View from the South- Birmingham City v Cardiff City

Here we are in August once again and the first game of the season is upon us. Like many people I am used to getting up early for work during the week and having been awakened by the need to empty the receptacle that is my bladder at a quarter to six there was no point in returning to bed since I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep and I’m not one for lying about under a duvet in any event, once conscious. I decided to have breakfast outside. The air was slightly damp but fresh and very pleasant as the sun was rising slowly behind a distant tree; giving dappled light across the garden. It would not be long before the dew on the grass and the table I was sitting at would be evaporated once the sunlight found the clear sky above the tree tops. There is no doubt in my mind that early mornings in summer especially, are the best part of the day. The peace and tranquility, punctuated by the cooing of the wood pigeons, and the early songs of the thrush, the blackbird and the wren; whilst the little robin who looks upon my back garden as his personal fiefdom to the exclusion of all others-  including those bigger than him – was on the lookout for an early meal.

The sun finally broke above the trees and bathed my position with warmth, if nothing else to remind me that time waits for no man, and so I decided to walk down to the local shop to pick up the newspaper and claim my lottery winnings (£2.50 was all – it was not 250K; wouldn’t that be nice? I might even be able to slip Gary Rowett a few extra quid for the new striker!) I have to confess that I wasn’t feeling quite so excited as normal for the season’s opener. Like many I’m concerned that we have failed to land a new goalscorer although there is a buzz about young Jack Storer. I haven’t personally seen the kid play so I’ll reserve judgement. I know he has scored seven goals in six games preseason but you have to take into account the strength of the opposition and it remains to be seen how he will fare against serious, battle hardened, Championship level defenders. More worrying, is the lack of a new left back/winger that is desperately required in my view. Apart from Robert Tesche, the side has a very similar look to it to the one that struggled to find wins in the final part of the campaign just ended. I have concluded that we shouldn’t expect too much unless one or two new faces come in that can make a difference before the window closes.

There are track engineering repairs going on along my usual route between Reading and Coventry with tedious delays that come with such things so I got Mrs Bazza to drop me off at Farnborough to reach my destination via Clapham Junction and Watford Junction instead. I met up with Chris and Little Jack at Coventry about 12.20 and before long we were in the ground enjoying our first pint of the new season. The Cookhouse has expanded its operations and if the food on offer was anything to go by, they will continue to do so. The beef rib, slow-roasted to perfection, served with sweet potato mash was superb and worth every penny of the £6.00 it cost and so much better than a rubber hot dog or gristly pie. This is something Blues have got right in recent times but please sort out the level of service; it is far too slow!

Anyway, on to the game. There was a fitting tribute to the late Alex Govan just before kick off in the form of our iconic anthem which he of course introduced in 1956. The visitors joined in the minute’s applause enthusiastically which was good to see. It wasn’t the worst game I’ve ever been to but it wasn’t great either. Cardiff were the better side certainly in the first half and for parts of the second. We looked very shaky defensively and the thing that worried me was the fact that apart from a couple of occasions, Blues lost every header for first, second and sometimes even third ball and we have the fact that Cardiff are pretty average themselves, to thank that we weren’t at least 2-0 down at half time. Tomasz Kusczcak had to be on his mettle to make two smart saves from distance. The problems started after a reasonably bright start from Blues as Cardiff started to win a series of free kicks for petty infringements. Matthew Connolly powered in a free header far too easily but fortunately Kusczcak was in good position to save. Anthony Pilkington then latched on to a poorly directed header from Shotton but his attempted chip over the keeper was gathered easily. Peter Whittingham stung Kusczcak’s hands with a fierce volley from the edge of the box that would have made for a cracking goal had it registered.

Blues did have their moments taking advantage of indecisiveness from the Cardiff back line to win the odd free kick or corner; one of which taken by Cotterill was headed powerfully towards goal by Grounds into a forest of legs where a scramble ensued. Fortunately, for the visitors, they managed to clear and were soon up the other end. Cotterill, for reasons only he will know, tried to control and play his way out from a position right on his own byline in the area. The left back robbed him and slid a perfect ball across the six yard box to Frederic Gounongbe who – standing two yards out right in the centre of the goal – contrived to blast the ball over the bar! This has to be a contender for miss of the season and we’ve barely begun! Blues were so lucky. I would contend that had he scored as he should have done, I doubt Blues would have got back into the game if the evidence of the rest of the match was anything to go by. Saying that, things did improve in the second half but even then, Cardiff came closest to scoring with a deflected long range shot from Lex Immers that crashed off the crossbar.

