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

The Masters of the Comeback

The game seemed like a real anti-climax at first. It's not that not any of us wanted to lose, it's just that the game seemed like it didn't matter as much as everything else going on, i.e. a relegation battle in the league and trip to Wembley in the Carling Cup. Nevertheless, McLeish fielded quite an attacking team, showing he was determined to win the tie and keep up Blues' good record in both domestic cups this season.

Surprisingly we started the better side, which isn't something we see too often. Just a few minutes in and Bentley bombed down the left hand side and whipped in a ball which Zigic met and headed agonisingly wide. Kevin Phillips, getting a rare start, also came very close to giving Blues the lead; but it was the away side who drew first blood in the tie. Marlon King picked up the ball on the right and with Ridgewell lying on the floor with a head injury, he was unmarked and able to have a great shot on goal which sailed past the Blues keeper Doyle and sent the 6,000 travelling Coventry fans crazy.

The Championship side found their feet in the game then, and began to take more control in the tie despite Blues still posing that great attacking threat with Bentley and Beausejour running the wings. Coventry's second of the game came thanks to a McSheffrey corner, a strong Richard Wood header and some questionable Blues defending.

But even at 2-0 down you felt that Blues were going to at least take the tie to a replay. It's just the Blues way. And Bentley brought the home side right back into it when 25 yards out he unleashed an unstoppable shot that looped over the head of goalkeeper Westwood and stunned the rest of the Coventry team. Half time, 2-1, and game most definitely on.


The turn of the half saw Blues completely go for it. You sensed an equaliser straight away, and it almost came courtesy of Beausejour; after a signature ball into the box by Bentley, all Beausejour had to do was head it in from a few yards out, but the ball skimmed off his head and went agonisingly wide of the post. However, this didn't stop Blues, and with 67 minutes gone of the game Nikola Zigic did some superb battling on the right hand side and was able to get the ball to Hleb before being knocked to the floor. Hleb took the ball on and crossed into the area and his pin-point ball found Parnaby who was on hand to equalise for the home side; finishing off a really good move by Blues.


On the up now, Blues just kept on attacking. Kevin Phillips had numerous shots on target throughout the game yet couldn't find the back of the net... that was until the 74th minute when he popped up with the winning goal. After being denied by Westwood, Blues won a corner, and when the ball landed at Phillips' feet in the area, you could have put money on him finishing: and he did. 3-2 Blues, and try as they might the Coventry players just couldn't find a way back.

Hleb had a great game in midfield and although he over did it at times, his attacking play was brilliant and he was a great asset to the side today. As was evergreen Kevin Phillips, who even managed to play the whole ninety minutes, getting into key positions and then popping up with the winning goal as well. The whole team seemed very assured today, and despite going two goals down never really looked like they were in trouble. In the end, it could have been 4 or 5-2; It was a great team performance second half. Well done Blues.

Full Time: Birmingham City 3-2 Coventry City

Observations

There's one thing you don't want to do when you go to Old Trafford, and that's concede inside the first five minutes. Unfortunately for Blues, we did just that, and that's when you know the next 90 minutes will be even more of an uphill struggle than you expected.

It may have been a different story had we not conceded so early. Yes, we still would have lost. I don't think many teams go to United expecting it to be easy or to get all three points, you can hope, but the reality is it probably isn't going to happen. But conceding so early on gave United the rest of the game to score even more, which of course they did. Two nil, then three nil before half time. And couple more after to take the grand total up to five before they decided they didn't want any more.

But enough about the cockneys, lets talk about Blues. The team with passion, fight drive, desire... that has gone missing this season. We knew it would be hard, we knew we'd be in a relegation battle, but were it not for the fact we were in a Carlin Cup semi final and on the verge of Wembley, I think many a Bluenose would be searching for the rope. No, I'm joking. We've been through all this shite before and we knew we'd have to go through it again. It's part and parcel of being a Bluenose and we wouldn't have it any other way... although once in a while it'd be nice to have a little change.


Now, onto what I actually wanted to talk about in this rather lengthy blog post. Just a few observations from the match. So, number one: we miss Scott Dann. I think everyone knew we'd miss him, but not how much we would. Although Johnson has a gob on him, Dann comands the back line throuhout the game and that's what we miss. In the past two games the defence sometimes look worried, confused and un-organised. Also, Scott Dann's replacement. We have a perfectly good experienced centre back on the bench in Jiranek who we brought in as cover should one of our centre backs get injured. Yet we're using Ridgewell instead, who is much better at left back than he is a centre back, even though by trade he's a centre back. And we're playing Murphy on the left who is a good left back but not as good as Ridgewell. This might confuse you, but I know what I'm getting at: play Jiranek in the centre. We bought him for this.

Next observation; Hleb. He is a fantastic player and some of the football he plays makes me want to shed tears of joy. However; what we need right now is players who will fight for absolutely everything; track back whenever needed; and run like someone has just shoved a rocket up their arse to help out a team mate. Hleb doesn't do that. Hleb will give everything going forward, but tracking back, his body language seems to say 'my job is to attack, someone else can do the defending job.' He is without doubt a brilliant player, but in a relegation battle he might not be someone we need. Just a thought.

