Those of you that have been following my recent travels will know that I’ve been in Istanbul all week at a conference. This wound up yesterday lunchtime and I got a taxi from my hotel to the new Istanbul Airport. I arrived in plenty of time and gave the driver a tip which equated to about £3.50. The guy thought I was some sort of God-like apparition (Ed: We here at Joys & Sorrows concur 🙂 ) since this was obviously generous by the standards of the locality. He thanked me in broken English effusively and I entered the terminal building to be confronted with the first of three major security checks which involved removing belt, jacket etc and placing anything remotely metallic into trays to be irradiated. I forgot my reading glasses on the second occasion which meant I had to enter a cubicle to be scanned and my organs nuked before I could proceed further. Eventually, I made it to the gate and the plane took off and landed at Heathrow successfully. My car was delivered to the short term car park and as I only had carry on baggage I was home in pretty short order since I insist on travelling light as I hate waiting next to carousels for luggage. Blues of course had an excellent result in the week at the Hawthorns.
I wasn’t able to stream the game on Blues TV or SKY Go which was immensely frustrating but I was able to listen on audio. When the Baggies got given their penalty in the 83rd minute, the final 15 minutes including time added on, were the longest of my life but the lads held on. Having watched the highlights, I thought the penalty award was a poor decision given the contact was well outside the box but fortunately, it didn’t matter. It was nearly midnight in Istanbul when the game finished but the entertainment didn’t end there. I became aware of noises coming from the room next to me which became increasingly loud. As a song by Paul Simon goes; “Couple in the next room, bound to win a prize, they’d been going at it all night long!” Bloody hell, they did too! Got to admire the bloke’s stamina and she was certainly getting a kick out of it! Though amusing, it was some time before there was enough of a lull in proceedings to allow me to get to kip.
Back to the present, I spoke to Chris to confirm that work commitments allowed him to go to the game. He said at one stage; “I reckon we’ve got a chance Baz with the way we’ve been playing.” I replied; “Ah, but Coventry are bottom of the league and you know what we’re like against teams we’re fancied to beat, especially at home!” He then said; “I’m getting carried away aren’t I?” “Yes, you are, I’m afraid old mate.” I replied. Still, you never know but after many years of following the Blues I’ve learned to never assume, presume or take for granted! So e-tickets obtained, it was off to Blackwater station for the first leg of my journey to Reading. Mrs Bazza gave me a lift and the train appeared on time. It was a cool but bright sunny morning and it was not long before I arrived in Coventry at 12.30.
Chris was there to pick me up and we went back to Baginton to pick up Jack, little Seb and Mark, a Coventry fan. We set off in short order for the ground and weaved our way through the double parked traffic in Small Heath which seems to me to get progressively worse with no sign that the appropriate authorities do anything about it. Nevertheless,we were in time for a pint in the George before a burger at Smokey Joe’s. Another pint in the ground and it was time to take our seats. A minute’s silence was respectfully observed for the late Queen and there as a rendering of ‘God Save the King’ before the game was finally underway.
I am not going to lie. This was a pretty dreadful game with little to warm the blood. Blues started slowly and failed to move the ball quickly enough. There were too many touches, we were too ponderous in the build-up and made sloppy passes which resulted in coughing up possession to the opposition. Blues did have one glorious chance on nine minutes when following good work down the left flank by Jordan Graham, Tahith Chong drove a low ball across which alighted in front of Bacuna eight yards out. Whilst it bobbled on him he really should have put Blues one up. Instead he skied the effort over Simon Moore’s bar much to the Coventry keeper’s relief. Otherwise, Coventry were the better side in the first period. The visitors were allowed too much space, too many easy passes and far too many sights of goal albeit from range. Gustavo Hamer tried his luck from 25 yards on no less than five occasions and although he was high with two efforts he had two further shots saved by Ruddy and was mighty close with his last effort just before half time which went narrowly past the post. Jonathan Panzo and Matt Godden were also close with headed attempts and Jamie Allen also required Ruddy to save his shot when well placed. Blues did have attempts but most that there were, were off target. In short, the first half belonged to Coventry and I felt we were fortunate to go in at 0-0.
Blues were better in the second half but Coventry’s rearguard stood firm despite increasing pressure from Blues as the game wore on. On 70 minutes a standing ovation erupted in respect of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years reign. The only other incident of note in an otherwise drab affair was when substitute, Hannibal Mejbri slid in to successfully claim the ball from Gustavo Hamer. Both players were on the ground and Blues broke clear only for the Coventry man to kick out in frustration catching the young Blues player in the face. Mr Scott, the referee had only one course of action as he brandished the red card. Blues tried with might and mane to make their numerical advantage count and substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz so nearly headed Blues ahead in time added on from Chong’s cross but the ball was cleared off the line. Efforts from Graham and Chong were blocked and sent high and over respectively. In the end 0-0 was all this game deserved. On balance Coventry were the better side in the first half with Blues having the better of it in the second. A goalless draw was a fair outcome. At least we didn’t lose as is our usual wont against the team at the bottom of the league so progress at least; unbeaten in three and 7/9 points from those games.
Birmingham City: John Ruddy 7, Maxime Colin 6, Auston Trusty 6, Dion Sanderson 6, Juninho Bacuna 5 (Hannibal Mejbri 67, 7), Krystian Bielik 7, Tahith Chong 6, Jordan Graham 6, Josh Williams 5, Troy Deeney 7 (Lukas Jutkiewicz 79, 6), Scott Hogan 6.
Subs not used: Neil Etheridge, Jonathan Leko, Jordan James, Jobe Bellingham, George Hall.
Goals: None.
Yellow cards: Sanderson 90.
Coventry City: Ben Wilson 7, Callum Doyle 6, Kyle McFadzean 7, Jonathan Panzo 6, Fankaty Dabo 7, Jamie Allen 6 (Kasey Palmer 77, 6), Gustavo Hamer 5, Ben Sheaf 6, Jake Bidwell 6, Viktor Gyokeres 6, Matt Godden 6 (Tyler Walker 77, 6).
Subs not used: Simon Moore, Martyn Waghorn, Todd Kane, Josh Eccles, Jack Burroughs.
Red card: Hamer 89.
Goals: None.
Yellow cards: Sheaf 53, Panzo 73, Dabo 87.
The Good: The standing ovation at 70 minutes in respect of Her Majesty the late Queen.
The Bad: The game; not one fondly remembered. The traffic coming away from the ground. The double parking in the streets around Small Heath is not funny. As usual, nothing is ever done about it.
The Ugly: The incident between Hamer and Hannibal Mejbri. Kicking a bloke in the face is worthy of a straight red card.
Referee: Graham Scott: 5; Got some things right and some wrong. My major criticism was the lack of yellow cards. Coventry were lucky to escape with only three. They had 17 fouls against their name as opposed to Blues 6. Some of the infringements were cynical and treated far too leniently.
KRO Bazza.
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