View from the South – Birmingham City vs Derby County

It was to be the train again for this game as Will couldn’t make it to the game and so it was that I headed down to Blackwater Station to get my ticket to Leamington Spa to meet up with Chris. My local station only has one ticket machine the one on the other side was vandalised about two years ago and has never been replaced. I had therefore to cross the bridge to use it and an elderly couple and their daughter were just in front of me and got to the machine first; this was no matter as I had about fourteen minutes to get my ticket and get across the bridge to the other platform. What I hadn’t accounted for was the number of transactions these people wanted to make. Now I consider myself a fairly patient bloke but by the time that the third debit or credit card had been tried with no doubt forgotten PIN numbers and extra tickets asked for and receipts requested at the last minute, events were moving on a bit. There were now only three minutes to go and I politely enquired as to whether they were going to much longer as my train was due any minute. Well, excuse me! “You should have come a bit earlier” the younger woman snapped haughtily. (They are like that in Surrey – haughty 😛 )

Having suggested that was a matter that was none of her business but that I hadn’t legislated on one set of people monopolising the only ticket facility for over ten minutes when the older lady suggested that if I only wanted to go to Reading then I could buy the ticket on the train; wrong again of course. Finally the rather unpleasant daughter accused me of being rude disregarding their selfishness and lack of consideration of other people clearly waiting and in a hurry. I was not the only one at this stage. My train pulled in just as the whirr whirr whirr of the machine was taking place as the device had a good think about whether I was going to get my tickets or not. I ran for my life to get over the other side of the station and the guard saw me just as the doors were closing and took pity on me so I just made it on to carriage, breathless, feeling like I was about to have a stroke. The younger lady on the other platform stared at me as if someone had smeared a dog turd under her nose but at least the day had been saved so far. The journey was uneventful and a lot more pleasant after that and I arrived in Leamington at just after 12.00 and Chris picked me up, took me back to the Oak at Baginton for a pint and not long after we set off for St Andrews for another in the Royal George.

There were a number of changes to the team for this game and I hoped and expected that we had to play better than against Forest when we were abjectly awful. Myhill remained in goal; Ramage was immediately drafted in for his debut at right back with Caldwell and Davies at centre-back with Spector at left back for the injured Murphy. Townsend and Burke remained in the wide berths with Mutch and the returning N’Daw in the central positions. King and Huseklepp were up front. Derby had Steven Davies returning since fracturing his skull last October and after smart work from him that allowed Theo Robinson to fashion a shot which was deflected wide after only 17 seconds. However, Blues dominated the opening exchanges and had efforts of their own from Townsend and King before the goal their enterprise had deserved finally came after nineteen minutes. Jordon Mutch’s short corner was picked up by Townsend who cut inside the onrushing defender and rifled a low shot that first hit Theo Robinson and then deflected off Huseklepp six yards out. The ball found its way into the far corner of the net as the Norwegian player ran away celebrating despite knowing very little about it I suspect. He did come close to adding a second just before the break as another corner, this time from Townsend, was flicked goalwards by Huseklepp only to see the ball bounce off the top of the crossbar. The ball was put back into the area by King for Curtis Davies but as the ball dropped the centre-half snatched at the volley and ballooned the attempt over the bar. This was to prove a costly miss.

Blues should have doubled their advantage before they eventually did early in the second half. Huseklepp went close from another of Mutch’s corners but Frank Fielding, the Derby keeper was able to fumble his flicked header away. The ball broke to Townsend on the edge of the area and his shot was cleared off the line by Rams full-back Gareth Roberts. Blues eventually scored the second goal they had been threatening on 57 minutes. Townsend ran powerfully at the back-pedalling Derby defence and eventually picked out the unmarked King on the right in the area who finished clinically with a low shot from eight yards. I thought at this stage that the game was over and it should have been as the visitors hadn’t scored in over seven hours of football and they hadn’t threatened Myhill in this game. Blues contrived to let Derby back in with a nightmare five minutes of sloppy defending of the type that you see on a school playing field (at least those that still exist!) Former Kidderminster Harriers trainee Ben Davies had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds when he put in a cross that was headed into the top corner by his namesake Steven with Boaz Myhill getting a hand to the effort but unable to keep it out. There was no one near the scorer and the goal was a gift. Allowing a free header six yards out will result in goals against more often than not. It is arguable that Myhill should have got a stronger hand on the ball and save it but where were the defenders? Worse was to follow as five minutes later Derby drew level. The Blues defence was cut apart by Paul Green’s though ball to Theo Robinson with Ramage on the other side playing him onside. Robinson crashed home an unstoppable shot across Myhill into the bottom corner. So it was that a game that was won was thrown away and a point gifted to a team that had never really been in it.

