View from the South – Birmingham City v Cardiff City

On Tuesday night, the unthinkable happened. Blues actually won a game of football at St Andrew’s and what is more defeated the team at the pinnacle of the division, Watford. I wasn’t going to go as I had work commitments but at the very last minute there was a cancellation of my last appointment of the day and my long suffering receptionist, Juley, a girl with the football gene impregnated into her DNA, said “Mr P, you could go to the football,” in the same way Cinderella was told “you shall go to the ball!” Will was swinging by to pick up a signed West Ham shirt with Matt Jarvis’ name and autograph on it for the son of a friend of his that he intended to drop off on the way up to Birmingham. (For those of you that don’t know, Matt’s Mum is also a receptionist where I work) Will was taking advantage of a hospitality package on at St Andrew’s that night and so I hitched a lift and told Mrs Bazza I was going to the game half way up the M40 as you do! 😀 The rest is history. None of us expected a draw let alone a win but what an improvement in the play, game plan and competitiveness of the team! Eighteen attempts on goal, always in the game, not fighting a desperate rearguard action and a deserved win with five minutes left because Blues simply wanted it that little bit more. Man of the match Clayton Donaldson, gave one of the best performances I have seen from a Birmingham striker in a long time and was a prime example all night of how to lead the line. A bigger crowd than usual responded by roaring the boys home and the atmosphere generated was easily the most pleasing aspect of the evening with a loud rendering of Keep Right On at the final whistle which restored pride and dignity to St Andrew’s which had been missing for so long.

So it was against this backdrop that when Saturday dawned and I boarded the train North to Coventry to meet up with Chris, it was with renewed optimism and some of the buzz of Saturdays past, without at the same time, getting too carried away. A tough encounter with Cardiff City awaited and Birmingham were going to have to play every bit as well as on Tuesday if not better to prevail again and achieve something that I can hardly remember, namely back to back wins at home. Whilst I am under no illusions about the limitations of our present squad, I have also stated previously that even poor teams can get results against stronger opposition provided that the weaker team set up properly, work hard, be organised and make themselves difficult to beat. Doing the basics and defending properly are essential requisites to acquiring positive results and there were definite signs of those qualities on Tuesday intermingled with some attacking threat and it is remarkable how much change had been effected by new manager, Gary Rowett in so few days since his appointment.

I arrived at Coventry just before 12.25 and nipped back to the Oak at Baginton for a pint. Met an ex-army operating theatre technician called Kevin from the RAMC and reminisced about deeds of derring-do from our respective Army days before setting off for the ground picking up Little Jack on the way. We grabbed another beer in the ground just before the match and some lamb in a bap at half time. In truth whilst the game wasn’t a bad watch there isn’t a lot to report. It was fairly attritional stuff with Blues solid as was the case with a resolute Cardiff team determined not repeat their humiliating 3-0 reverse in midweek. Chances were few and far between with the visitors having the best one of the first half when Macheda found himself free at the edge of the box with Blues appealing for offside. A superb save prevented a solid performance by Birmingham up until the break being spoiled. Overall, for the first hour Cardiff had the edge and looked in control purely in physical terms. They appeared to be unruffled but in all honesty they also failed to threaten us although they did have their moments, Randolph saving Adam Le Fondre’s close range shot on 15 minutes, Federico Macheda also worked Randolph five minutes later though Blues should have had a free kick in the lead up to the strike. Overall, hard work and application by a well organised Blues side meant it was all square at the break.

Thomas and Gray came on for Shinnie and Arthur on 53 minutes and in the final third of the match Blues looked the more likely to win the game. Cardiff had the ball in the net midway through the second half but Macheda was clearly offside. Just after Thomas’ introduction, he also had the home crowd on its feet only for the linesman to flag for offside. Apparently, the decision was highly dubious and I thought at the time that it must have been close given the wide angle that Gray’s cross shot came in. Gary Rowett was gracious enough to say the whilst it would have been nice to have had the decision go our way it would have been a harsh result on Cardiff and he was right; 0-0 was a fair result.

The last two minutes of the match were the most eventful. The recent hero, Clayton Donaldson was fed through and he didn’t appreciate that he had time to take a touch, steady himself and shoot. Sadly, he snatched at the chance and the game which on 88 minutes was right there was fired wide letting Cardiff off for a rare lapse of concentration. Barely a minute later, an altercation between Thomas and Sean Morrison resulted in the home player flicking out at The visitor in an attempt to retrieve the ball when the defender was delaying play with many of his team mates out of position. A quick free kick would have spelt trouble for Cardiff and Morrison knew it and it is arguable therefore that the defender should have gone too. He of course only received a yellow. Thomas caught him in the eye leading to an inevitable red card and three games ban. Fortunately, it did not cost Blues the match.

The Good: If I had been offered two clean sheets, a 2-1 win and five points out of nine from three games against Wolves, Watford and Cardiff I would have bitten your arm off at the shoulder.

The Bad: the decision that went against us for our ‘goal’ as it appears that Thomas was level when he netted.

The Ugly: the incident for the sending off; stupid and unnecessary regardless of the provocation leading up to it which I confess I didn’t see. Our disciplinary record is now becoming a problem; that’s FOUR dismissals in five games?

Birmingham City: Darren Randolph 7 Paul Caddis 6, Michael Morrison 7, Paul Robinson 7, Jonathan Grounds 6, Stephen Gleeson 7, David Davies 7, Andrew Shinnie 6 (Wes Thomas 53, 6) Koby Arthur 6 (Demarai Gray 53, 6) David Cotterill 6, Clayton Donaldson 7.

Subs not used: Colin Doyle, Neil Eardley, David Edgar, Callum Reilly, Brek Shea.

Goals: None

Bookings: David Cotterill

Sent off: Wes Thomas

Cardiff City: David Marshall 7, Matthew Connolly 7, Ben Turner 6, John Brayford 7, Sean Morrison 6 (Danny Gabbidon 90 + 3, N/A) Aaron Gunnarsson 6, Peter Whittingham 7, Anthony Pilkington 6, Craig Noone 6 (Fabio 87, N/A) Federico Macheda 6 (Nicky Maynard 65, 6) Adam Le Fondre 7.

Subs not used: Simon Moore, Joe Ralls, Tom Adeyemi, Kim Bo-Kyung.

Goals: None

Bookings: Matthew Connolly, Ben Turner, Sean Morrison, Federico Macheda.

Referee: Kevin Friend 5; Contradictory performance really. What is the point of pulling players up for delaying the play and then having a lengthy conversations with them every time they did it? The red card was correct but missed whatever it was that provoked the incident merely delivering a yellow card to the defender; if he is guilty of more serious sanction he cannot now be cited. A foul by Anthony Pilkington on Michael Morrison in the first half allowed Macheda a clear chance to score in the first half but he let it go. Fortunately, nothing came of it but there were far too many such incidents let alone. Not one of Mr Friend’s better games I’m afraid.

Attendance: 15,950

Bazza KRO SOTV