Portsmouth v Birmingham City – FA Cup preview
Team News
Blues have a doubt over James McFadden who missed the midweek Scotland game through injury. However this could just be one of those injuries that appears for international friendlies and then disappears just as quickly.
For Portsmouth ex-Blue Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and Jamie O’Hara are doubtful and Anthony Vanden Borre is deinitely out.
Last Meeting
The sides last met in August where a David James aberration allowed James McFadden to hand Blues victory from the penalty spot.
Recent Form
Blues league form has dipped of late with only twos win in six. In between that we have had good results in the cup despite being drawn away every time.
Portsmouth had a good win away at Burnley last week which followed shortly after their excellent cup victory over local rivals Southampton. They have not won at home since the fourth round of the cup and have only done so four times all season.
Outlook
So it’s almost upon us. The biggest game of the season so far with a place at Wembley up for grabs and only doomed Portsmouth in our way. Should be easy then. Well no. When the draw was made a lot of people were happy because despite being drawn away again we would play against a team that might not even be in existence come the match. As it is Portsmouth are not only still around, they have a new lease of life and will be focusing solely on the cup. After all the income from a Wembley semi-final will pay off a few of their debts.
To be honest I’m not too optimistic for this one but then I also said that about the Everton game in the fourth round. I don’t think it would be a bad result for it to be a draw and it to go to a replay at St Andrews. I’d fancy us to win that. One thing’s for certain it can’t go as bad as our last FA Cup quarter final in 2006! It’s definitely going to be a nervy affair and I can imagine the home crowd will put aside their off field worries for the day and really get behind the team. As I’m sure our lucky 3000 will as well. If McFadden can’t make it then I hope Benitez gets a run out as while he doesn’t score many he always creates problems for defenses.
If you were lucky enough to get a ticket enjoy the game and make plenty of noise. The rest of us will be watching on the telly, possibly from behind the sofa.
My prediction 1-1. Blues to win the replay.
Derby County vs Birmingham City Preview
Team News
So after so many games unchanged the team was finally changed on Wednesday and we lost. Christian Benitez is back in the squad and there may be recalls for McFadden and Larsson.
Derby are likely to be unchanged from the side that beat Newcastle in midweek.
Last Meeting
Our last meeting was just over a year ago and ended 1-0 to Blues with a goal by Lee Carsley. The last meeting at Pride Park ended 1-1 with Blues conceding an 87th minute equaliser which cancelled out Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Remember him) first half goal.
Recent Form
Blues form had dipped from the high standards of November and December but we still have only lost two of the last ten.
Unfortunately Derby have just started to find a bit of form and have only lost one of their last seven games. In their last two home league games they have beaten Notts Forest and Newcastle so seem to have developed a taste for knocking down high flying teams.
Outlook
Right I’m going to start by saying that I’m not going to mention a certain midfielder who used to play for us as he doesn’t deserve the attention.
This will be Blues first fifth round tie since 2006 when we made it as far as the quarter finals before being walloped 7-0 by Liverpool. When the draw was made a lot of us were saying that this was not a difficult draw because of Derby’s poor form in the Championship but typically they seem to have stepped things up since then. This will be a tricky tie and I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes to a replay. As always with the cup it will depend how high up the priority list it is but I would expect both sides to go all out to win this one.
I can sense a bit of cup fever creeping in especially as a lot of big teams are already out. A win today and a good draw in the next round could see us in the semi-finals for the first time in over thirty years. However I am in the one game at a time camp and we shouldn’t get carried away. Having Benitez back will help as while he does not score enough goals he does cause problems that creates space for others. If he’s only fit enough for the bench then I would play McFadden up front alongside Jerome. Maybe Barry Ferguson can keep up his record of scoring in every round.
I still think it will be difficult and we may have to rely on winning a replay to get through. My prediction 1-1.
I couldn’t get a ticket as they would only sell them at the ground which was a problem for me as I was in my office in London on the day they went on general sale. So anyone who is going can they boo Robbie Savage for me..Damn mentioned him!
Everton vs Birmingham City FA Cup – Preview
Team News
With our game at Portsmouth being called off and the squad having enjoyed a nice trip to Malta I would expect the side to be the same as the Man Utd game. New signing Michel will probably start on the bench.
Everton do not have any new injury worries so will probably play a similar side that played in their great result against Man City last Saturday.
Last Meeting
Our last meeting was just before Christmas when Blues somehow managed to come away with a 1-1 draw despite being played off the park for most of the game. Seb Larsson equalised Bilyaletdinov’s early goal.
Our last meeting in the FA Cup was in 2000 and ended 2-0 to Everton.
Recent Form
Both Blues and Everton are in good form at the moment. We are of course on a record unbeaten run stretching back to October 17th and if you ignore a Europa cup match where they fielded a weakened team Everton are unbeaten since November 29th.
Something has to give.
Outlook
When the draw was made I was not happy. This was one of the worst draws we could have got which is a big disappointment as I thought we had a good chance of a decent cup run this year. With the club safe from relegation (I think I can safely say that now) there was no reason not to have a real go in the cup, especially with Man United and Liverpool already out. I fear though this year’s chance may well end tomorrow.
