Here is an article by Russell Dempsey who posts on the forum. It was recently published in Made in Brum. Russ used to write regularly for J&S when Aff ran the site and it’s nice to have him back for this one. Thanks Russ.

It’s sad looking forward to a Wembley appearance, knowing our league position has petered out since March.

As Big Eck has put so much effort into getting us to Wembley, our league form took a back seat. Sure we knew we were pretty safe, once we reached the talismanic forty point mark, but it’s a shame we couldn’t make more of a mark on this season back in the Premiership.

Successive league losses against the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool can all be forgiven, given their top half status, but losing to Portsmouth in their five nil ‘revenge’ win that still didn’t stave off their relegation, Everton at home to end our unbeaten run, losing 2-0 against lowly Hull, and capitulating to Aston Villa once again have left us looking a shadow of our former selves.

The only highlight of our recent form is the Jake Jervis goal that saved us some face in the 6-1 loss at Villa Park. He’s a sign that all may not be lost next season. When we beat Portsmouth in the Quarter Finals, people suggested we’d cope with the injuries to Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome, but our defence and attack haven’t been the same since.

The arrival of Michel in the centre would have solved many of our problems, until he was sent off in the Liverpool loss, that ruled him out of some tough games including the derby. Resting players like McFadden, Roger Johnson and even Joe Hart before the Semi Final have bitten us on the proverbial.

Sure the semi-final conquering of Tottenham on penalties was glorious, and what a day at Wembley that was, but the loss of Lee Bowyer and Liam Ridgwell to injury has meant we’re even lighter on the ground than we can cope with.

Letting go of Gary McSheffrey, Franck Quedrue, Martin Taylor and Damien Johnson has been criticised in the light of our precarious squad situation of late, and while I share the concern, think the decisions were made correctly at the time, and there’s no point crying over spilt milk. As it happens, we’re left with Burnley and Bolton games to try to restore some pride, yet are forced to play so many reserve players in the hope they can make the grade, to try to stem our run of nine successive defeats in the league.

Our Cup Final appearance looks to be without the likes of Chucho, who has been carrying an injury that needs an operation, Bowyer, Ridgwell, Dann and Jerome and playing against the mighty Chelsea it seems we may well be forced out of the FA Cup with a whimper.

Add to this our disappointing points haul, which currently stands at 40 and our league position of 13th, and our enthusiasm for next season is somewhat diminished when even the likes of Kris Boyd have distanced themselves from a potential Bosman move to us to join a ‘bigger’ club like Stoke who are set to finish above us. In fact, we could well end up below West Ham and Bolton too, if we fail to win our last two games. At the season start, I think we’d all have accepted a 17th place finish, but to finish in 15th after our potential during our record breaking run will be heartbreakingly disappointing.

The shouts for McLeish to go have been growing in recent times, and if we can’t win our final home match, there are rumours that he could even resign before the FA Cup Final. This would be a tragedy, but just desserts some are saying for not giving the League enough respect, focussing too much on winning silverware which is seemingly out of our reach anyway. The news that Didier Drogba is fit again for the final must be worrying for our defence which includes a David Murphy who is lacking match fitness, Stephen Carr carrying a hamstring strain, the dependable Roger Johnson who has been part of a leaky defence of late that has conceded thirteen goals in three matches, and Stuart Parnaby. Vignal will also be unavailable after his straight red against the Villa.

It’s mildly possible we could win the FA Cup I guess, but if we don’t, will we all just wish we’d lost to Portsmouth in the Quarter Finals, and played better in the league, acknowledging a top half league finish would make us a more attractive proposition for next season’s signings, and give us more money to buy them with, thanks to our league position prize money? I guess we’ll never know, but I suspect McLeish wouldn’t be under so much pressure if we’d maintained our home record since September and were sat more healthily in – say – ninth with the last two games to play for.

Keep Right on, and here’s to next season….

