Another Disappointing Result

After seemingly wrapping up the three points after 57 minutes, Blues were the masters of their own downfall as they conceded two goals in quick succession to only pick up a point against bottom half of the table side Derby County. Their second home game in as many weeks had another miserable outcome, which felt more like a loss than a draw, and the dejection on the players’ faces at the full time whistle showed it all.

Acquiring the services of Peter Ramage and Caleb Folan – as well as Chris Hughton’s son Cian – before the transfer embargo was ordered after failing to get our accounts in on time, meant that the squad was now much stronger and ready to cope with the last leg of the push for promotion and to maintain a play-off place.

The disappointment of last week’s unfortunate defeat seemed to have been brushed under the carpet by the players as they dominated the opening stages of the game, with Derby rarely getting a sniff at goal and Boaz Myhill seemingly unemployed for the first half. And with less than twenty minutes played, Blues took a deserved lead. Jordon Mutch’s short corner was played to Andros Townsend who cut inside the oncoming Rams defender and shot at goal, with the deflection falling straight to Erik Huseklepp who had the task of easily slotting home to score his first goal in a royal blue shirt.

Creator of the goal Townsend impressed all afternoon, and was instrumental on the wing; skipping past every player he took on with ease and creating havoc for the Derby defence. And the Spurs loanee almost got his first goal for his new side too, but he saw his shot was cleared off the line just in time to prevent Blues from doubling their advantage.

But the home side didn’t have to wait long for that second goal. It was Townsend again the creator, who fed the ball into the path of Marlon King, and the forward added to his tally for the season with a smart finish with just over half an hour left to play.

Looking to be in cruise control, Blues seemed comfortable to go on and finish the game off. But two Derby goals in the space of five minutes, first from Steven Davies and then Theo Robinson, completely shell-shocked them, and they couldn’t muster a recovery, despite an onslaught of Frank Fielding’s goal for the last five minutes of the game. Credit must be given to Derby for an assured come-back, but Blues were largely at fault, especially for the second goal, for switching off at the back.

A controversial moment in the match also saw Nikola Zigic booked for an apparent dive in the penalty area, but replays show that he was caught directly on the knee, and a penalty should have been awarded.

Two disappointing results have left Blues still in the play-offs places – but only just. Concentration now switches to an all-important FA Cup replay against now manager-less Chelsea after their sacking of Andre Villas-Boas yesterday. A home advantage and high confidence will put Blues in the driving seat, but Chelsea may be looking to bounce back from a poor run of results that has left them fifth in the league and outside the Champions League place.

Mixed Results

It’s a funny old game, football.

Such is the demand of the forty-six game a season Championship games come thick and fast, and while on Tuesday Blues were celebrating another fantastic victory over Barnsley, Saturday saw a disappointing defeat and the end to an unbeaten run stretching all the way back to December.

What was most apparent in Tuesday’s clash at Oakwell, and something that has been visible for the last few games, is that we are now much more clinical. Where we were once having 5-10 shots with one or two on target – Peterborough away for example – we now have a much better shots to shots on target/goals ratio.

As such, our three excellent finishes – albeit one handsomely deflected – allowed us to appear a much more clinical side and win the game, with the help of some astute defending. Chris Burke’s deflected shot put Blues ahead in under ten minutes, before an unlikely equaliser from David Cotterill, after the defence had a momentary lapse on concentration and were duly punished.

But Blues found themselves ahead again thanks to a 20 yard shot from Keith Fahey. A man who has booed only months previously had his name sung by the travelling 700 Bluenoses, which is a testament to how much the Republic of Ireland midfielder has changed opinions at St. Andrew’s with his strong performances in the centre of the park.

After commendable performances by all, the home side were limited to chances and as such Blues put the game to bed with twelve minutes left on the clock. Substitute Nathan Redmond beat the keeper from the tightest of angels to seal all three points for Blues and keep their unbeaten run going.

The next couple of days saw two loan singings come in; first, Portsmouth’s Erik Huseklepp was added to Chris Hughton’s charges. The pacey forward left the south-coast struggles with a heavy heart, but determined to do well at his new club. Another addition was made shortly after; this time Tottenham Hotspur’s Andros Townsend joined the ranks, having been on loan at fellow Championship side Leeds United up until his move to B9.

The new signings were set to make an impact as up next at home was a relatively straight-forward match against Championship strugglers Nottingham Forest who, on paper, have a team oozing with talent and experience. The likes of George Elokobi, Dexter Blackstock and Chris Gunter to name but a few. And Blues fans and players alike shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss this, as they were on the wrong end of a 2-1 score line, bringing not only their unbeaten home run to an end, but their fifteen match unbeaten run to a close as well.

Dexter Blackstock produced the goods for the away side in both halves, whilst sandwiched in the middle was another impressive Chris Burke strike which seemed to offer hope of a victory, before it being snatched away with just under half an hour to go by the team who, ultimately, wanted it more on the day.

Despite the unfortunate defeat, Blues still sit in the play-off places with an extremely favourable goal difference. The FA Cup reply next week may provide a distraction, but it certainly isn’t unwanted. After all, a year ago today was the greatest day in Birmingham City’s history, and another trip to Wembley certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.