Craigy Gardner Is A...

As the final whistle blew at White Hart Lane and Birmingham’s relegation was confirmed, the look of Craig Gardner’s face seemed to sum the whole sorry mess up. The look of complete loss on the boyhood Bluenose’s face was the same feeling of dejection felt amongst the travelling blues fans in the stands, and of the rest of the Birmingham faithful up and down the country.

Upon signing for Blues, Gardner revealed just how big a Bluenose he really was, and that was reiterated in his following performances. He prided himself on passion whilst playing in the royal blue and white of Birmingham which was apparent in his attitudes on and off the field.

You see a lot of badge kissing amongst players who have no real affiliation to the club they are playing for, but when Gardner scored his first goal for Blues, in the 2-2 draw at St. Andrews against Everton in 2010, you saw a young man who had achieved the dream that so many desire: playing for your boyhood club. He kissed the badge, and you know he meant it.

When we won the Carling Cup he was like a little kid at Christmas. He orchestrated keep right on with a flag someone had handed to him whilst parading round the Wembley pitch, and he later bounded into a Ben Foster interview, all smiles, singing 'We're On Our Way’.

I’ve wondered since then that, if the opportunity came, would he leave? After a series of unwanted events, namely relegation, my question was finally answered today. It was not the answer I was hoping for but I guess in the back of my mind, I knew he was never going to finish his career at Birmingham.

I do wish him well in his future at Sunderland. He was a real driving force in midfield and epitomised the spirit and work ethic which is required at Blues. Passionate and professional, Gardner contributed not only great performances but plenty of goals too in his short 18 month spell at Blues; his strike which fittingly sent Blues to Wembley being the most memorable.
However, as his decision to leave seems to be his own, i am inclined to be somewhat critical of him. As he himself admitted in an interview with Tom Ross, which sparked debate amongst Blues fans, he needed to make sure he could “look after” his family and that the Premier League is “the place to be.”

Indeed, in Gardner’s ideal world he would be playing week in, week out in the Premier League with his boyhood club; but Sunderland’s offer of Premier League football and a large wage packet seemed to tip the scales. Money and top league football versus hero status and playing for your boyhood club. In the current climate, the former is sadly the choice for the majority of players.

He will be remembered for his passion and drive in his short-lived Blues career, but unfortunately he will also be remembered as the Bluenose who jumped ship when times got hard. He could have lead his team back to the Premier League, gained hero status, been a legend. Had he been just another player with no ties to the club I would have been less disappointed about his decision to leave, yet being a self-proclaimed Bluenose his choice to leave when the club is at a real low disheartens me. This is another harsh lesson in reality and loyalty for me, and I’m sure I will encounter many more in years to come.

Safety almost secured

Blues moved one more step closer towards Premier League survival this afternoon after clinching a 2-0 win over a Sunderland side who continue their bad run of form. McLeish named an unchanged side meaning those who had battled against Blackburn and Bolton regained their place yet again, and deservedly so.

In front of a near enough sell out crowd the home side began the game brightly, with Jerome again looking incredibly lively in the first few minutes as he has done the previous two games. And he nearly got the opening goal when he was put clean through but his shot was saved by Sunderland keeper Mignolet.

Sunderland then began to get into the game and had more of the possession but failed to create. They almost got a break though when, on the edge of his box, Barry Ferguson uncharacteristically lost the ball but Ben Foster and Roger Johnson were both on hand to spare his blushes; the former making a great dive to scoop the ball away from the feet of a Sunderland player, and the latter making a goal line clearance when it looked inevitable that the away side would take the lead.

It was a nervy period for Blues and the crowd were getting anxious as the ball kept making its way back to Foster, but that was exactly what led to the first Blues goal: Foster cleared it high up field with one of his massive kicks; Jerome flicked the ball on superbly and Larsson ran on. Confusion between Mignolet and Bardsley allowed Larsson to sneak a foot in on the end of the box and the ball rolled into the back of the net - 1-0 to Blues and just the boost we needed.


The second half saw immediate Sunderland pressure but some very un-clinical finishing; some super Ben Foster saves and some last ditch defending saw that Blues maintained their one goal lead. Phillips, who struggled to get into the game, was substituted and Hleb filled the gap, and just five minutes later he provided the pass that set p the second goal. After some neat passing by Blues the ball fell to the feet of Hleb, who instead of running on found Gardner free on the edge of a box. Craig picked up the ball and hit hard with his left foot, which bounced in front of their Sunderland keeper and into the back of the net to give Blues a two-goal lead.