All fictional, of course, but it should put our FA Cup loss into perspective. It’s a tricky one to answer really, particularly as we’ve never won the FA Cup before. Would we accept relegation for an FA Cup triumph, as Portsmouth seem to have done? They’re even aiming for a double cup triumph for their troubles. As much as the silverware would be nice, I think establishing ourselves as a permanent Premiership team MUST take priority, especially as Premiership survival – in my mind – sets you up for better players and so more chance of winning the cup next season. As Portsmouth are discovering, an FA Cup win provides no such comforts for next season, though if they’d been a little more thorough administratively, perhaps they’d have had access to European football next season?

I think retrospect is an easy thing to use, but impossible to predict. Portsmouth fans on the eve of their FA Cup triumph would have bet their Premiership future on their potential success, but would now probably love to travel back in time and accept a runners-up medal, for Premiership survival, and – depending on the outcome of their administration, “fire sale” of players, and potential for being relegated to League One like Leeds United – the future of their club.

If we spend the next hundred years in the Premiership, surviving each year with no Cup success, perhaps this will rank as another ‘so near yet so far’ FA Cup moment on a par with semi-final failures in the past, but if we manage to win the Carling or FA Cup next season, or even qualify for Europe with the undoubtedly better players we’ve managed to attract thanks to our better league position, we may well be grateful that our Pompey defeat was a blessing in disguise.

As I type, Birmingham City have confirmed they’re being hit with Premier League charges of not being able to control their players, and further that individual players Stephen Carr and Roger Johnson are being reprimanded. In my opinion, this is dangerous territory. If Carr made ‘obscene gestures’ towards Villa fans, he should be warned, perhaps fined internally as club captain. Though how a gesture can be punishable when Eric Cantona went as far as gesturing with his football boots on someone’s face is rather odd. As for Roger Johnson, if players aren’t allowed to speak their minds, post-match interviews will become a tad one-dimensional. “So tell us, Roger, what did you think of the referee’s decision?” “He’s the referee, he made his decision”. Boring!
I think expecting players pumped full of adrenaline to think about ‘Public Relations’ is ludicrous! The manager, I think, is a different proposition, but players should be able to express themselves freely as individuals. The manager is the mouthpiece of the club, but if every person represents the club, and as such the Premier League, it would be safer not to say anything at all, and that’s what we’ll get. Players are being criticised for ‘hiding behind their headphones’. What’s playing? A mantra of “don’t speak, don’t answer questions, don’t admit you’d like to live nearer to Wrexham if you’re off to Blackburn…” Sigh.

As for the club controlling its players, I think penalty decisions not checked by video evidence will always have the potential for causing such scenes, particularly when the players have seen the decision is unjust, themselves. Why should they meekly roll their eyes and accept the flawed decision of one individual? Agbonlahor was hardly likely to admit he was taken down after he lost the ball was he? Mind you, he probably hasn’t got a clue what happened, he was a headless chicken for most of the match.

Martin O’Neill may not have (allegedly) sworn at the referee at the end of the match, but – in my most humble of opinions – he was a total liar when he said video replays suggested it was a definite penalty. To say it was difficult to call, and up to the referee or a bit harsh, but part of football life is an accurate reflection of the situation that arose, but to say he ‘knows the referee got it right’ is shocking lies. Which makes me conclude he had to have a reason to lie. Had we lost 5-0, that penalty wouldn’t have mattered a jot to him, and he’d have said it wasn’t a penalty, but the way his team of supposed European hunters played, he had to take the luck he was given. Admitting it was luck would have shown the world his expensively assembled squad couldn’t compete with our relatively cheaply assembled squad on their own turf. This would have created more dissatisfaction amongst his own fanbase, and lead to more fickle calls for his head. I used to rate his management, even as a Villa manager, but in the same way as Wenger has slipped in many eyes in recent times, O’Neill lost all respect in my eyes when he said he could tell from replays (that clearly show Roger Johnson tackle the ball before catching the player) that it was a definite penalty. The people quoting the letter of the law that the attacking player may have had a chance to pick the ball up again, and have a goalscoring opportunity are also forgetting the ‘footballing law’ that the referee must be 100% certain that a penalty should be awarded, before he does so. Had he consulted with his assistants, he may have been more able to say his assessment of the situation was accurate, but in his heart of hearts he must know he was acting on a hunch, affected by the home crowd, and the knowledge our complaints would go unheard, whilst Villa’s charge to Europe could have hung on his refusal to award a penalty that could (in all honesty) have later proven to be deserved, even though time told it was not.

