing problems. A few corners, offsides and Newcastle falls (over thin air) later, and it seemed that two goals from the home side really was too much to ask, and the game finished 0-2 to the away side - only the third home defeat all season for Blues.


The Premier League can be pushed to one side for a moment now as we have the FA Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, and a Wembley date the Sunday after. Nothing really went our way tonight and credit where its due - Newcastle simply wanted it more than we did, although we had enough possession to create, we just didn't.

Winning three on the bounce just isn't our thing anyway...

Full Time: Birmingham City 0-2 Newcastle United

Back to back wins!

It wasn't exactly the most inspiring performance, but true to the battling Blues spirit, we kept on going and clinched an important goal and a great win right at the death. At this point in the season, it doesn't matter how the wins come - just that they keep on coming.

It's always going to be hard when you play Stoke. They're a physical team which consists of hardly any players below 6ft, but as much as people moan about their style of play, it works for them. It's certainly not pretty, but I guess you could say it's effective, and this made for a pretty poor game of football.

Blues lined up 4-4-2 looking for a second win on the bounce after last weeks gritty away win at West Ham, and débutante Obafemi Martins partnered Zigic up front. Martins was pretty quiet throughout the first half, although the touches he did make were superb, with some neat little back heals that came off every time. Getting into great positions he looks a promising striker and a good option for us, although he is muscled off the ball quite easily - but you couldn't tell whether he was going down easily or if it was Stoke being Stoke.

Another player who impressed throughout the game was Seb Larsson. He's not exactly been people's favourite the past few weeks, but today he was on another level. He went for everything, chased balls that looked like a lost cause and won the ball, did some great running down the wing and all in all he was brilliant. If I was wearing a hat I would be taking it off for him right now.


Neither team created too much and it was a poor game. Mark Halsey seemed to follow the trend as he too had a bad game, which arguably made a poor game even worse by his questionable officiating. Amongst other decisions that didn't go our way, the stand out one has to be Huth's handball in the second half, which everyone in the ground seemed to see except Halsey and his linesmen.

However, there is no use just bemoaning the referee. Blues just couldn't play their way today - no thanks to Stoke - despite a good attacking formation made up of the best players we have fit at the moment. We weren't awful though; no way. We coped well with Stoke's long-throw and hooooooof tactics but we just simply couldn't get hold of the ball, and when we did, silly errors or misplaced passes were our downfall.

Games like today's need inspiring substitutions, or substitutions that will give you a different outlet: step up Cameron Jerome. He did great when he came on for Martins and hopefully silenced a few of his haters. Like Larsson, he must of had his Weetabix before the game as he was chasing everything down and winning balls as soon as he came on, and played a big part in the last minute winner as well.


With only a couple of minutes left on the clock, Blues won a free kick just over the half way line which Barry Ferguson stepped up to take. Stoke were all expecting him to lump it into the area for the likes of Zigic, Johnson and Jerome, but Bentley made a cheeky little run down the wing which not many anticipated, and ran on for a shot at goal which was saved by Begovic. Jerome did brilliantly to get the ball away from the grasp of the Stoke goalkeeper and chipped it, only for it to be desperately clawed by Begovic into the path of Zigic who had the easy task of guiding it into the net in front of him.

The resilient defending and never say die attitude really helped Blues today. It wasn't the best game to watch and it certainly won't be remembered this time next year, but it was an important win and a massive three points that saw us go 14th on the table, level on points with Villa and Blackpool - and just above them too with out good goal difference.

Full Time: Birmingham City 1-0 Stoke City