Finally the day had come: the last day of another dire and underwhelming season that many are glad to see the back of. The early kick off meant an early train and so it was I arrived at Blackwater station for the 08.33 to Reading. I’d set my alarm but I needn’t have bothered since these days I wake up around six most mornings and once awake, I’m not one for lying around in bed. I had arranged to meet my old friend Tim on the train and he was seated in the first carriage as the train pulled in. Although, I searched the whole train, I missed him at first and it was only when I reached Reading that I met up with him on the platform waiting for the Manchester train. It was good to have company on the way up to the Midlands and it was great to catch up after so long.
The talk in the media is this being Lee Bowyer’s last game and that he is going to get the Spanish Archer after today’s match. I sincerely hope that is not the case given that I see little point blaming the manager for all the ills at our club. We have gone through more managers in the last ten years than I can remember in the rest of my lifetime watching Blues and so far frequent swops of personnel have done little or no good. Our decline continues because of the regime in power at the very top and it will not change until they go.
Another story doing the rounds (E.G. https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/significant-off-field-birmingham-city-development-shared/) is that a consortium led by a Birmingham bluenose businessman is looking to purchase the shares owned by Oriental Rainbow which I believe equates to just over 21% if I understand it correctly. Clearly this would be a positive development but it’s difficult how they would conjure a full takeover without addressing the little matter of the huge debt the overall concern is carrying. Apparently the club is valued at £34 million which is surprisingly small given football inflation and the value of Chelsea being talked about in the realm of £4 billion. I suppose it’s because the reality is, we are a small club which is something I wouldn’t have said about us in the past. Anyway, I’ll believe these stories when and if they happen. In the meantime, we remain in deep do-do and look forward to more mediocrity next season if the present situation persists.
I was soon at Coventry where Chris was waiting to pick me up. We headed back to Baginton to pick up little Jack and set straight off to the ground to arrive in time for the early kick off. The roads were strangely quiet despite talk of a ‘sell out crowd’ (all 17,000 of us then!) and we arrived in plenty of time for a couple of scoops in the George which – duly sunk – we went from there to Smokey Joe’s for a bacon burger. It was time for kick off!
On a beautiful day in bright sunshine the match got off to an entertaining start with bright play from both sides. Chances were few and far between although Blackburn had the best of what was on offer, a tame volley from Sam Gallagher which was easily saved by Etheridge. The keeper was to have no chance with their next opportunity however on 29 minutes. Neat play in midfield resulted in Ryan Hedges rolling the ball into the path of John Buckley who lined up the shot and took aim with a drive that arrowed into the top left hand corner from thirty yards. It was a cracking strike and although you can always point to the Blues players not being tight enough sometimes you just have to accept that it was an excellent strike that on any other other given Saturday ends up nowhere near the back of the net. Then the turning point of the game occurred a minute before half time. A corner to Blues on the right was whipped towards Taylor. The marking defender has grasp of his left arm and prevents him challenging for the ball. He then grabs Taylor’s other shoulder and pulls him to the ground! This was as clear a penalty as I have seen this season. The clueless official of course gives nothing and Blackburn break to the other end of the pitch. Harry Pickering plays the ball out to Ben Brereton-Diaz out on the left flank a good 25-30 yards out. A wickedly curving cross shot finds the opposite top corner, once again giving Etheridge no chance. If the first was good, this one was better. The two Blackburn goals were superb but each would occur probably once a season if that. Whether deserved or not they were 2-0 up and cruising in a game where there was little between the sides and Blues hadn’t played badly.
Blues did manage to halve the deficit on 78 minutes when following a neat one-two with Jordan James, Krystian Pedersen weaved his way through about four Blackburn defenders into the box before sliding the ball past Kaminski off the far post from close range. This completed a trio of excellent goals. The only other event of note was a bizarre decision from the referee to award a free kick for a pass back against Blues fifteen yards out. Fortunately, Bradley Dack’s shot from the free kick came to naught and Blues scrambled clear. In the end the result hardly mattered. What is important is that we have survived for another Championship season. Incidentally, taking the points deductions for Derby and Reading into account we would still have survived in 20th place on goal difference; not a good season by any standards. Thank heavens it’s over!
The Good: Three cracking goals. Lovely afternoon to finish the season. News that the club is on the brink of being sold! (Please God, let it be true!) The company of Tim on the trip up and Chris and Jack for the game.
The Bad: The refereeing; some of the worst decisions I’ve seen for a long time.
The Ugly: The pitch invasion at the end of the game and the toxicity of the fans’ mood toward the board.
I managed to get some photos (one example below) and video footage to give you some idea…
Birmingham City: Neil Etheridge 6, Marc Roberts 7, Krystian Pedersen 7, Nico Gordon 7, Maxime Colin 6, Ivan Sunjic 6, Jordan James 7, Tahith Chong 6 (Jobe Bellingham, 6), Onel Hernandez 7, Juninho Bacuna 6 (George Hall 59, 7), Lyle Taylor 6 (Scott Hogan 90, N/A).
Subs not used: Ryan Woods, Jordan Graham, George Friend, Connal Trueman.
Goals: Pedersen 78.
Yellow cards: None.
Blackburn Rovers: Thomas Kaminski 7, James Brown 7, Daniel Ayala 7, Scott Wharton 7, Harry Pickering 7, Lewis Travis 7, Tayo Edun 6 (Bradley Dack 46, 6), John Buckley 7, Ryan Hedges 7, Ben Brereton-Diaz 7 (Dilan Markanday 66, 6), Sam Gallagher 6 (Jack Vale 77, 6).
Subs not used: Jordan Eastham, Darragh Lenihan, Joe Rankin-Costello, Tyrhys Dolan.
Goals: Buckley 29, Brereton-Diaz 44.
Yellow cards: Edun 43.
Referee: Andy Davies 2: This is easily the lowest score I’ve ever given for a referee in one of my reports. Generally, however, poor referees are, they do not usually affect the eventual outcome. This official did in my opinion. His failure to award a stonewall penalty to Blues in the 44th minutes when Taylor was clearly manhandled to the ground preventing him challenging for the ball was a dereliction of duty. Thirty seconds later Blackburn go 2-0 up instead of the half time score being 1-1 assuming the penalty converted. As for the decision for the back pass, the players from both sides were as bemused as the rest of us. For the rest of the game he was far too lenient and was obviously clueless when an unpleasant tackle caused a melee over on the family stand side. The challenge on Jordan James looked worse than the only yellow card of the day suggested. He was fussy and finicky about the exact position of some free kicks and throw ins but not others. Overall a dreadful performance.
Attendance: 18,659 (1,697 away).
Bazza KRO
Leave a Reply