On a chilly morning in Sussex I met up with Will at Chiddingfold Golf Club. Will had brought along hot egg, sausage and bacon baps for breakfast and how welcome they were! We were soon on the course and completed 18 holes by 12.15. We then drove from the club to Chiddingfold Working Men’s Club for a couple of pints and to watch the game on ESPN. Both teams had made radical changes; Wolves five and Blues seven so the teams bore no resemblance to the strongest line up for either but according to Radio 5 Live, the Wolves team were far superior on paper and a win for the visitors was therefore expected and assured so there! 😛 For Blues, Colin Doyle came in for Boaz Myhill while Liam Ridgewell replaced Steven Caldwell at the back which was an interesting one as many expected him to be omitted pending his long expected move this month.
Chris Hughton opted for a five man midfield with Morgaro Gomis, Wade Elliott, Nathan Redmond, and Jordon Mutch being drafted in alongside Guirane N’Daw, the only player to keep his place from the team that drew with Peterborough on Monday. Adam Rooney was selected as a lone striker. Wolves on the other hand opted for two up front with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was chosen to partner Kevin Doyle. Former Swansea keeper, Dorus De Vries replaced Wayne Hennessey in goal and Eggert Jonsson made his debut in midfield following his December move from Hearts. Micheal Kightly, returning from a loan spell at Watford came into midfield for the visitors with Stephen Hunt also selected to start. My initial view when I saw the line ups was that it wasn’t likely to be a real Cup cracker or one to linger long in the memory of dramatic events in this famous competition. I had no idea how right that prophesy was to prove to be!
Just before kick off there was a minute’s generous applause for former Blues’ defender Gary Ablett who sadly lost his fight against cancer on New Year’s Day. The first half was as dull as dishwater; in fact I’ll go as far as to say the action on show made dishwater look positively effervescent! Very little happened and the commentators droned on about the various merits of some of the players and the ‘lack of a little bit of quality in the final third’ whatever that actually means when the reality was the play was in the main, dross. There were moments for each side of course; Wolves had a questionable penalty shout waived away inside three minutes when Kevin Doyle went down in the box like he’d been shot following a challenge by Guirane N’Daw and I remember saying to Will “how can he possibly try and claim a penalty for that?”
For Wolves, ex-Blue, Roger Johnson headed Wade Elliott’s left wing free kick over his own keeper and the cross bar with 13 minutes gone as De Vries flapped at the cross. Jordon Mutch dragged a shot over from David Murphy’s cut back after 17 minutes and Johnson nodded just over from another Wolves corner as both sides played a game of ‘after you Claude’ but with little to suggest that either team were going to score. Mutch failed to trouble De Vries with a tame long range effort after good work from N’Daw, Blues best player on the day again and Karl Henry then blazed a similar effort well wide from similar distance to the jeers of derision from the meagre St Andrews crowd.
Roger Johnson came down awkwardly when he jumped for a ball with Rooney on 35 minutes and this ended his involvement in the game as Kevin Foley was brought on to replace him. It made precious little difference to the game as a spectacle as a sterile encounter meandered back and forth up the pitch with little or no goal threat from either side. Just before half time, Ebanks-Blake could have put Wolves ahead when he turned Curtis Davies in the box but could only toe poke his effort straight at Doyle who saved easily in truth. Redmond fired straight at De Vries from distance on immediately before the break and with the whistle Will and I had another pint and a game of snooker.
Caldwell replaced Ridgewell with less than four minutes gone in the second half for an injury which probably means no one will buy the latter after all! Jonsson, the Wolves debutant did well to block a fierce shot by Rooney but to be honest neither defence was exactly stretched or placed under great pressure so he must have thought that football in England is easy. The best chance of the game by far fell to the visitors just before the hour when Ebanks-Blake was presented with a glorious opportunity by Michael Kightly who played a well-timed cut back perfectly into the forward’s path only 12 yards out which he proceeded to blaze over the bar. Personally at this point in proceedings, I would have advised both teams to leave the ball in the Gill Merrick Stand!
