Here’s Bazza’s report on yesterday’s yawnfest.

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My mate Will called early Saturday morning to tell me a tale of woe concerning his garden which he and his brother Chris had been re-landscaping and this by all accounts had required the relocation of the topsoil of most of Sussex. Chris had returned to Baginton at the close of play the day before but Will was still feeling the effects of hard graft and couldn’t face the journey to follow his brother and the short onward trip to St Andrews. It sounded as if a lawn the size of Wembley still needed to be laid in an area that looked like the Somme so Will decided miss the game on this occasion; oh, how I envy him now!

I called Chris and asked if he was still fixing to go to the game and he said he was so I called up and got him a ticket in the same block in the Kop as me. Neither of my lads wanted to come to the game either as both had plans for the evening so they avoided this epic event also. So it was ‘O sole mio’ that got in the car and headed north to Chris’ pub in Baginton where I necked a pint and joined Chris as he drove us to St Andrews. We grabbed another sherbet in the Royal George and watched Paul Scholes mug Manchester City with ten seconds left before walking to the ground. This was pretty much where the interest ends to be honest.

This was a truly dreadful game. so lacking in entertainment value. that I am glad that Will and my two sons were spared the spectacle. To be fair the first half was just ordinary with Blues having the better of the chances but Hull had two moments when they nearly scored; Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink with a near post header that was destined for the bottom corner but was smartly saved by Hart and George Boateng sent a low ball across the Blues six-yard box after exchanging passes with Bullard and it just eluded Kevin Kilbane at the far post. Blues were lucky to escape that one I felt. At the other end McFadden had a shot that was just too high in the first couple of minutes, Jerome also carved an opening but his weak shot was easily saved by the keeper, Matt Duke who almost gifted Blues a goal with a fumble but made amends when he denied Bowyer whose excellent twenty yard cross shot was saved with an acrobatic leap.

The second half was so poor that it defies description and it would be against the Trades Descriptions Act to be called entertainment. Hull were actually the better of two very poor sides and with Jimmy Bullard easily the best player on the pitch trying to get the corpse, that is this Hull City side, to twitch, the visitors looked the most likely to fashion a winner if there was one to be had. Bullard himself should have scored when he weaved his way into the box past static defenders but his shot was a weak toe poke in the end and the danger fizzled out. Fagan blazed a right footed volley just wide in time added on. Blues should have been awarded a penalty when Jerome was flattened by McShane when the striker went to challenge for a cross with Duke. It was a nailed on spot kick but Mr Clattenburg awarded a free kick against Jerome which was a truly bizarre decision in an afternoon where the referee had very few important decisions to make but got them mostly wrong.

To be honest neither side deserved to win this encounter and it has to be the worst game I’ve attended at St Andrews all season. Hull are where they are because they deserve to be. They were absolute dross and so were Blues on this evidence. Hull are not very good and should have been dispatched but Blues were hopeless because once again I felt Alex McLeish picked the wrong team. Why he persists in selecting McFadden to play just behind Jerome in a 4-4-1-1 system at home against opposition like this is baffling. I don’t know what Chucho has done to offend the manager but we carry so much more threat when we play 4-4-2 with him and Jerome up front. It was this formation with McFadden and Larsson occupying the wide positions in midfield that produced the excellent run that has put us in the comfortable position we now occupy in the league. Since playing effectively 4-5-1 we have only won one in eight games. Please Alex don’t select the same team at Villa next week because we will get turned over if we do. Chucho must play and I would like to see either Michel come in for Bowyer or move Gardner into central midfield and restore Larsson on the right who looked lively when he came on for the ineffective Fahey today.

The only positive to take from today’s game was the performance of the back four who were solid and rarely in difficulty. Special mention must go to Liam Ridgewell who defended very well and worked hard to provide much needed width down the flank. At one point in the second half he ghosted in at the far post and a decent cross from McFadden would surely have given the full back his second goal in as many home games. Sadly he wasn’t spotted. This was a lacklustre, tedious, slow and disinterested looking performance from Blues today and both teams were lucky to get nil. This game will not linger long in the memory.

KRO SOTV

Blues: Joe Hart 6, Stephen Carr 6, Lee Bowyer 4, Liam Ridgewell 8, Cameron Jerome 7, Barry Ferguson 6, Roger Johnson 6, Scott Dann 7, James McFadden 5 (Kevin Phillips 5, 60), Keith Fahey 4 (Seb Larsson 6, 63), Craig Gardner 5.

Subs not used: Maik Taylor, Chucho, Michel, Stuart Parnaby, Gregory Vignal.

Hull: Matt Duke 6, Andy Dawson 5, Paul McShane 4, Craig Fagan 6, Kevin Kilbane 6, Steven Mouyokolo 5, George Boateng 5, Jimmy Bullard 8, Ibrahima Sonko 6, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 7 (Jozy Altidore 5, 75), Tom Cairney 5.

Subs not used: Boaz Myhill, Nick Barmby, Geovanni, dean Marney, Liam Cooper, Seyi Olofinjana.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne and Wear) 4 – considering this was a game when so little happened and the fact that there were no cards shown reflects this, the only big decision he had to make, the clear penalty shout against Paul McShane on Jerome he got it horribly wrong. Poor performance from a normally reliable referee.

Attendance: 26, 669