Captain Carr

While Lee Clark today delivered the news that he had activated the option on Chris Burke’s contract to keep the winger at the club for another year, he also brought the blow that many had guessed was the case already: the retirement of Stephen Carr.

After being out of action for the whole of the 2012/13 season with a knee injury, an unsuccessful series of operations and one-on-one sessions with the medical staff at Blues have forced Carr to make the decision to call time on his career.

As we all know it’s not the first time the former club captain made the call to quit the game. Back in 2008 after he was released from Newcastle United and unable to find a club that would sign him, Carr announced his retirement from football. But less than a year later in February 2009, Blues took the leap and offered him an initial one month contract after a short trial with the club.

The powerful defender impressed then manager Alex McLeish and was rewarded with a contract which took him until the end of the 2009/10 season, where he was an integral part of a side that gained promotion to the Premier League.

Things just got better for Carr, being named club captain the right-back lead his side on a fantastic run, culminating in a ninth place finish – the highest Blues have ever finished in England’s top flight and a great achievement for a newly promoted club.

The following season saw the day the club will never forget; the Carling Cup victory over Arsenal, a game in which Carr excelled himself, and proved to be a true leader – as if we didn’t have enough proof already.

Although Blues couldn’t manage to stave off relegation that season, Carr’s achievements cannot be overshadowed by that feat. In his four and a half years in the team he has allowed himself to become a club legend. He is a man we have missed since he was sidelined last summer, and a figure that epitomizes the club’s passion and belief.

His blazing runs down the flank, his infamous 'wave' to the Villa fans, his match winning tackles and clearances: Carr is a model professional who gave his all to the club and I can only thank him for what he has achieved in his time here, and the new heights he took the club to.

 

Carr's Century

Captain Stephen Carr reached a mile stone in his Birmingham City career last night in Maderia, making his 100th appearance for the club. It was somewhat fitting that his 100th game came in the club’s first European adventure in fifty years, and no one can fault his commitment throughout his Blues career.

Plucked out of retirement by Alex McLeish in February 2009, Carr played a big part in the second half of the season to get Blues promoted and after consecutive impressive performances was handed the captains armband. During his time at Blues he’s seen more ups than downs, which isn’t a regular occurrence for a player of Birmingham City! After promotion in 2009 he led the side to Premier League safety by February 2010, in a season which saw his team go on a fifteen match unbeaten run and finish in 9th place.

The following season saw Carr captain the side to Carling Cup victory; after fantastic wins under the lights in first the quarter final against local rivals Aston Villa, and then a magnificent turn around against West Ham to win 4-3 on aggregate, Carr led his side out to a famous 2-1 victory against Arsenal, to win the club’s first major trophy. Not to mention gaining complete legend status amongst the Birmingham City faithful when in 2010 after the narrow and somewhat controversial defeat against Aston Villa, he ran the length of the North Stand at Villa Park ‘waving’ at the non-too pleased Villa fans in the stand.

Reportedly saying before the Carling Cup Final that “there’s more quality at Arsenal, but there’s not more heart”, Stephen Carr is the type of player who epitomizes the Birmingham City spirit, and in a rags to riches story for the former Tottenham and Newcastle defender it was appropriate that his 100th appearance came in the Europa League: from retirement to European football in under three years.

With the speed of someone in his twenties and the defensive mind of a true professional, Carr is a real Blues hero, loved by fans and everyone else at the club. So here’s to 100 brilliant appearances for Stephen Carr, and 100 more – because if he can run like that at 34, he can run like that for a few more years at least!

Back to earth with a bang

A complete and utter come down from the jubilation we felt last weekend; today we were outclassed and outplayed by a determined Baggies team who, quite simply, wanted it more than us.

The only changes made were ones forced upon McLeish - Ferguson, Gardner, Jiranek and Zigic (although named as a substitute) through injury. Blues were welcomed onto the pitch by rapturous applause from the fans inside St. Andrews, with each player getting the reception they deserved as their name was read out.

It was West Brom who started the brighter though but for all the possession they had in the first half, the more clear cut chances came to Blues; with Cameron Jerome first shooting just wide and then looking on to see his header go just past the post.

Playing in Barry Ferguson's position, Keith Fahey made a good start; controlling the midfield like the Scot he replaced. Alongside him, Lee Bowyer was in all the right places, and Jean Beausejour, fresh after a great substitute appearance at Wembley, also played well. However the defence was Blues' downfall in the game as we failed to control that of West Brom's.