Davies received a yellow card on 68 minutes for a foul on Kevin Doyle but the challenge was innocuous compared to the scything sweep on Redmond by Stearman in the first half for which he received nothing by way of punishment. Hunt cleverly tipped the ball up from the short pass he received and struck it in an attempt to get it to dip under the bar; unfortunately for him it was inches over. Matt Jarvis immediately came on in his stead while Blues swapped Mutch for Beausejour as both managers attempted to negate the need for a replay. Mick McCarthy also replaced the ineffective Doyle with Stephen Fletcher but it made very little difference to the game. Rooney did manage to work De Vries after an effort by Redmond had been blocked and the striker had seized on the rebound. Gomis put an attempt on goal high into the Tilton Road end to groans from the home crowd and Beausejour went close when he had another effort cleared off the line with time running out. Jarvis almost settled things in the Dingles’ favour deep into stoppage time when he turned inside and curled a shot across goal but Colin Doyle made an excellent double save as he pushed the winger’s effort onto the post and then prevented Steven Fletcher’s downward header from winning the match from the rebound. And so it is, a replay to settle this tie; something neither team wants or needs. Somehow I don’t see many going along to the rematch if the fare offered today is anything to go by. The worst game I’ve seen involving Blues all season. Will and I are so glad we didn’t make the customary trip up to Brum to witness it first hand!
The Good: The egg, sausage and bacon bap early doors.
The Bad: The enjoyable but rubbish golf that we played in the morning.
The Ugly: The game on the telly. Fortunately, it did not spoil the day.
Birmingham City: Colin Doyle 6, Jonathan Spector 5, Curtis Davies 6, Liam Ridgewell 6 (Steven Caldwell, 49, 6), David Murphy 5, Nathan Redmond 6, Wade Elliott 6, Morgaro Gomis 5, Guirane N’Daw 7 (Keith Fahey, 82, N/A), Jordon Mutch 6 (Jean Beausejour, 70, 5), Adam Rooney 6.
Subs not used: Jack Butland, Steven Caldwell, Callum Reilly, Marlon King, Nikola Zigic.
Bookings: Davies (67), Rooney (84)
Goals: None
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Dorus De Vries 6, Richard Stearman 6, Michael Kightly 6, Karl Henry 6, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake 5, Stephen Ward 6, Stephen Hunt 6 (Matt Jarvis, 69, 6), Roger Johnson 6 (Kevin Foley, 35, 6), Christophe Berra 6, Eggert Jonsson 7, Kevin Doyle 5 (Steven Fletcher, 74, 6).
Subs not used: Wayne Hennessey, George Elokobi, Dave Edwards, Emmanuel Frimpong, Matt Jarvis.
Bookings: None
Goals: None
Referee; Mike Dean 6: It wasn’t the referee’s fault that this game was so bad. Stearman should have been booked early on for a reckless late challenge on Redmond but apart from that the officials played a full part in the mediocrity of the occasion.
Attendance: 14, 594 (2,488 Wolves fans)
Bazza
KRO SOTV
Good decision to stay at home. If I’d known in advance that we didn’t want to win then I’d have not bothered either.
First time CH’s decisions have annoyed me this year. With 20 minutes to go and 2 strikers on the bench why not try for the win?
As it is we have the worst of all possibilities, a replay.
Chris needs to realise that we need cheering up and a cup run would have been a start, even beating the Dogs Heads would have been something, as it is all we really have to look forward to is a fire sale of anyone we have that has 2 legs and the possibility of going into administration.
Oh well KRO
I made it there, and for me there were two points not picked up elsewhere, in addition to the two we might have got! Yes, the crowd was meagre, 17,000 for a Saturday cup game isn’t good, but it was also on telly, it’s January and there isn’t much money around, and for those of us having to travel 12.30 is an early start. However, the support from the Tilton, especially Block 11 was excellent – apart from the chants when Johnson went down. I didn’t hear Wolves at all.
Another thing was apparent, Blues appear to have a collective mental block when approaching the ooposing goal. It’s as if they don’t see a target, but an obstacle, and the closer they get, the bigger the fear in their eyes. There were times when it appeared easier for Rooney, N’Daw or Fahey to run on into the area and shoot, but every time they chose to ‘go lateral’. Redmond had a chance to shoot, but hesitated a fraction too long and his shot was blocked. Once they go beyond this ‘the goal face is a wall’ mentality the goals will start coming . Until then, we’re only going to battle to no avail.
On the plus side, Curtis Davies especially in defence was immense, and N’Daw deservedly won man-of-the-match – he may be the hard-tackling/running into space player we haven’t had since Bowyer left.
A dire result, but a battling performance. After all, the Dogsheads are Premier League, aren’t they?
Oh, and I almost forgot, did anyone else think Mike Dean was a Dingle too?
I think it was a hardfought match, and the thing that worries me, is that King and Zigic may have been protected from being Cup Tied…. 🙁