VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – PORTSMOUTH v BIRMINGHAM CITY
Filed under: Blues News, Match reports, Matches, Players, Reports By Bazza
I had to re-type this, the tear stains on the original prevented me from copying it straight over. 
Over to Bazza:
I have found it very difficult even the day after to find the heart and energy to write my report on this game such is the sense of disappointment that I am sure is shared by every Blues fan this morning. Fratton Park is a simple train journey for me even though it still takes an hour and a half. Having arrived at Fratton station and walked to the ground I met ‘Sandwich’ Bill and Alan in the disabled car park who had travelled down from Birmingham after an early start. We must thank the football authorities at this point for putting our game on early despite the length of journey for the away side and their fans when the Fulham-Spurs tie would have been better suited; reminds me of the time when we reached a semi-final against Leeds and the match was played on a ‘neutral’ ground at Hillsborough!
Anyway, moving on Alan and Bill are some of the most long suffering noses I know and I have seen them many times before at away games. Alan, as he usually is, was smoking a fag in the back of the car and as he flicked the ash the slight breeze kept taking it onto Bill’s lap sitting in the front passenger seat with the door open. “Hey!” Bill kept saying flicking the ash off himself “watch what yow’er doin!”
After about the sixth time of asking Bill stood up protesting still but onto the deaf ears of Alan who simply lit up another having seconds before put the last one out. Both these boys are professionals when it comes to smoking which they continued to do whilst we reminisced about previous games against Pompey. “At least they got a roof on the away stand nowadays,” lamented Bill. We had all been at the game about 12 years ago when it rained incessantly and we all got soaked through to the skin. Four cigarettes later (Alan won the gold medal for smoking in the Olympics in 1964 
) it was time to walk round the other side of the ground to our seats. Pompey may have invested in a roof for the old open stand and over-invested in players they couldn’t afford but the investment stopped short at the toilets which remain pretty basic and have been so all the time I’ve been going to Fratton Park. As they say in these parts avoid the heads unless you’ve got to.
Well I’ve put off talking about the game for long enough so here goes; I thought Portsmouth would fly at us and we would have a torrid first twenty minutes. Apart from a weak shot from Belhadj in the first minute they offered very little and in fact Blues were the better side in the first half controlling the midfield in a calm composed manner but offering little threat. Jerome had a snap shot following good set up work from McFadden and Bowyer which was well saved by David James.
McCleish had started with the same formation as for the Fulham and Wigan games which surprised me as it hadn’t really worked at Fulham when the opposition scored our only goal and against Wigan we only won because we were given a dodgy penalty. Despite this I believe that with a half decent striker we would have gone into the break 2 – 0 to the good. As it was it was 0 – 0 and although we hadn’t made our overall dominance count there was little to complain about. I felt we were more than a match for anything they had to offer and would snatch the necessary winner at some stage purely by the law of averages.
Those hopes were dashed in three second half minutes when a lucky deflection led to a toe poked effort towards Hart who having appeared to grasp it, had it kicked out of his hands by Scott Dann challenging for the ball simultaneously. The ball flicked up off Hart’s leg to present Piquionne with a tap in from inches out that my arthritic granny could have scored to give Portsmouth the lead against the run of play and on the basis of their performance so far, one they scarcely deserved.
However, how typical this is of Blues. Failing to score when you are on top has cost and will continue to cost them which make their position in the Premier League all the more remarkable having scored only 26 goals all season. Blues were shaken and found themselves two down before they had cleared their heads. Piquionne twisted Roger Johnson inside out when the defender got isolated and a fine cross shot was buried into the bottom corner; oh for a striker of this quality! On came Kevin Phillips and Chucho for Fahey and McFadden and latterly Gardner for Larsson, a change that was made at least 45 minutes too late in my view, in an attempt to salvage the tie.
Ten minutes from the end a corner from Larsson was powerfully headed down towards the bottom corner by Roger Johnson only to be brilliantly saved by James. The rebound was headed in by Ridgewell at the far post but despite the ball being clearly over the line the assistant referee failed in his duty of actually watching what was going on and allowed James to claw the ball back from a foot behind the post. Television evidence shows clearly that the goal should have been awarded; it wasn’t and with that decision went Birmingham’s last chance of Wembley glory.