As the second half started it was the away side who made the first move, bringing Odemwingie on which subsequently led to the first goal of the derby, Mulumbu - who is from Africa, and apparently "better than Kaka" - took advantage of some clueless Blues defending and slotted the ball home. That didn't get Blues down though, and just a minute later they equalised. Bowyer did some excellent work on the by-line and slid a sharp cross into the box which met the foot of Beausejour, who couldn't miss, and it was all level at St. Andrews.


Bowyer then recieved a questionable yellow card and went missing somewhat in the game from then on. The Blues midfield then failed to gain control of the game, and James Morrison put the Baggies back into the lead with a fierce shot after some more defending that made it seem as if the Birmingham defence had only just met each other.

Try as they might, Blues couldn't get back into the game and a third goal from Paul Scharner killed the game and there was no way back for the Carling Cup Champions.

If there was one player that stood out today it was Stephen Carr, who at times bombed down the right with no support at all and still managed to cross the ball or find a pass. As for the rest, there was a lot to be desired - especially from David Bentley who had an off game today.

But, onwards and upwards. It was a kick up the backside after the highs of last Sunday, and as the relegation trap door is looming; the game midweek against Everton seems even more crucial now.

Full Time: Birmingham City 1-3 West Bromwich Albion

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

Half time

It could have been worse. I mean it really, really could have been worse. It could have been all over in the first half with the amount of possession and chances West Ham had, and considering how poor we played and how little we created, we were lucky to go in at half time only 1-0 down.

It wasn't a tragic first half performance, not at all, but not one you'd expect in the first leg of a Carling Cup semi-final. We played 4-5-1 which was frustrating but understandable. McLeish likes to contain and then go for it, which I do understand but then again on the flip side of things maybe we should have just gone for it and went 4-4-2 with Jerome and Derbyshire starting; with Jerome's pace and Derbyshire's knack for finding the back of the net, surely we couldn't have gone wrong?

In the past our defence has been rock solid. Last season a lot of teams struggled to get past out back five, but this season it's not been as good. The first goal we conceded highlighted this. The ball should have been cleared, Ridgewell probably should have been alert, and maybe Foster shouldn't have been beaten at his near post.


But there's no use dwelling on what could have been. In the second half Blues gave us the performance we'd all paid our money to travel down to London to see. God only knows what Alex said to them in the dressing room at half time but it certainly worked; we came out a different team and really took it to West Ham.

Blues started the half incredibly brightly and Larsson, who seems to be staying at Blues now, had a great game down the right with Carr and they both ran West Ham ragged. Hleb also had a good game, dancing through the defence whenever he pleased but my only criticism of him is that sometimes he tries to do too much. Other than that, he honestly is a joy to watch.

With free kicks, corners and crosses and most of all possession all in favour of Blues, it really was only a matter of time before the equaliser came. I cannot tell you how much relief and elation was felt amongst the travelling Blues fans at that header from Ridgewell all but broke the back of the net, and for the next 15 minutes the noise coming from the away end was terrific. It was brilliant to be part of it.


We really should have clinched a winner, especially after Obinna was sent off, but yet again our lack of clinical finishing was what let us down. That, and poor defending - which was what led to both the goals... and of course that blunder by Foster which we don't want to mention.

In a perfect world we would have grabbed an equaliser with the amount of chances we had after West Ham, pretty undeservedly, went ahead again. But it wasn't to be, and now we have to win at St. Andrews to stand a chance of getting to Wembley. It can be done, of course it can: we have a brilliant home record and West Ham have a pretty shambolic away record. It won't be easy, but then again, when is it ever easy supporting Blues?

Full Time: West Ham 2-1 Birmingham City

Que sera sera...

At 90 minutes, we were out of the Carling Cup. At 91 minutes, we were back in it again. It's strange how football works, because if teams that deserved to win actually won, we wouldn't have equalised in the 91st minute to send the game to extra time. As it is, not everyone gets what they deserve in football.

To say Brentford were the better team throughout the first ninety minutes would be an understatement. We honestly didn't turn up at all. O'Connor and Derbyshire are probably still in the back pockets of the Brentford defence, and our own defence is lucky that 1. most of Brentford's shots were wide of the mark, and 2. (and no one normally says this) that Maik Taylor was in goal behind them.