Nevertheless Blues had enough chances to undo the self-inflicted damage they had wrought on themselves. Townsend terrorised the visiting defence all afternoon but only last-ditch Derby defending ensured the score remained level. Fielding tipped N’Daw’s tremendous volleyed effort over the bar with twelve minutes left and in a frenetic last few minutes Green bravely threw himself in front of substitute Nikola Zigic’s low shot. In time added on, a Zigic header was deflected wide and then Steven Caldwell’s header was hacked off his line by Green. Zigic and Caldwell were again involved in Blues final attempt to win the game when the big Serb headed the ball back across goal but the defender was unable to control it as it was just behind him and Derby scrambled the ball clear for a draw that I am sure even they didn’t expect.

This was the second bad result against a poor side in a week. The performance was at least much better than against Forest last week when there was nothing positive to say. Andros Townsend was the stand out player for me and Huseklepp looked impressive in his first start for the club. There is clearly more to come from him. Zigic was so much improved on last week and was unfortunate not to fashion the win at the end as he was involved in everything in an exciting finale. Ramage had a solid game I thought but he was at fault for not getting out quick enough for Derby’s equaliser. There is no doubt that Theo Robinson would have been well offside had he done so. Spector played well at left back in the circumstances and was much better than last week (not difficult it has to be said). I felt we missed the steady, no frills foot on the ball Fahey at 2-0 up but so it is. N’Daw played OK and Mutch was improved and like Spector could not have played worse this week than last. The disappointing player of the day was Burke who has looked jaded the last couple of games and maybe needs a rest. King took his goal well and held up the ball well throughout. We must defend better against Chelsea otherwise AVB will be talking of new dawns and turning the corner etc. I think any hope of automatic promotion is fast receding after the last two results. One point from Forest and Derby at home is simply not good enough. We need nine wins and three draws from the last thirteen games in my view and I think it is an order too tall although not impossible. We have far better teams than Derby or Forest to come to St Andrews and difficult assignments away from home but the reason we all love the game of football is that the unexpected can and does happen. Keep Right On!

Bazza

The Good: Better performance particularly from the new players. Very pleased with Andros Townsend after his poor debut last week.

The Bad: The result; Blues should have won this game at a canter.

The Ugly: The altercation with the unpleasant lady on Blackwater Station; face like a bag of spanners! 🙁

Birmingham City: Boaz Myhill 6; Jonathan Spector 7, Curtis Davies 6, Steven Caldwell 7, Peter Ramage 6; Chris Burke 5 (Nathan Redmond 86, N/A), Guirane N’Daw 6, Jordon Mutch 6, Andros Townsend 8; Erik Huseklepp 7 (Nikola Zigic 71, 7), Marlon King 7.

Subs (not used): Pablo Ibanez, Morgaro Gomis, Wade Elliott.

Goals: Huseklepp (18), King (57)

Bookings: Davies, King, Zigic

Derby County: Frank Fielding 7; Paul Green 6, Shaun Barker 7, Jason Shackell 7, Gareth Roberts 6, Steven Davies 8 (Callum Ball 80, N/A), Craig Bryson 6, Jeff Hendrick 6, Tom Carroll 6 (Jake Buxton 86, N/A); Theo Robinson 7, Nathan Tyson 6 (Ben Davies 60, 7).

Subs (not used): Adam Legzdins, Tom Naylor.

Goal: S Davies (61), Robinson (66)

Booking: Tyson

Referee: Paul Tierney 5: Inconsistent and frustrating; far too many free kicks that weren’t and too many not given that were. Fortunately, the shortcomings of the officials did not influence the result which was down to Blues’ profligacy.

Attendance: 17,996 (1,415 away fans)