VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – BIRMINGHAM CITY vs CLUBBE DESPORTIVO NACIONAL

The front cover of the programme reminded us all that the last goal scored by a Blues player in a European competition was by Bertie Auld in 1961. My Dad refused to let me go with my Uncle John to the game as I was only eight at the time. He said that I could go to a match when I was 10 and indeed I went just shy of my tenth birthday in 1963 to watch Blues beat Crystal Palace 2-1. So it has been fifty years since Blues had entertained European opposition in a competitive game at St Andrews and I for one was not going to miss it. My long suffering receptionist, Juley, a girl who actually possesses the football gene, had surmised that this was going to be the case so she had made it her business to make sure that there was no way that work was going to get in the way and she had cancelled all my appointments for the afternoon so I was able to get away quickly at lunchtime for the journey north to Birmingham. It was a case of ‘O sole mio’ for this one as Will was away in Wales (why you may well ask!) and Chris had taken a few days holiday in France. Neither of my lads were at home so it was just me. I got caught in traffic on the M40 just beyond Oxford because of animals on the road; I didn’t see any Vilers personally but the Police obviously shooed them on. 😀

I parked up and decided that there was just enough time for a pre-match pint. I headed for the Royal George in the hope that there may be a hog roast on but there wasn’t which was disappointing. UEFA rules dictate that alcohol cannot be served in the ground so the butcher, the baker, the man who went to mow and his dog were in the pub. The George was absolutely heaving but nevertheless I manfully joined the queue and forced my way to the front. It was baking hot in the bar room as all oxygen had been removed and the greenhouse gases had built up to a level virtually incompatible with life as we know it. The tongue was hanging out and the time was passing and the unthinkable was becoming likely that I was going to have to forego the drink and head forlornly to a dry St Andrews. Then salvation occurred when the bloke in front of me complained to the bar manager whom he appeared to know well about people jumping the queue. He protested loudly, “Oi, when are we gonna get a bit of service around ‘ere? This gentleman (pointing at me) and me ‘av bin ‘ere for the last twennie-foive minutes an’ there are people gettin’ served who come in after us!”

It had the desired effect as a flustered red-in the face, very hot looking barmaid sheepishly came over and asked for the complainant’s order. He turned to me and said “Ere son, yow on yer own?” I replied in the affirmative and he said “Gi’ us yer money an’ I’ll get yours son.” I gladly handed over £3.50 and a cold pint of lager was in my hand in a trice; RESULT! Having thanked my new acquaintance and necked my pint it was off to the Kop for the game. The Blues were set up 4-4-2 with Rooney and Wood both starting; Redmond and Burke on the flanks and Beausejour and Spector filling the inside berths. Myhill in goal, Carr, Cauldwell, Davies and Murphy constituted the defence.

It was clear that Nacional had been told to get about us, start quickly, press high up the pitch and have a pop if the opportunity arose. For the first fifteen minutes their game plan appeared to be working as Blues did not look as dominant and assured as we had done in Madeira last week. They were clearly after scoring an away goal and then making life difficult. Unfortunately for them they hadn’t reckoned on one Nathan Redmond who cut inside from his left wing berth and from twenty yards let fly with a stunning right footed drive that was past Ellison in the Nacional goal before he was anywhere near getting down to the shot. A fabulous goal for the 17 year-old who then continued to torment and torture the full back Claudemir and later his replacement Jose Costa all night. Had a beautiful curling shot near the end ricocheted in rather than out, off the post it would have capped a near perfect performance. I said last year when this boy made his debut in the Carling Cup last year that he was the best young player I had seen in a Birmingham shirt since the great Trevor Francis and everything I have seen since reinforces that opinion. He was brilliant last night and words cannot begin to describe just how good the performance was. Apart from the goal, his snaky runs to twist the defenders this way and that, some of the vision in the passing to involve others was sublime and belies his tender years. With correct handling and avoidance of unreasonable expectation and burn out there is a huge future in front of him if he cares to live right and work hard.