I rang Will after the game on the train home to get his take on the game from the television perspective. He made several valid observations that the formation meant the team was unbalanced as McFadden is not a centre-forward and Fahey is not a winger. Double Agent Ridgewell was our best player and provided the only width which says it all and I agree wholeheartedly. Larsson was truly dreadful both in the persistent way he kept turning in field instead of staying out wide and as for his set piece deliveries, enough said. Jerome was shocking in thought and movement and gave one of the worst performances I have seen from him. He normally at least works hard despite having the touch of a rapist and other shortcomings but this was a lacklustre performance and we saw little of his much lauded pace. Benitez when he came on showed nice touches but it was too late by then. Phillips and Gardner were introduced too late to have any impact. McFadden held onto the ball too long when well placed and the final ball from midfield generally especially to the players in wide positions was too often badly weighted or misdirected.
Portsmouth didn’t win this game; Birmingham lost it. They have themselves and themselves only to blame. This is such a shame given the season we have all enjoyed to date. One of the highlights was the win at Everton and although I wasn’t present for that one our first half performance was outstanding by all accounts. That day we went with McFadden and Chucho up front together. This may be an option to consider next week if McCleish is going to insist on playing McFadden as a centre-forward. Jerome was so poor it may be time to rest him. The same goes for Larsson; Gardner must be given his chance although he is better suited to a more central role and I really want to see Michel get some game time.
The needs of the squad were brutally exposed if further evidence was needed; two decent strikers and fast specialist wide players. Then and only then we may start offering a threat and win these big games when they present themselves. It has been 54 years since Birmingham last contested a FA Cup Final; it’s 55 now!
KRO SOTV
McLeish Left Craven for a Win in the Capital
Filed under: Articles by Dale Moon, Blues News, Match reports, Matches
Here is Dale’s take on yesterday.
——————————————————————————-
As the heat is turned up at the business end of the championship, many of the premier league hopefuls should take note of the fine margins between victory and defeat that make the country’s top division such an unforgiving place. A trip to Craven Cottage was always going to be a tough ask for a blues side that haven’t recorded a point away at any of the London teams this year. Fulham were in form and off the back of an impressive win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League. The game was a real battle and to many pundits surprise, somewhat more entertaining than predicted.
And when after 3 minutes Chris Baird planted a textbook header past the helpless Mark Schwartzer and into his own net, Blues had something to hold onto and as we have seen throughout the season, they certainly have the capacity to have done so. Fulham huffed and puffed and pulled off a point blank save from Joe Hart after Simon Davies crept in behind the blues backline. Bobby Zamora looked threatening throughout and had transformed into what looked like a player full of confidence and ability overnight. It was not so long ago that the banks of the river Thames were mocking the striker who seems to have proved his critics wrong. That said, Danns and Johnson dealt with most things fairly well and confined Fulham to a few half chances from Davies and Zamora. Having got to half time with a slender lead, McLeish would have been encouraged by his team’s performances, resolute rather than remarkable.
Then on the hour mark Damien Duff rolled back the years to produce a goal out of nothing. He received the ball just inside the blues half in a wide right position and after going on a mazy run he cut inside onto his favoured left foot and unleashed a precise strike off the inside of the post and into the back of the net. Being critical you could have questioned whether any of the line of players Duff seemed to evade should have took responsibility and make a challenge rather than pass him on to the next man but take nothing away from the finish from the ex-Chelsea winger. Blues to their credit rallied and if it was not for the slightest of touches off Mark Scwartzer, McFadden’s 25 yard rocket would have put blues ahead for a second time in the game. Instead, the underside of the bar diverted the ball onto the line and spun out. The game opened up and as you would expect from the home team Fulham pushed for the winner.
90 Minutes were on the clock and the ball had bounced on the edge of the box when the usually Mr. Reliable Stephen Carr came rushing across and body checked Zoltan Gera. It was one of those moments you see coming but couldn’t stop as the right back committed to the challenge and gave away a dangerous free kick on the edge of the box. To me, it was obvious that the free kick was too close to the goal for the Beckham-esque curler over the wall and so Joe Hart should have occupied his side knowing there was a real possibility that the free kick taker would strike the ball that side of the goal. Bobby Zamora stepped up and crashed a shot that Hart could only get fingertips to as it nestled in the top corner of the blues goal. And with that the game was over. Questions over Joe Hart’s positioning but again a great strike after a silly free kick from a Blues perspective.