Staying on the subject of classy midfielders, lets talk about David Bentley. He's great, isn't he? It's such a shame he's cup tied because we could do with him on Wednesday. His speed, skill and trickery; along with his excellent crossing and distance-shooting is just what we need. A bit of creativity to get us our of trouble. Something different. He offers you all of this and I just want to thank Spurs for letting us have him on loan! Brilliant.


Observation number three: I thought Jordon Mutch had a good début today. It must have been tough for him being thrown in at the deep end and being handed the task of keeping world class players at bay, but credit to him he did well, and he is a player we need to keep hold of because he will be big.

This Larsson fiasco is getting a bit silly now, isn't it? Revelations in the paper coming out that he was told he could go, told he had to stay, told this, that and the other, and it's all quite confusing and makes my head hurt. What is clear though, is that he doesn't want to be here any more. You saw that when he came on. He was okay, he will still work for us when we play him, but he won't put that heart in that he did before. He doesn't love us any more and a lot of the fans don't like him either. I'm not sure what's gone on, but I think we should let it die down now, because he's probably going to be here until the end of the season.

Although we lost 5-0, it doesn't really feel like it. I think if I had been lsitening or watching at home it would have been more painful, but when you're actually at the game it doesn't feel quite as bad. The Blues fans were excellent today. Humorous as ever and in full voice, it made me proud to be a bluenose. And 5-0 down, I looked around Old Trafford and it made me think how happy I am to support Blues instead of a team like United. Sure, we don't win everything, well, anything. We're in a relgatation battle. We'll never win the Premier League. But shit me, I have so much fun supporting this team. At 5-0 up, United fans were leaving. Leaving!! Christ, we're winning 2-0 and the whole ground stays to applaud the players off the pitch. 5-0, fuck me, we'd be partying all night long. I guess that's why I like supporting a smaller club.

And we certainly know how to have a laugh. The Norwich chants were brilliant, as was the look on the United fans' faces when we were cheering corners and singing "we're gonna win the league" - I wouldn't swap that for anything. This is what it's like to be City, and I for one absolutely love this club.

So, forget this game. It was coming, we all knew it, but the 1,800 blues there yesterday: we all had fun, didn't we? And this is to all blues fans now: we're all looking forward to Wednesday, aren't we? Forget losing 5-0 to a great team (who I haven't really praised throughout this - United were brilliant yesterday. Period.) Lets look forward to Wednesday. We're 90 minutes from Wembley, lets do this.

Full Time: Manchester United 5-0 Birmingham City

No bragging rights this time

This time last year if you offered me a point against the Villa I would have say ta very much and bit your hand off for it. As it's been this season, in the two league games we've played we've taken a point from each of them and I want more. Just like in the reverse fixture back in October; today, we could have won. 1-1 was probably a fair result in what was a hard fought contest in a game that was brilliant for the neutrals to watch, but Blues fans couldn't help coming out of that game feeling a little angry that we didn't get more than a point.

After his mistake midweek against West Ham you'd forgiven Ben Foster for being a bit cautious, but my life he started shakey. Trying to skill the Villa players instead of clearing it isn't the way to go Ben! In fact, the whole team started pretty shakily, and the first five minutes of the match felt like a lifetime.

We soon got over that start though and began to get into the game, but not quite on top. Villa hit the bar four or five times and we were lucky to get away with some slack defending. We did have chances of our own however, and the link-up play between Hleb and Bentley was brilliant at times, and Bentley's running down the wing with Carr was excellent.


Derbyshire had to run the line himself due to Jerome's absence through injury, and nearly made it 1-0 after Gardner's persistence allowed him to cross the ball, only for Derbyshire to miss kick, and the ball ran past him. This was the best chance of the half for Blues.

It was an end to end game and it was quite an open affair, but it took until the second half for the deadlock to be broken. Bentley's free kick was passed out to Gardner who had a shot on goal, which deflected around the box for a while until the outstretched leg of Roger Johnson fired it home for Blues, for the defender's first ever goal at St. Andrews (for the home side, anyway!)


The place erupted into song and Blues continued to keep possession and have chances on goal. It could have very nearly been two nil soon after when Derbyshire ran into the box but his shot was palmed just off the line by Friedel and there was no one in a Blues shirt in the box to pick up the ball for what would have been the easiest tap in ever.

Blues were later made to rue their missed chances with just 20 minutes left. Albrighton's cross into the box was cleared only as far as James Collins who had the easy task of firing it home for Villa, with a deflection off Ridgewell along the way. Blues lack of clinical finishing punished them, and after looking at picking up a vital three points, they had to do it all over again as the away side were back on level terms.

Both teams had chances to win it at the death. Delfouneso's rocket shot was saved by Foster and then hit the bar, and Zigic's header went through the hands of Friedel but then out of play - must to the relief of the travelling Villa supporters.

And that was that. Honours even in the third second city derby of the season, and a relegation battle still on hand for both teams. There's a long way to go yet.

Full Time: Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa