Here is Bazza’s take on the day

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Our first home game of the new Premiership season had arrived and my arrangements had been planned with meticulous detail. I had made sure that I was able to finish early from work and had loaded some of the work from the afternoon onto the following day. Originally, this fixture was due to be played on Tuesday not Wednesday evening but because the powers that be had shifted our opening match against Manchester United until the Sunday to suit television this game had also been moved twenty-four hours. So, in accordance with the best laid plans of mice and men, I had a shed load of work to get finished before I could set off from my workplace in Guildford having had a virtually free afternoon on Tuesday! I got in the car at 4.30 pm and hit all the local traffic that I have come to know and hate. For those of you that don’t know, the Hog’s back in Surrey, the M3 and the M25 past Heathrow are the longest car parks on the planet. Fortunately, although congested it at least moved albeit slowly and I managed to make up time on the M40 towards Birmingham.. I am convinced that had the kids been back at school I wouldn’t have had a prayer of making it in time. I have failed to make midweek matches before because of too many other people not in the least interested in football on the roads at the same time as me. When I was going particularly slowly on the M25 at one stage, it was all Gordon Brown’s fault of course. Lack of investment in infrastructure, crap transport policy, bankrupting the country so we can’t afford to fix the potholes or get road works off the highways in a reasonable time because of lack of funds yadda yadda yadda! Dear Gordon is of course also to blame for the fact that our beloved club cannot afford to buy a Premiership winning team because Messrs Sullivan’s and Gold’s business empires are hampered by the credit crunch, over taxation and bloody minded red tape and regulation meaning that the said gentlemen haven’t got the necessary disposable business income to lavish in Birmingham City PLC.

I wanted to get parked, pick up my season ticket and buy my tickets for the Southampton and Spurs games, visit the shop and buy the latest shirt of the faithful. No chance! I barely made it into the ground for the kick off. It was nice to see the usual crowd that sit near me after so long. Greetings were exchanged and I sat down and took a large chunk out of my steak and kidney pie which with the bottle of Fanta had come to the princely sum of £4.50. No change there then; catering still expensive. The new playing surface looked pristine and the ball ran true across it. The new screen as promised was prominent in the corner between the newly named Gil Merrick stand and the family enclosure. It played the odd replay from time to time although there weren’t many of those as not much was happening on the pitch of note. Pompey had come to spoil and keep things tight as a jail. They were tough, uncompromising and well organised at the back. It is clear that they have been weakened over the last few months with the loss of Defoe, Crouch etc and lack much of their potency but they still have experienced players of decent pedigree and it is unfair to write them off as poor as some pundits have done. Whilst it is difficult to see where their goals are going to come from as they offered little threat last night, they remain a resolute and difficult side to break down and I cannot see them conceding many over the piece.

Blues played two up front in a change from Old Trafford with O’Connor coming in for Carsley. The line up was more forward thinking with deployment of Keith Fahey in central midfield with Ferguson next to him. McFadden and Larsson made up the quartet on the flanks. Franck Queudrue played alongside Roger Johnson in central defence with Gregory Vignal and Carr in the full back berths. The problem with this line up is the front two. Neither of these players is a natural when it comes to holding the ball up and the first touch of both especially Jerome is simply not good enough at this level. His strength is his pace which can be devastating if he can be played in. He has improved in running at defenders but with his back to goal he is ineffective and so is O’Connor. These two should not in my view play together. They are far better with Phillips or Benitez alongside them. This proved to be the case later in the game when early in the second half Jerome limped off injured and was replaced by Kevin Phillips. The little maestro nearly scored 15 minutes from time with a lovely first time volley from O’Connor’s cushioned header on the edge of the area. David James demonstrated just why he has been England’s number one keeper for so long with a smart save to his right at the foot of the post. James had also saved a pacy free kick from Larsson earlier and Blues cranked up the pressure towards the end of the game. The best move of the match resulted in a first time cross from Carr whizzing across the box but eluding the outstretched foot of O’Connor to fall a foot behind Kevin Phillips at the far post.

Not much happened in the first half to be honest although Blues did pass the ball the better of the two sides. The best chance fell to Larsson at the far post from Vignal’s excellent cross. The Swede should have done better with the effort than placing the header over the bar. Pompey offered little although Kranjcar and Belhadj did their best to inject life into their midfield. Distin pressed the ball well and made for a solid if uninspiring performance from the visitors. Chances for Portsmouth were few and far between but Kranjcar surprisingly squandered their best chance in the second half from only eight yards out but this would have been harsh on Blues had he converted. The chance seemed to hit him from a misdirected shot from one of his colleagues and the lack of expectancy was probably why Blues got off lightly.

To the biggest cheer of the night Chucho Benitez was finally given a run with ten minutes left; twenty minutes later than ideal in my view. Nevertheless, his introduction seemed to spark the crowd and the team and Blues pressed on to win the game. Despite their efforts the match was drawing to its close in injury time when David James had one of his aberrations and clattered Larsson to the ground as he ran away from goal to collect and over hit cross. The assistant referee waved his flag and placed it across his chest. The referee responded by pointing to the spot. The referee really should not have had to rely on his assistant for help as it was a clear and violent barge into the back of the Blues player. Portsmouth added to their yellow card tally with three more going in the book to make five in all. It beats me as to why professional footballers argue the indefensible but they do don’t they? James McFadden coolly dispatched the penalty into the top right hand corner of the net sending David James dapperly turned out in pink the wrong way. The last two minutes saw the visitors show more urgency and attacking aggression than the whole of the rest of the match. They so nearly scored from the kick off when a neat move found the feet of Kranjcar a few yards out. I was right behind the player and thought he must score but he tamely fired his meek shot into the midriff of Joe Hart who had had precious little to do throughout to be honest. A further chance by Pompey narrowly cleared the bar before the final whistle and three points.

Whilst I’m delighted with the win, there was a bit of a ‘thank God for that’ quality about it. Sure, Portsmouth will struggle this season and some will say we struggled to win against them but Blues deserved the points if only because they were the only side trying to win the game. Pompey had clearly come for the draw which when one considers the circumstances they find themselves in at the moment is fully understandable. I have concerns about our attacking threat but once Chucho is fully fit and with the option of Phillips who still looks a good player at this level there is hope. The most worrying aspect of the night was the enforced substitution of Vignal with a hamstring strain. Once again we will have to rely on right footed full backs like Parnaby to fill in there. Blues look better equipped than two years ago so I’m guardedly optimistic. Let’s hope there are at least three sides in this Premier League that are inferior to Blues; I believe there may be.

KRO SOTV