2-0 down with Everton destroying us, the sleeves are rolled up and the battle commences. A deft Jerome flick pulls it back to 2-1 and early in the second half during sustained pressure – Gardner scores his first goal for the club and a beauty it was too.
I thought this was a really good game of football. At the end of the day, probably the right result although both sides had chances to win it. Actually to be fair to Everton, they could have been out of site if Hart hadn’t pulled off a number of very good saves.
We seemed to be asleep for the 1st 20 minutes, however made up for it in the 2nd half with some excellent approach play.
Barry Ferguson was superb today and my man of the match by a long way – despite Jerome being awarded it by some people.
This result should be seen as a positive, we came back from 2-0 down against a VERY good Everton side, and the fact we COULD have pinched it, shows the character we have in the side.
Well played Blues, actually well played both Blues. An entertaining game of football.
After the win in midweek at crisis club Portsmouth – we return to St Andrews to face an Everton side who appear to be improving week by week.
With key players like Arteta returning, Everton have gone on a decent run. Landon Donovan has been another player who has made a big impact. He is on loan from David Beckham’s previous USA club – LA Galaxy. Galaxy have insisted that his loan won’t be extended and so he is due to return to the States after our game. David Moyes has said he would like the player to stay, and there is a slight chance, as the American players are threatening strike action meaning Donovan could stay.
The Blues once again have pretty much a full strength side available with Parnaby and Phillips the only non long term injured to be doubtful.
On the forum we have been saying the last few games that Benitez needed to start, and there is no doubt that Jerome looks a better player alongside Chucho, so after our confident win in midweek, I’m hopeful that McLeish will start with the same forward line. Bowyer and Larsson are also available again.
This of course will be the 3rd time we have played the Blues from Liverpool this season. Earlier in the season we ran away giggling like school kids from Goodison Park, when we had one shot on goal and stole a point from Everton.
Our next visit however was more convincing. We knocked them out of the FA cup with a 1st half performance that was probably one of our best of the season.
As I have said, since then Everton have improved and are now only two points behind us. They have won 7 of their last 10 PL games. However, we have only lost 3 in our last 19 PL matches and are unbeaten in 10 home games.
I think it is fair to say that Everton are a stronger side, and will be confident after their thrashing of Hull last week, however I think this contest will be a tight one but I do think that Everton will shade it. I just think they have the momentum and although we have won the last two league games, we will be narrowly beaten by the other Blues.
Prediction Blues 1 v 2 Blues
Tags: Alex McLeish, Birmingham City, Blues, Cameron Jerome, Christian Benitez, david, Everton, Kev, Match, Players, Premier League
At the recent supporters clubs forum, it was announced that the club would be looking at the tannoy system during the Everton game.
Here are the instructions if you wish to give your feedback, (taken with permission from the official site):
PA SYSTEM – WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Over the last few months we have been receiving feedback from supporters that the PA System is not performing to its best ability.
Therefore at this Saturday’s game against Everton (kick-off 3pm) we have engineers on site to monitor the sound levels to ensure the best possible audio is received in all areas of the stadium. Sound levels vary from an empty stadium to a full stadium so we need your help at the game to rectify this issue.
If you have any feedback about the PA system in your area please approach your nearest steward who will complete a questionnaire on your behalf. You will be asked your block, row and seat number, so please have this to hand.
As you can imagine, after Saturday’s game – the forum was full of disappointment, pointed comments and suggestions of how we could have won.
Here is a hotch potch of those thoughts and some of my added comments.
I’m of the opinion that straight after the game is not the time to analyse, hence a 24 hour wait! Emotions run high and the taste of defeat is raw. So hopefully some of these thoughts are a bit more reasoned today.
The first thought begins like this.
I can’t remember being as gutted about a Blues result for a long, long time. More than the disappointment or anger of watching a linesman and referee make a human error, I’m bitter and twisted over the fact that at least three Portsmouth players saw that the ball had crossed the line and yet, did not speak up. I was angry with Keith Fahey last week when I believed that he cheated to gain us a win over Wigan.
But this week, I’m absolutely furious over the fact that David James – a man who is almost forty – could not find the strength inside to be honest with a referee and say that he had conceded. I know that these days, the game and winning is more important than honestly and integrity and as I watched, I felt myself falling out of love with the game just a little bit more. It’s not about people, honesty and emotion any longer. It’s about cheating, misdirection and who can do what to get the best over his opponent whilst baring following the spirit or rules of the game.
Just… meh, can’t remember being this bitterly disappointed for a long time and just wanted to express absolute anger at a player and a man who would, I hoped, have been a bit more honest.
I totally understood this point, but when you look at the replays it is understandable why it was missed. I don’t particularly blame James, it’s not his job to give the decisions.
