VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – BIRMINGHAM CITY vs BOLTON WANDERERS

The wait to right the wrong of our abysmal second half performance against Wigan last time out had been a long one because of international week and the psychological effect of being in the bottom three was a heavy one despite the fact that the bottom eight teams were spanned by only three points making this year the tightest Premier League ever. The game against Bolton was of greater importance than most therefore. Will had said to me weeks ago that he would settle for losing the FA Cup Quarter Final in exchange for a win in the league game. Well we had fulfilled the first part of that equation and like most I was apprehensive about the second bit even though I felt confident that we could win but it depended on which defensive line up we were able to put out. Kevin Davies and Elmander are a handful and we struggled to cope with them last time out especially with a make shift back four. The news that Martin Jiranek was still unavailable was daunting news. Jonny and I set off alone this week as Will was going to Peppa Pig World (Bless!) – Yes intrepid readers, Peppa Pig World! I pointed out to my 21 year old son that I rarely attended games when he and his little brother (now 19) were young and not just because I was serving abroad. Even when in UK postings the duties of a father sometimes have to take precedence over football but Jonny was weaned onto our beloved Blues at the age of five or so when I took him to see Reading at the old Elm Park. Blues won 1-0 with a goal from Ken Charlery as I recall in a rubbish match. Will’s little ones still have a way to go yet before their initiation but Peppa Pig World still had the capacity to raise a smirk. 😀

 

Jonny and I reached Baginton in time for a pint before setting off to St Andrews. Chris was in fine form and explained that with the absence of Will that he had a spare seat since Little Jack was involved in a swimming gala and couldn’t utilise Will’s season ticket therefore. Gayle would have come but she had drawn the short straw and was duty manager at the pub; I suppose someone has to be! 😛 All in all the conversation was quite civilized with views being expressed in a calm methodical manner without Peppa Pig disagreeing with everyone just for the sheer hell of it! 😀 We parked up in Sarah Road and started walking up towards the Royal George to catch the last part of the West Ham – Manchester United game. 2-0 down at half time United had pulled a goal back and threatened to do what they did to Blackpool a few weeks back. An agitated looking bloke who was frantically looking for a pub called The Sportsman came up to us. I couldn’t remember where it was and neither could Chris and nor could several others passing by at the time. Later in the day Will told me it was in Garrison Lane and when he mentioned it, I recalled that it is the one on the corner of Gray Street and Garrison Lane that is for sale. As it was Tom who was panicking because his brother had arranged to meet him there and give him his ticket said that all he knew was that the pub was near the Gil Merrick stand. We took him to the Royal George which was a fat lot of good as it turned out and no doubt he would have been panicking more when he realised that we had all given him a bum steer but it was funny afterwards nevertheless. I’m sure that someone will have put him right as The Sportsman is not far from there anyway. However, Panicky Tom had not helped himself by not finding out where the place was before setting off or having the means to contact his brother in the inevitable scenario of getting lost through lack of preparation and having a load of gormless Brummies take him in the opposite direction to where he needed to go! Divine providence got us back for our misguidance by there being no hog roast at the George much to our chagrin. 😉

 

So a pint it was and we watched the rest of the game on the television to loud cheering as West Ham conceded two, three then four to hat trick ‘hero’ and well known role model, Wayne Rooney. Blues fans were actually cheering for Manchester United and the little pug nosed one from Liverpool; surreal! It did mean of course that West Ham would be back in the proverbial provided we could do our bit. So it was into the ground for a pie before the match as the teams were coming out. Thank heavens for the fact that the back four did not contain Curtis Davies but instead had Ridgewell next to Roger Johnson with Parnaby in the left back position in the absence of the injured Murphy. Flawed though this set up is especially with Bowyer occupying the position in front of Parnaby, it is infinitely better than the last three games. It does make for the team looking unbalanced but so be it. Larsson, Fergusson and Gardner completed the midfield and I was pleased to see Kevin Phillips get his first start in the Premier League this season alongside Jerome. It was to prove a wise choice when after only three minutes a corner kick from Seb Larsson skipped through to the little maestro whose touch and ability to get the shot off before Bolton’s big defenders could move the couple of yards towards him resulted in a cracking goal past Jussi Jaaskelainen who could only parry the ball as it squirmed under him and up into the net. Blues were on top for the first twenty minutes or so but just as they did at Wigan in the last game they began to drop off the pace and Bolton started to come back into the game. Foster denied Sturridge, the first of a number of occasions, on the half hour mark with a smart save to his right. This was an early warning of what was to come as Kevin Davies of all people missed a good chance for a man of his quality from 15 yards but skied his effort fortunately for us into the Tilton. A minute or so later with half time approaching Jerome used his strength to fashion a one on one with Jaaskelainen. As so often in the past, the Blues striker chose the wrong option and skewed the opportunity wide when the chip would probably have seen the home side double their lead. There was still time for Foster to make two more saves from Sturridge and further saves by Jaaskelainen from Jerome and a Johnson header before the whistle for half time arrived. We had ridden our luck a bit defensively but overall Blues were worth their lead albeit a slender one.