The brilliant performance of Redmond should not detract from the overall excellent work done by the rest of the team. Stephen Carr in any other game would have received a richly deserved man of the match award but the accolade rightly went to the teenager half his age. Despite this, the veteran never stopped running and leading by example and his pass to Wood for Blues’ final strike four minutes from time showed Rooney what he should have done minutes earlier when both strikers were clean through and the square ball to his partner would have guaranteed a goal but Rooney elected to shoot and allowed Ellision to save. If one is being picky it has to be concerning Rooney and Wood who had a hatful of chances throughout the match including several one on ones which were not taken. Blues could and should have won this match by six or seven but it bodes well that at least chances ARE being created in the first place.

Murphy had an excellent game in for the injured Ridgewell and scored the second goal on 24 minutes from Beausejour’s corner. The Portuguese outfit struggled to defend set pieces all night and with the pace down the flanks on the break when they got their own corners and free kicks, it was inevitable that further opportunities would arise. Burke was instrumental in giving the other full back, Lopez the run around on the right wing. Beausejour linked up very well with Redmond whilst Carr provided help to Burke. Spector added stability in the middle of the park. Cauldwell and Davies were solid apart from one wobbly moment when a lack of communication resulted in Davies getting caught under the ball in an after you Claude which nearly let Barcellos in but his touch sent him wide and he had to turn away from goal and a clear chance was lost.

Nacional have a number of Brazilians in their squad and as you would expect they are comfortable on the ball and pleasing on the eye with quick flowing passing. However, they failed to threaten as they over-elaborated and resorted to long range efforts that rarely troubled Myhill. Their enterprise did make for an open game. They could not weave their way through a robust Blues back line and didn’t defend well enough to allow Blues to play the swift attacking brand of football with plenty of width that Chris Hughton is trying to encourage and what a worthwhile spectacle it is! In the second half especially Nacional were torn apart by the marauding Blues midfield and had Rooney and Wood been more precise with their finishing, the result could have been highly embarrassing for the Portuguese side who in the end were outplayed and well beaten.

Listening to Tom Ross on BRMB on the way home last night he was anxious to accentuate the positive and talk about the football and not all the stuff going on off the park. I agree with him 100%. This is a time to celebrate a wonderful achievement for the club. The fact that the name of Birmingham City is to be seen with the likes of Braga, Maribor and Brugge in the group stage is to be applauded. I intend to send a post card from one of these venues addressed to Mr A Mcleish c/o Four Sheds, Arseton saying; “Dear Alex, Bet you wish you were here rather than with that dozy load of sods you are currently responsible for! Won’t be happening to you anytime soon.” 😛

This was a night when in the future, noses will say that they were there!

The Good: What a night! It was worth the journey just to watch young Redmond’s performance alone. However, the whole team played well and the crowd played their part.

The Bad: Poor finishing by both Rooney and Wood in both halves. However, you’ve got to be in place to miss them so hope springs eternal.

The Ugly: Carr nearly marred a super performance by reacting to a bad tackle. He led with his head and was brow to brow with his assailant. This was the last minute or so and in our league on any given Saturday he would have been off. Luckily, the referee chose to be lenient and in the end sensible I felt. No real harm was done so why ruin the game?

Birmingham City: Myhill 7. Carr 8. Murphy 8. Caldwell 7. Davies 7. Burke 8 (Asante 88). Spector 7. Beausejour 7. Wood 6 (Jervis 88). Rooney 6. * Redmond 9. Not used: Doyle, Fahey, Kerr, Hancox, Hubbins.

Nacional: Elisson 8, Claudemir 5 (Jose Costa 55, 6), Felipe Lopes 5, Danielson 7, Tomasevic 7, Luís Alberto, Candeias 7, Elizeu 6, Barcellos 7 (Mihelic 55, 6), Mateus 7 (Minatel 64, 6), Rondon 6. Not used: Valverde, Pinto, Todorovic, Skolnik.

Bookings: Carr (74, time-wasting) – Blues. Mateus (32, foul), Candeias (54, foul) – Nacional.

Referee: V Bezborodov (Russia). 8: I thought the referee and his assistants had a good game overall. They allowed the game to flow, weren’t fooled by players going down easily and trying to win free kicks. He did have one or two ‘wibble’ moments for a spell about 15 minutes from the end with one or two bizarre decisions but everyone makes them don’t they?

Att: 27,698 (away: 77- brave souls these 😀 ).