HOWEVER I do agree that footballers SHOULD be able to say to the referee – no I didn’t touch the ball, yes it was hand ball, the ball was over the line. It SHOULD happen, but it won’t – yes I know it is fanciful, but at least some of the feelings of injustice would be removed for fans, after all that is the biggest barrier we have to climb! 
(Oh and before you get cross, read the 3rd point – but not before the 2nd point!)
The second point.
The country got the result it wanted so who are we to have a moan about it? Some of the coverage has literally made me feel sick to the stomach. At half time, Blues were great value, playing well, etc, etc. By full time, Portsmouth ‘fully deserved the win’ and their loan players ’showed that they cared as much as any Portsmouth fan does.’ Gah, the stuff you could lose your lunch to.
The club I love has been reduced to a footnote in the season of a club who has pulled the wool over the eyes of the footballing public and media with lies and deceit. They’ve financially mismanaged themselves and apparently, this makes them ‘deserve it’ and ‘earn that little bit of luck’. Why? Because they can’t manage and haven’t played very well this season?
Now I totally agree with this. I don’t have an axe to grind with Portsmouth fans, for them this must be a hideous situation – but action should have been taken by the FA or Premier League. We were relegated when Portsmouth’s administration, (excuse the pun), bought big and kept them up. Since then they won the FA cup – however have been racking up the debts. Any other business would not have continued, they just can’t support the large wages and relatively lower gates. The sums don’t add up.
In effect, they have taken advantage of other sides by playing players they couldn’t afford to pay which brings the whole Premier League and FA cup into disrepute. If the FA and / or the Premier League had stepped in earlier, this mess may well have been avoided.
Right, before you jump down my throat saying it is sour grapes, read the next point!
I felt we didn’t deserve to win, although we were never really stretched in the first half, in the second we needed to step up, and to do that we had to offer more in wide areas. Fahey was very poor and Larsson had an off day. I thought Chucho actually looked interesting wide on the left and I hope Gardner starts on the right next game. If we aren’t going for width, why not play 4-3-1-2 with McFadden behind a front two.
Totally agree. Although we were well in charge in the first half with possession and defence, we never really looked like scoring either. We didn’t come out of the changing room until 75 minutes were on the clock and it was too late by then. Portsmouth played well for 15-20 minutes and scored twice, as a result deserved to go through.
I really don’t understand why Chucho and Jerome didn’t start. I appreciate that Alex has tried to keep an unchanged side wherever possible, and that is a positive – however the performance against Wigan was lethargic and I think that Benitez would have bought some life up front. Fahey will become a very good player IMO, but he been poor for a few games now and should be rested.
So it is now all about whether we finish 7-14th, perhaps a little disappointing in that we aren’t playing for something – but at least we know we are going to be playing in the division again next year and with some new faces at the club – maybe we could do EVEN better!
We have another article from Sporting Intelligence. Originally posted here.
Read below:
Wenger an Easy Rider as Blues take Cup break from Premier League dramas
By Brian Sears 5 March 2010
If we define a nail-biting game as one in which the result could be changed with the last kick of the match, then they’re becoming rarer in the Premier League. Never before this season has the percentage of nail-biters been as low as this campaign.
In the first season of the Premier League, as many as 67.3 per cent of top-flight league games were nail biters, with just one goal at most separating the teams at the final whistle.
That rose to 68.2 per cent in 1993-94 and has settled at pretty much the mid-60s in percentage terms in every season since, with lows of 61.6 per cent in 2005-06 then 61.3 per cent on 2007-08. This season? Just 59 per cent of games have been nail-biters.
Arsenal are the least nail-biting team; just nine of their 28 games (or 32 per cent) would have seen a different result with a last-kick goal. Burnley have seen fewer nail-biters than most clubs (48 per cent), but whereas Arsenal’s games are not nail-biters because they normally win so easily, Burnley’s aren’t nail-biters because they lose so heavily.
That’s why today’s match between Arsenal and Burnley at The Emirates is as unlikely to be a nail-biter as any game we’ve seen so far this season, statistically speaking. Arsene Wenger should be one easy rider this afternoon, watching his men speed past the clarets from Lancashire.
At the other end of the nail-biting spectrum, Birmingham really know how to put their fans through the mill: 24 of their 27 league games this season have been nail-biters, or 89 per cent, a whopping percentage that makes them by far the most nerve-racking side to follow.
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Thankfully their fans get a break from the league nerves this weekend as Birmingham play at Portsmouth in the FA Cup (see ‘Omens’ below). The pair last met in the FA Cup in 1977, and Brum won, 1-0. Personally, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Reading v Aston Villa on Sunday. If Villa win, as they did the last time these sides met in the Cup, then it’s ‘Hurt Locker’ for Best Picture at the Oscars, we say.
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