 

The lead was almost doubled within a couple of minutes of the restart when Larsson had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside. A fierce shot from Phillips was parried by Jaaskelainen. The rebound was headed across goal to Larsson who netted in from an acute angle. The roar from the 25,000 home fans was rapidly muted by the Assistant’s flag. However, Blues were not denied for long as the second goal arrived courtesy of Craig Gardner who has made a habit of striking the goalkeeper’s right hand upright at the Tilton Road End this season. His shot was set up following a neat one two with Jerome whose part in the goal should not be overlooked. It was a clever back heel that took the ball into the path of Gardner whose shot cannoned off the post and in to the relief of the crowd. Jerome for his part had another good game to add to the Wigan match when he was one of the few Birmingham players to emerge with credit. He won a lot of balls played up to him in the air, he ran and chased all afternoon down the channels, laid on the second goal and harassed the Bolton defenders with his pace and strength. He even at one stage tracked back to make a vital tackle in the right back position with the defence stretched. Peppa Pig sent me a text asking what game I’d been watching and statements to the effect that he couldn’t pass, couldn’t shoot, poor touch as usual etc but there were a lot of things that were good in Jerome’s game on Saturday that deserve credit and some of the criticism is unfair. I accept he missed a really good chance in the first half but so do all strikers. That’s my view anyway and I accept that there will be many who disagree but there it is.

 

Stephen Carr left the action with about twenty minutes to go which was said to be precautionary but it was an unwelcome sight nevertheless. Almost immediately after his replacement by David Bentley, Bolton pulled a goal back from out of nowhere. Kevin Davies, backing in as usual (wonderful skill to continually get away with it; would love him in our team 🙂 ) laid the ball off to Elmander whose excellent first time volley fizzed into the net from the edge of the area. A lovely strike which gave the visitors hope that they probably didn’t merit at that stage. Blues were under the cosh a bit after that and it was a nervy finish. Davies had a fierce shot turned aside for a corner by Foster with time added on being played but from the resulting set piece a bullet header from Gary Cahill was brilliantly saved by Foster again. The Bolton players’ heads were in their hands, the Blues fans’ hearts were in their mouths and Roger Johnson’s head was on the final corner kick to secure Blues a well-earned win. Mike Oliver’s whistle blew and it was three points which Blues deserved – just! My Saturday night after match pint at Chris’ pub tasted just that bit better this week; Jonny drove home; there are advantages to having grown up children with a licence!

 

The Good: The way we started the game; we were all over Bolton at the beginning but it needs to be sustained. Foster’s keeping and Roger Johnson’s defending which was awesome.

 

The Bad: The way we lost our shape in the latter part of the first half. We could easily have undone all the good work of the first twenty minutes. Jerome’s miss but otherwise I felt he played well.

 

The Ugly: Panicky Tom who needs a decent dentist among other things. I hope he found his brother but they always used to say in the Army that Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents P**s Poor Performance; bring a mobile and/or a map next time!

 

BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-4-2): Foster 9; Carr 6 (Bentley 68, 6), Johnson 8, Parnaby 6, Ridgewell 7; Larsson 6, Gardner 8, Ferguson 8, Bowyer 6 (Fahey 63, 6); Phillips 8, Jerome 7 (Zigic 76, 6). Goals: Phillips 4, Gardner 58.

 

BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen 7; Steinsson 6, Wheater 7, Cahill 7, Alonso 6; Elmander 7, Cohen 6 (Lee 63, 6), Muamba 6 (Taylor 79), Petrov 6 (Klasnic 73, 6); K Davies 7, Sturridge 8. Booked: Alonso, Wheater. Goal: Elmander 70.

 

Attendance: 26,142 (510 Away Fans – saving up for Wembley no doubt!)

 

Referee: Mike Oliver (Nothumberland) 7: This young official has to be one of the most improved referees on the circuit. He was decisive, fair and kept up well with play; a far cry to his first appearance at St Andrews against Plymouth three years ago when he was appalling. Credit where it is due; I thought he had a good game and if he keeps this up he has the potential to be one of our best referees.