By then, you could tell it was Blues who would run out winners, and they saw the final fifteen minutes of the game out seemingly comfortably. Man of the match Larsson, on his 100th Premier League appearance, left the field to a standing ovation and a few chants of "sign him up" rang from the Tilton as the game came to a close.

It's not often we're the most clinical team, but today proved that goals win games and no matter how much possession you have or how many shots you have, it takes goals to win games and fortunately Blues were able to score two of them today.

Three points in the right direction, two goals scored and a clean sheet which will have done wonders for the back four and England's number one in goal. Well done Blues, another win should surely do it now!

Full Time: Birmingham City 2-0 Sunderland

And so it begins

After starting the game slightly pedestrian, Blues game back from 2-0 down to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light earlier on today.

With Foster recovering from the back injury that kept him out of England’s friendly against Hungary on Wednesday, he was the only new signing to feature for Blues, with Serbian Nikola Zigic resigned to the bench, after McLeish preferred the O’Connor and Jerome partnership up front.

Sunderland started, and stayed, very much on top for most of the first half, and it was a day of defensive errors for Blues, as Stephen Carr gave away a penalty, albeit a questionable one, on the 25th minute, which Darren bent calmly slotted away, leaving Ben Foster to pick the ball out of his net even after diving the correct way.

Sunderland were the team on top, with new goalkeeper Mignolet having little to do in the first half. But with half time approaching, Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole was sent off after he received a second yellow card for a nasty challenge on Lee Bowyer, which left the home team having to defend their one-goal lead for the whole of the second half. However, changes were needed for Blues if they were to get anything out of this game.

Half time changes for Blues meant McFadden came into the fold, with Fahey making way for him. The eleven men started brighter, and the second half looked more promising for Blues. That was until the 56th minute, when Stephen Carr popped up again much to the delight of Sunderland fans, this time flicking the ball over his own ‘keeper Ben Foster's head and into the empty net; an embarrassing own goal for the Birmingham captain, and a two goal lead for the ten men of Sunderland.

Big Zigic made his premier League debut with half an hour to go. It was surprising he didn’t start, given he fact he offers a lot, and judging on pre-season games Blues also play better when he’s in the team. That theory was again proved today, as Blues started to up the anti when Zigic was introduced, and they literally threw the kitchen sink at Sunderland in search of a goal to get them back into the game.

On the 77th minute Blues got that much-needed break through; McFadden’s short corner was played to Larsson, which found the head of Scott Dann, and ultimately the back of the Sunderland net! Blues were back in the game now, and desperately in search of an equaliser.

As Blues fans, we know we always leave everything till the last minute, no matter what. So it probably didn’t come as too much of a surprise that the final goal in this game went to the away team. Just ten minutes after the goal that got them back into the game, Blues found an equaliser in the form of Liam Ridgewell, who is more than accustomed to getting last minute goals by now! Ridgewell found the net rather scrappily: a Larsson free kick found Scott Dann, which then reflected off the legs of Ridgewell who ran off in celebration of his last-gasp goal.

It was a great comeback for the Blues, but there are still negatives in the performance. We had to come from two goals down, and at the top league we can’t afford to be doing that very often! The first half was poor, but the second half we played slightly better, albeit against only ten men.

A great point under the circumstances, but we will have to perform better if we’re to continue our great home form against Blackburn next Saturday.

Full Time: Sunderland 2-2 Birmingham City

a game of two halves

and yesterday, it really was.

blues defied the odds.. and went 2-0 down. in the first half. no, in the first 20 minutes. again. im not quite sure why, or how, weve managed to do this two games in a row now, but evidently, the team seem to be still in the dressing room during the first half an hour.

we picked up after we conceded the second, even the commentators on the stream i was watching were saying they knew we'd get back into it. and with another cameron jerome goal, in the second half, we did - michel fed a beautiful ball through for jerome to run onto and cammy produced a beautiful shot and a goal.

the first half was sunderland's. but the second half was very much birmingham's; and we would've got it back to 2-2, if not going onto win the game, if it weren't for my, and most others, man of the match: sunderland goalkeeper craig gordon. now, he was brilliant last week against manchester city. i wasnt sure if it was a fluke but it apparently wasnt, as numerous times yesterday he kept his team in the game.

it annoyed me at first (that he was so good) but then i thought; joe hart has kept us in so many games this season! and it made me feel better, especially because we dont need the points as much as we thought we would at this point in the season! but it wouldve been nice to have won.

i also just want to thank the sunderland fans for the brilliant reception they gave kevin phillips. the whole ground, home and away fans, all standing singing his name is something im sure meant so, so much to him.

a brilliant second half performance by blues, now can we incorporate that into the first half aswell?

next up; blackburn away - 24/03/10