Blues played further up the pitch in the second period and in the last half hour took control of the game and could easily have won had Cotterill managed to keep his twenty yards side footer on target with a clear sight of goal in front of him. I felt this was Blues’ best opportunity about half way through the period. Jack Storer and Reece Brown were introduced on 70 minutes to huge cheers from the crowd and within seconds they had combined to furnish Storer with a smart swivel and shot that had David Marshall scrambling across to his far post only to see the effort go just wide. The young forward latched onto a cross from the byline, soon after which, Marshall saved smartly down to his left; it would have been quite a story! After this little flurry of about ten minutes or so, the game started to peter out on what was a warm, stamina sapping day and although Blues finished on the front foot they failed to find the breakthrough which in truth they didn’t do enough to attain. 0-0 was probably fair in the end but I have a feeling that Gary Rowett will be more satisfied with the point than his counterpart, Paul Trollope. Both these teams look to be mid table on this evidence.

The Good: The slow roasted rib beef jerky with sweet potato mash from The Cookhouse. Excellent boys, simply excellent! Meeting Tony (Swissblue) on the train back. Tony lives in Switzerland and flies in for most matches. I reckon I travel about a bit to follow the mighty Blues but Tony’s commitment deserves special recognition. Good to meet you chap!

The Bad: Our defending in the first half. Better teams than Cardiff will rip us a new one if we perform like this. Shotton particularly, but Morrison was also culpable, hardly won an aerial duel in the first half. The other defenders have to take their share of the responsibility in failing to win the second and even third balls either!

The Ugly: Not much in truth; it was a bright sunny day, a convivial atmosphere, good-natured in the main although uncouth gestures and mouthed obscenities at the end of the game from a small contingent of supporters from both sides is stuff that we can all do without.

Birmingham City: Tomasz Kusczcak 8, Jonathan Spector 6, Ryan Shotton 5, Michael Morrison 5, Jonathan Grounds 6, Stephen Gleeson 7, David Davis 6 (Robert Tesche 85, N/A), David Cotterill 6 (Reece Brown 70, 7), Diego Fabbrini 6 (Jack Storer 70, 7), Jacques Maghoma 7, Clayton Donaldson 7.

Subs not used: Adam Legzdins, Paul Robinson, Viv Soloman-Otabor, James Vaughan.

Yellow cards: David Davis.

Cardiff City: David Marshall 7, Lee Peltier 6, Bruno Ecuele Manga 7, Jazz Richards 7, Peter Whittingham 8, Joe Ralls 7, (Stuart O’Keefe 82, N/A), Frederic Gounongbe 6 (Kenneth Zohore 70, 6), Lex Immers 6, Declan John 6, Anthony Pilkington 6 (Craig Noone 82, N/A), Matthew Connolly 6.

Subs not used: Simon Moore, Sean Morrison, Aaron Gunnarsson, Semi Ajayi.

Yellow cards: None.

Referee: Tim Robinson 7: Solid game, few arguments to be had with any of the decisions. Didn’t notice him much which is usually a good sign.

Attendance: 19,833.

KRO, Bazza.

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1 Comment on View from the South- Birmingham City v Cardiff City

  1. Spot on Bazza, a very interesting and accurate report. A Blues team, which had hardly changed from last season, struggled to impose any kind of control on the game. We lack a midfield general and although Donaldson works hard up front, we cannot get people up, quick enough to support him. I find it hard to understand why we pull everyone back to defend a corner. When our keeper gathered the ball from a corner, he had to wait while our lone forward ,made his way upfield, which also gave their defence plenty of time to reorganise. The ownership situation, which has been poorly handled, has severly hampered our chance of improving the team and makes life difficult for Gary Rowett. We need at least three players in ( defence,midfield,striker ) to help improve the team and unfortunately this can only be done on a shoestring. I believe it will be a case of hanging on until the new year and then hope that money will be given to Rowett so that he can achieve his ambition.

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