A year unbeaten...

Well, we did it; a whole calendar year unbeaten at home. Not exactly the way we wanted to do it though and it certainly doesn’t excuse how poor we were today.

The game throughout seemed to be played at a slow pace. In all fairness, no one looked too bothered about what was going on, or too bothered to actually pick up the pace and attack with much force.

Wigan had the best chance of the game in the first half through the greedy b--, I mean, through Charles N’Zogbia, whose shot was palmed over the bar by Ben Foster, who had a few good saves during the match, and was the busier goalkeeper of the two.

Cameron Jerome, the lone striker, had a few good chances; namely one near the end of the first half, when Al Habsi dropped the ball which then went between his legs before he managed to pick it up. Seeing the opposition goalkeeper as clumsy as this, we really should have pressured him more.

Blues lacked a lot of things today, but the thing they lacked most was pace. And passing. The game seemed to move at snails pace; the ball was dead on numerous occasions and no one seemed to want the ball or when they did, no one was moving for them to pass to.

The second half had nothing to boast about, other than a few chances for both the home side and the away side, with Wigan looking the more likely team to win it as the game came to a close. It was a frustrating day for the home side, who were even ironically cheering Zigic when he won the ball in the air – which he did all of about three times. For a 6ft8” bloke, he doesn’t use his height very well.

The only light at the end of a seemingly long tunnel was that when Beausejour came on he looked sharp. He can beat a man and that’s something we’ve desperately been looking for, for quite a while now; if I was Alex McLeish, I would start him next Saturday against Everton, and also start Derbyshire alongside Jerome.

Another point from the match; I hope the ‘McFadden hate brigade’ are feeling very sheepish right now. We miss him. A lot, in fact. Most people use him as a scapegoat, but they fail to realise how much he does for the team: not only his skill and ability to beat a man and put a cross in, but the amount of tracking back he does. We were caught on the break a lot today, and we really do miss him.

The 400 or so Wigan fans had something to cheer about as Craig Gardner was sent off for a tackle - which the Mark Clattenburg blew for five seconds after he’d let Craig Gardner play on. After missing clear handballs and tackles previous to this, the Blues fans started to get on the back of the ref, and chants of “you’re not fit to referee” rung round the stadium, while Gardner trudged off the pitch with his shirt in his hands.

That was the only issue of note that happened in the match. N’Zogbia and Clattenburg can flip a coin to decide who the most hated person at St. Andrews was this afternoon, and Blues can pick themselves up and start again. And quickly; another home gamer against bottom of the league Everton next weekend, and boy do both teams need a win.

Full Time: Birmingham City 0-0 Wigan Athletic

To sumarise...

Writing a match report for every game is starting to get a bit boring, so I’ve decided to vary it now. Today I am doing ‘Ten things we learnt today’ - Enjoy!

1. Gone are the days that Liverpool can just turn up and expect to beat teams. If I had to describe them inn one word, it would be ‘ordinary.’ they’re not better than us right now, in fact if you looked at results and the table, we are better than them at this moment in time. They are rather lacklusture, and simply create too little to be competing with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.

2. Also, gone are the days where you can walk out the ground after drawing against Liverpool being happy and content with a point. I was disappointed. Honest to God, I was disappointed because we could, and should, have won that.

3. It comes to something when Liverpool have to dive to try and beat you. Lucas being the main culprit. I can see why Liverpool fans don’t like him much; he spent more time diving today than Tom Daley.


4. I’m not sure what it is, but we always seem to be able to nullify Torres when he plays against us. We are the only team Fernando Torres has faced more than once in the Premier league and never scored against. Nice fact for you there. Like last season, Roger Johnson had him in his back pocket today; Fernando Torres was his bitch. It was lovely to watch.

5. Which brings me onto the Roger and Scott for England campaign: Matty Upson and Joleon Lescott are still getting called up. Tell me why this is. Of corse I’m being biased, but tell me two English central defenders, right now, that are better than Dann and Johnson. Today, they were both superb. Absolutely superb.

6. Pepe Reina is brilliant. Without him today, Liverpool would most definitely have lost. The saves he made in the first half, especially from Jerome’s header, were really, really good. At the moment, he’s their best player. Which speaks volumes considering he is their goalkeeper.


7. The best thing Aston Villa ever did (except put Enckleman in goal) was sell us Craig Gardner. I would right a personal letter of thanks to Randy and co. but I wouldn’t want to waste my money on a stamp.

8. The same can be said for Rangers selling us Barry Ferguson. For me, he was probably man of the match today. He is a midfield genius. Everything just revolves around him, and I hope to God he’s at Blues until the end of his career.

9. James McFadden is not lazy. Please, lets stop labeling him as this, because he is a class player. He really is, and today he showed this class. Yes, we wish he’d do it all the time, but that’s what you get with James McFadden: he picks his moments, and today was one of those moments.

10. No team comes to St. Andrews expecting to win anymore. I said at the start this was ’10 things we learnt today’ when in fact I’m saying this and we already knew it, but I’m pointing it out again for the benefit of any fan that thinks otherwise: we will grind and grind and block and block and push and push until those 90 plus minutes are up. The fans will sing their hearts out, taunt your players and make fortress St. Andrews live up to it’s name. You can’t go there expecting to win, in fact, you’re lucky to come away with just a point nowadays, like Liverpool were today. Nearly a year unbeaten at home now, I wonder how long we can go on this run for…

Full Time: Birmingham City 0-0 Liverpool

Footnote: after proof reading I’ve realised how biased this is. Oh well, it’s a different kind of bias to that you witness on the BBC, so I’d be grateful if I were you.

The Road to Wembley...

There seems to be some kind of unwritten rule when it comes to the Carling Cup, that Premier League teams must beat lower league opposition. They have to. Or it will be considered a total travesty and an embarrassment. But considering most Premier League teams play most of their reserve players in these Cup ties, I don’t see how losing against teams in a lower division is seen as something that just shouldn’t happen. If it’s not your team; we all find it brilliant when teams like Barsnley beat Liverpool, etc. But if it is your team; it’s like the end of the world.

Of corse that doesn’t matter; as Blues won 3-2 against Rochdale so this doesn’t have to come into the equation. But I just thought I’d throw that out there...

The match, which got better as it went on, started off quite dully. And although Blues attacked in force; they were quite predictable and not exactly full of ideas. The ball across the park to Murphy which was tried six times before we realised it was going to get cut off before it reached him is an example of this especially because that’s how Rochdale’s first goal came about. Murphy couldn’t get back in time and that left Jones to tap in the rebound after his first shot was saved by Maik Taylor, to the frustration of the small Blues crowd inside St. Andrews.

Blues were level though just three minutes later: Matt Derbyshire, making his first start for Blues, was brought down in the penalty area, and a couple of angry Rochdale players and a confused linesman later, the penalty was awarded and McFadden stepped up to slot it away expertly (Villa players, take note) and Blues were back on level terms.

McFadden showed his class in the first half, skipping past players, making a few great passes. Something you realise when you actually have time to concentrate on just one player, is how much they actually do. Moan all you like about James McFadden, use his as a scapegoat for pretty much everything; but that man is a class player, and there is no doubt about it. There’s been rumours about him being linked with a move away from the club, and if we were to lose him, it would be a big loss.

The second half saw Seb Larsson come on for McFadden, and Blues started very bright; attacking from the off. Seb was instantly involved as his corner found the head of Roger Johnson, which was tapped into the net to put Blues ahead, just a couple of minutes into the second half.

Blues looked much to dominant team then, and although Rochdale did have their chances, you could see the divide between the two. Matt Derbyshire had already showed how much of a handful he will be this season, and he was in the right place at the right time for his first Blues goal, after a Larsson shot was fumbled by the Rochdale ‘keeper, and bundled just about over the line by Derbyshire.

So, 3-1 and the game was pretty much over already. Blues had ample chances to extend their lead, with that man Derbyshire again coming close numerous times. He then made way for Nikola Zigic, who instantly set up O’Connor whose shot fired wide. But, with Blues seemingly comfortable, they were put back into panik-mode by Jones again as the Rochdale captain scored to make the last ten or so minutes slightly nervy for the home side.

Youngster Nathan Redmond made his first appearance for Blues and you could see why McLeish had put him on the bench a couple of times last season; he is not shot of confidence and is willing to take men on and get a shot off - coming close several times. It was refreshing to see that young talent can still break through , and hopefully we won’t let him slip through the net.

Blues hung on to win 3-2, when really it could’ve been more, to get their place in the next round of the cup. And although the game was an exciting encounter, I don’t think it’ll live very long in the memory of the 6,000 or so fans that were there!

Full Time: Birmingham City 3-2 Rochdale