We welcome back Bazza who has agreed to continue his “View From the South” articles. He catches up over the last month or so, with the main focus on saturdays 1-1 draw with Burnley. Over to you Baz:

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It’s been a while since I last my last post which seems to have coincided with an atrocious run of form for the Blues. Those of you that can bear to read my utterings will know that I live in the South of England and therefore have to travel long distances to see the lads unless we are playing Reading my nearest Football League club. The game at Preston was where I believe I left off. Stayed at home for that one and watched it on the telly. 500 miles round trip was too much even for me; the same can be said of Blackpool and am I glad I didn’t go to either of those! The Preston game was a seminal change in our fortunes however.

I thought Blues were robbed there frankly but what has happened since cannot be explained away so easily. Blues have been absolutely dire especially at home and it beats the hell out of me that we are still in a reasonably strong position. Big Eck said over the weekend that we were not the only rubbish team out there. He is alluding to the fact that Wolves and Reading are also having their problems and so one can understand what he means. It is very easy to get carried away with the thought that our team’s travails are worse than everyone else’s and for the most part that is probably true but I have to confess that I am worried having witnessed that latest instalment in what is an interminably long campaign.

Let’s backtrack briefly and go over the games we have played since the mugging at Preston. First up was Reading at home. That performance has to be the worst defensive display I’ve seen in years. Reading weren’t that great in my opinion but they didn’t have to be. If a team can’t defend set pieces properly, give the top scorer in the division the freedom of the penalty box and prevent a bloke from crossing the ball when you have him covered two to one well you don’t deserve anything out of the game – enough said! Following that disaster, Boxing Day, it was on to Portman Road; not a happy hunting ground for us over the years. Fortunately, they were even poorer than we were and we won comfortably in the end with McFadden’s penalty. It should have been more comprehensive.

To demonstrate how dreadful the match was the faithful came up with a variety of songs about food including ‘Chop Suey’ and that old favourite: “I’d rather be a sausage than an egg!” Still three points so can’t complain I suppose. Two days later we were home to Swansea and we were lucky to get nil! The Welshmen outplayed Blues from start to finish and should have bagged three in the last ten minutes alone. There was never a time when Blues were in control and that is worrying. We eventually played Wolves in the Cup with a patched up team. Outplayed again!

Moving on to Cardiff at St Andrews; here I thought Blues were better with Lee Bowyer excellent. Another very dull game in which Cardiff scored a cracking goal to take the lead. I am certain they were confident of seeing the game out and by rights should have done. However, despite Dave Jones’ protestations about a push on one of the defenders, the equaliser when it came at the death was deserved.

Blackpool made no attempt to get the game played on the day it should have taken place as no cover was placed over the pitch. They had just lost eight loan players at the year’s end so that was understandable. When it was played Blues put in their worst performance of the season and I’m so glad that for only the second time I didn’t drive all the way up there!

With life seemingly getting worse, I was concerned about the next game at home to Derby and once again we rode our luck and should have been behind early on following a catastrophic back pass from Mike Taylor . Not for the first time this season his namesake, Maik in goal saved our collective bacon. After that despite a scare or two near the end a 1 – 0 win was scraped together. A good win when you consider that was probably Derby’s best performance for a very long time and look how well they have done since!

The Owls were next up at their place. Blues bossed the game for long spells but we missed our chances. Blues should have won comfortably but contrived to go behind from the only genuine chance they had and had to be rescued in the 93rd minute by Kevin Phillips who had been largely anonymous throughout – God bless him!

At last we’re up to date! The performances appeared to be improving so it was with more confidence that I set off on Saturday for the journey north. I had walked the dog and even had time to run an errand down to the Post Office for my wife. When I got back she was in the shower and I knocked on the door and gently pushed it ajar to say I was setting off. I could see her figure silhouetted in steam. Some men would have faltered with impurity of thought faced with their naked spouse the other side of the glass. Me sir? NO SIR! Not I! I closed the door quick and legged it before the usual “you’re not going all the way up there in this weather!” came echoing in a muffled stream from the ever retreating upstairs bathroom. The car was backed out of the drive and the M3 beckoned.

Despite the recent extreme weather, I was pleasantly surprised to have one of the easiest journeys to the hallowed ground ever. On the way a magpie flew across my path. I saluted it and muttered under my breath that a single magpie always seemed to show up on a Saturday morning! Then salvation came in the form of another within yards of the first; two for joy! I don’t know why but as well as having silly superstitions I also have funny little rituals like always drinking my early morning coffee out of a Birmingham City mug on match days. I have to wear the shirt of the faithful next to my skin and I have to try and find a vaguely positive omen in past results, the present table, recent form of the opposition etc. All of it is total bollocks I know but it makes me feel better.

Arrived in good time for a leisurely pie and a pint which was fine but can someone at St Andrews please tell the caterers that when you clean the pipes and beer taps that you have to rinse them out with beer first BEFORE you start serving! If we ever get a new ground which I maintain is the moment we will start winning something can we also please have warm water in the washbasins?

Enough of this, fellow noses; on to the game itself.

HELLO Birmingham, the game has started! 1 – 0 down and only three minutes gone. Awful defending which continued for most of the first half. Thanks to profligate finishing, Burnley failed to be 4 – 0 by twenty minutes. This is happening too often where ordinary teams are making us look like a pub side. It is a good job that other teams besides Burnley have let us off repeatedly at St Andrews.

Their generosity was compounded by a comical back pass and weak header by Jensen straight into the path of Phillips who finished as always with aplomb. If I had been a Burnley fan after the game I would have been completely gutted.

Men with minds immeasurably superior to mine will report on the match as a whole and pick the bones out of it but my overall impression over the last few weeks is this; we don’t play at a high enough tempo. We have to match sides like Burnley for work rate which is basically their credo. They are a decent side but not world beaters. They have dispatched a number of Premiership teams from the cup competitions because they have worked harder and wanted it more. We have to move the ball quicker and our players need to put themselves about more. Quicker passing and movement creates space and with that comes the easier pass and more options. The ponderous, pedestrian, cautious rubbish that the fans have had to endure for virtually the whole season especially at St Andrews is simply not good enough. We suffer from one basic problem as I see it; we have an excellent squad but a poor team. It is down to Alex McCleish and his coaching staff to resolve that issue.

On Saturday night I arrived home grateful for the point we had gained. Mrs Bazza told me she was cross with me for going all that way with the weather the way it has been. She says she cannot understand why I bother going all the distances I do just to watch football and you know I’m beginning to think she has a point.

KRO SOTV