Everton have recently hit good form and have got some players back from injury and like us will be looking to do well in the cup this year. They are of course last year’s beaten finalists and have a good pedigree having last won it in 1995. On the positive side Blues have had a chance to recharge their batteries with the Portsmouth postponement and the trip to Malta. I’ve thought that some of the recent performances have been looking a little tired.
The FA Cup is perhaps not the great competition it once was but I’d personally trade a few places in the league for a Wembley appearances. Here’s hoping that the boys prove me wrong and get a surprise victory tomorrow or at least force a replay. Then maybe we can get a kinder draw in the fifth round.
My prediction, head ruling heart. 2-0 to Everton.
Birmingham City vs Manchester United – Preview
Team News
Blues lost Stuart Parnaby and Lee Carsley in the cup game last week but as neither were first teamers in the league I would expect the team to be the same as for our previous few league games.
Man United will be without Nemanja Vidic so will have a centre back pairing of Wes Brown and Jonny Evans.
Previous Meeting
This season’s reverse fixture took place on opening day where Man Utd won 1-0 with a goal from Wayne Rooney. The last game at St Andrews took place in September 2007 and also finished 1-0 to United. The first half of this game was one of the best Blues’ performances I have ever seen and only great goalkeeping by Edwin Van Der Sar and then Tomasz Kuszczak kept us out. United’s goal came very much against the run of play and was as a result of a mistake by Franck Quedrue that let Cristiano Ronaldo in. That night we learnt just how unforgiving the Premiership can be.
Recent Form
Blues are now second in the form league and are unbeaten in twelve games. We have not lost at St Andrews since September. Man United have won their last two in the league but are coming off the back of an embarrassing home defeat to League One Leeds United in the FA Cup.
Outlook
At the time of writing this is one of only two Premiership games today to survive the big freeze. The club are very confident it will go ahead and this is due to the great work put in by the club staff and a small army of volunteers who helped clear the surrounding area. It’s still going to be very cold (Minus 3 Celsius) so if you’re going wrap up warm and take care getting to the ground. For once I won’t mind having to squeeze in between a couple of fat blokes as at least it will keep me warm.
Usually writing a preview for a game against Man United would be about hoping to avoid a hammering but there are more reasons for optimism at the moment. By their own standards their form of late has not been great and last week’s cup defeat was probably their worst performance of the season. Our form on the other hand is the best it’s ever been in the Premier league and if we can hold off Chelsea then surely we have to fancy our chances of getting at least a point at United. On the negative side we can expect a reaction to the cup defeat and also Alex Mcleish has just been given the manager of the month award which often leads to defeat in the following game.
The key will be to attack their newly formed defensive pair of Brown and Evans who will not have played together that often. Set pieces will also be crucial both attacking and defending. Of course we need to continue to keep it tight at the back as I can imagine Wayne Rooney is going to be fired up for this one. One area of concern is their right hand side where I can see Valencia getting some joy against Ridgewell as I don’t expect he well get a lot of defensive help from McFadden. I think a draw will be a good result and most Bluenoses will go home happy with that.
As I’m always wrong I’m going to predict 2-0 to United.
Transfer rumour round up
Well we have all this money now but do we need to spend it? The team is unbeaten after twelve games and our manager hasn’t felt the need to change the team much during that run. It’s possible that a sudden influx of new players could unsettle the team so most fans would agree that only two or three quality additions would be needed to boost the squad and cover for injuries. The question is who can we get.
The most prominent story in recent days has been that Liverpool have turned down a nine million pound bid from us for Ryan Babel. It seems strange to me that they would turn down such an offer as Babel is only an occasional first teamer for Liverpool but to be honest a lot of Benitez’s decisions baffle me. I’m not too bothered that they have turned it down though as it’s a lot of our budget for someone who is talented but inconsistent. The other option talked about is Aiden McGeady of Celtic but there are conflicting stories about his availability. Some reports say that Celtic have asked for ten million while others say that he is not for sale. Either way it doesn’t look like he will be coming to us.
In the ”More Likely” column is another bid for Sporting Gijon’s Michel who in some reports has already had a medical. This was a player we were close to signing in the summer so hopefully the small print can be sorted out this time. Craig Gardner of Villa was also talked about in the summer and the rumours have started again as they have for Kris Boyd of Rangers. Gardner has not featured for Villa much this season and Boyd is close to the end of his contract so they are both more likely to happen now if they are players McLeish really wants. It’s interesting that despite us having a new board and a much bigger budget we are still being linked with the same players as in August.
Other stories doing the rounds are a bid for Wigan’s Charles N’Zogbia. McLeish is obviously looking for wide players. It doesn’t look like Wigan really want to sell though. The Ruud Van Nistelrooy rumour has come round again but I can’t see that even the chance of first team football will make him want to swap sunny Madrid for freezing Birmingham. Kevin Kuranyi looks unlikely to come now as well so at the moment there is no sign of the new striker that we all said was a priority. Early days though.
The one deal that we would all like to happen, the permanent signing of Joe Hart won’t go through but there is a chance that we could extend the loan for another year like we did with Mikael Forssell.
Still twenty six days to go so I expect there will be many more rumours, good and bad, to come and maybe we”ll actually sign someone before deadline day.
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