I’m happy to let that result slide now. Villa fans have had their gloating chance. It’s just another game. Our loss to Villa was easier to take than losing 5-1 to Manchester City in my opinion, and that must reflect how far we’ve come as a club. Aston Villa will play no further part in our Premiership season. We can’t catch their points tally anyway, so it’s now us, Bolton and Hull that matter. I’d take six points from our next two games over one win against the Villa this season without a doubt. I think the FA should be examining the case for video evidence before they come down too heavily on Birmingham City for reacting like human beings in the face of adversity. Injustice spurs on all people, even Villa fans were moaning about their lack of ‘luck’ in penalty decisions. Their lack of complaint (comparable to Blues players) could simply be that they knew it didn’t change the ‘balance of power’ in the games, they would have lost regardless. Or perhaps it was proof (and this is my favourite theory) that Aston Villa players simply don’t care as much as their Birmingham counterparts.

On to next season. Whatever happens between now and season end, this season has been amazing. The Cup disappointment hurt at the time, but hopefully will be a blessing in disguise. I’m really excited at the prospect of our summer rebuild. Some people have queried our scouting of Bosman targets. I applaud it. Whilst I agree we shouldn’t rely on them totally, McLeish has proven he has a great eye for a bargain. Michel has been earmarked for next season, so it seems he may get his opportunity to shine this year. Jerome can only improve with the confidence of his ten (or more?) goals this season. Players out of contract will only be released if they’re surplus to requirements, so Larsson and McFadden’s critics will have to hold their tongues if they’re kept on. If they’re not, then it will be because we have better replacements. The likes of Carr and Bowyer should be given contract extensions next season, but then I thought the same of Lee Carsley last season, and we (sadly for him) haven’t needed him at all this season. As for Chucho, such an enigmatic character, I truly believe we should make a decent effort to keep him at Saint Andrews, but I’d support the Board in their efforts not to be ‘held to ransom’ by claims of a ‘bidding war’. We could concoct a story about twenty clubs chasing Marcus Bent, but any clever club would still only offer a fair price for him. If Chucho is too expensive, we should go for a cheaper option. It’s that simple. Sure he’s a known quantity, but what we do know, and McLeish and his backroom team’s analysis of him will let them know what he IS worth, and how far we’re willing to go to keep him on. The fact is, Sullivan and Gold would have named a maximum figure. Yeung seems to favour asking McLeish if he’s worth the asking price. Different approach which ultimately puts more faith in our manager, who is the one who has to make the week-in-week-out decisions anyway.

Dunford’s departure came as something of a shock, but in the light of what little evidence there is out there, it would be foolish to speculate on reasons. Enough to say it’s sad to see someone go who SEEMED to have the best interests of the club at heart. We do have to have faith in our Board though. When I wrote in this fanzine last year, it was a different Board, and the future was uncertain. Our future is a lot more certain this time around. We seem to be more secure, with better owners, a better squad, better spending power, better chance of attracting players, and a better chance of finally getting the silverware we’ve been avoiding for so long. Next year who knows what will happen? A Champions League spot would seem a huge ask, an FA Cup win – regardless of investment – would be statistically unlikely (ask Man City or United). It would be easy to say I’d accept Premiership survival again, but the fact is it’s human to want to improve again. A top eight finish would be phenomenal next year. It’s a long, long road; I only hope it’s paved with more joys than sorrows next season.

Keep Right On.

Russell Dempsey