The best of a bad bunch was probably Michel, who got man of the match for Blues. It has been mentioned before that he is being moulded into Barry Ferguson, as he is a good passer and distributor of the ball like Barry himself. Michel played well in midfield; won lots of headers, played intelligent passes, and for a Spaniard he doesn't half get stuck in. I was impressed with him. Shame I can't really say that about many of the others. Especially Lee Bowyer, who had an absolute mare, to then go and and sky his penalty - which pretty much summed up his night.


Another special mention needs to go to Nathan Redmond. Although at times he got caught up a bit in play, you can tell what a great player he is going to be. He has pace, skill and agility, and with the crowd getting behind the young lad, there is only one way he is going to go - and that is up.

Kevin Phillips' equaliser, after Sam Wood put the away side ahead, knocked the stuffing out of Brentford, and it was clear that in extra time they were happy to settle for the lottery that is the penalty shoot out. And they got it.


I didn't know Scott Dann and Stephen Carr were penalty takers, but I would let them take them again and again after their efforts last night. Craig Gardner and Kevin Phillips also slotted theirs away like true professionals calm under pressure, and with a smart save by Maik Taylor for Brentford's last penalty, Blues wrapped up the win and booked a place in the last eight of the competition.


Credit goes to Brentford FC - their players and their fans - they took the game to us and almost won. Their fans were brilliant throughout and I honestly wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season. I spoke to David Hunt, one of their players, on Twitter this morning; congratulating him on how well his team played and how unlucky they were. He is a credit to his team as he replied back, and wished Blues good luck. I will keep an eye out for their results this season, as if they play their league games like they played last night, I have a feeling they will do very well indeed.

Three games away from Wembley kids. Three games.

Full Time: Birmingham City 1-1 Brentford (4-3 on penalties AET)

That's more like it

A much more spirited Blues performance and a much better crowd saw Birmingham come out winners today against a lively Blackpool side – scoring two and even keeping a clean sheet, setting the players up nicely for their next league game: the derby with those up the road.

Playing Blackpool, you know what to expect: a team that will come at you; a team full of little battlers; and a manager with his heart on his sleeve. But, you don't know how they're going to play. That's the thing. It's like us last season – no one knew our style of play, so it took teams a while to figure us out, and figure out how to beat us. It's like that this season with Blackpool, and combine that with the amount of passion and drive Ian Holloway forces upon his players, they have been a tough test for many teams already this season – just asked Liverpool.

As it was, Blues played brilliantly today. Every single one of them. Ben Foster is improving every game, much like Joe Hart did under goalkeeping coach Dave Watson. The back four were as solid as... a very solid thing. As always. How Roger Johnson, at 27, is still yet to be called up to England is a mystery. Liam Ridgewell played great again as well, with a goal on the score sheet and a great performance to his name too. Him and Stephen Carr, well, I've not seen them play so far up the pitch all season.

It wasn't so much 4-4-2, well, that was the intentional formation. But the tactics we played meant that Ferguson – who had his best game so far this season for Blues – played just behind the midfield and did his brilliant job of sweeping the loose balls up. Fahey played a more central role, and had a good few chances and a much better game than his previous few. Seb Larsson and Alex Hleb also had good games, with Hleb, like Fahey, having one of his better games in a Blues shirt – until he went off injured, that is.

Moan about him as much as you like, but one thing you cannot fault Garry O'Connor for is his work rate. Call him fat, call him whatever, but he will run for you all day long; he will win headers all day long; he will make runs and chase down the ball. All. Day. Long. And he had a good game today, I was willing him to score Blues' third just to shut the haters and the moaners up.

Zigic seems to have found his feet in the Premier League, and with another goal today it proves he can cut it in this league. He's now playing with confidence, winning balls in the air and picking out good passes. He's not the fastest of players, but he'll get into the right positions for you, and him and O'Connor seem like a good partnership.

The difference between this game and our last home game against Everton, was confidence. The Arsenal game, although we lost, seemed to have given these players a bit of a boost. The 20 yard passes are now being pulled off. The balls across the park are actually reaching the players. The neat one-touch football we played last season is being introduced back into our game. And the crowd can see this too. The atmosphere today was great; the fans got behind every single player,. And it gave the Blues team even more drive and confidence to go on and score more and create more.

Last season we lost to Arsenal in October, won our next home game with Ridgewell being first goalscorer and went on that amazing unbeaten run. This season we lost to Arsenal... in October... won our next home game... with Ridgewell being first on the score sheet. I'm not saying we will replicate what we did last year, but if that's not a coincidence, I don't know what is.

Full Time: Birmingham City 2-0 Blackpool

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