On Reflection, a point would have been a fairer result and Blues played their part in a highly contested game. But yet again we come away from the capital with no points and add Fulham to the list of West Ham, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea for away losses. Lessons to be learnt? Well nobody can deny Duff’s strike but Stephen Carr’s rush of blood to the head cost us dearly, the wise Irishman will know himself that on another day would have used his experience to see out the game. Blues now welcome Wigan to St.Andrews and will look to take all 3 points from the strugglers but Blues being the Blues I know, never make it that simple.
Dale Moon
VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – DERBY COUNTY vs BIRMINGHAM CITY
Like many supporters of the Royal Blue the expectations of a positive result from this encounter were high in my mind but that did not hide the nagging doubts that any away tie in the FA Cup brings regardless of the opposition. We had of course negotiated tricky ties against Forest following a replay and the Daddy of them all Everton whom I have to say I did not expect to get past at Goodison. After all that we couldn’t fail at Pride Park could we?
The 147 miles from home to a potholed muddy car park near the ground went without hitch. I travelled up alone for this one since Will had failed to get his act in gear in time to get a ticket before they were sold out. I rang him having just enjoyed a truly delicious hot roast pork bap with sage and onion stuffing; yes proper meat! I had a pint in my hand and was among the faithful throng and said to Will that I could not believe that he was not with us instead of being at home romancing his wife. “She wo’ appreciate it Will” I said “Sod off Baz” came the rather disgruntled reply. I promised to keep him posted although he was going to be sitting by the radio all afternoon; logic eh? He may as well as come to the game if he was going to ignore his missus anyway! 
Blues were back to the eleven that have served us so well over the last four or so months and for the first twenty–five minutes appeared to control the game well although there were no clear chances for either side. The poor weather had clearly taken its toll on the Derby pitch and the surface was in poorer condition than the one we have got used to at St Andrews. This made it difficult for the Blues to get their passing game together and may explain the greater use of the longer ball into channels and onto the pacy Jerome. Derby did play a high line encouraging this ploy presumably to squeeze the midfield and stifle Bowyer and Fergusson. These tactics started to pay off in the last 15 minutes of the half when Blues got sloppy and began to give the ball away cheaply. Derby were working very hard and gave us all a reminder of what it is like to play Championship football week in week out with an industrious, in your face, attritional performance which began to pay off with threatening crosses into the Birmingham box. The game plan appeared simple to get it wide, get it in and fight for the scraps.
It took half an hour for the first chance on goal when Bowyer getting his head down and going for goal from well outside the area. The shot lacked the power to trouble Bywater but the keeper needed to be mindful of the bumpy pitch which could have taken the shot in. This effort seemed to act as a catalyst for further chances as they came and went in a flurry. Christian Benitez connected with a weak header that was gathered easily and by far the best chance of the half fell to Jerome when his strike partner put him clean through for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. His side-footed effort was well saved round the post for a corner but Jerome should have scored. This was for me a defining moment in the game because I believe that if this goes in Blues go on to win this match comfortably instead of the heart stopping event it became.
Derby buoyed by their fortunate escape grew in confidence aided by sloppy play from Blues to create one or two chances of their own just before the break. Stephen Pearson drilled a fierce shot into the chest of Hart standing at his near upright in the first half after a neat exchange of passes with Michael Tonge and then Shaun Barker was denied by an exceptional point blank save from the keeper that was cleared finally by Dann. Blues were lucky to get away with this and shouts of ‘wake up’ could be heard among the large contingent of away fans.
Like many, I had hoped that McCleish would get Blues refocused following what had been a careless, complacent and sloppy 15 minutes that a better team than Derby would undoubtedly have exploited. Unfortunately, the stuporous torpor continued and Blues allowed Derby too much play. Derby are what they are; a below average Championship side but they were working their socks off and were first to every ball at this stage and deservedly took the lead on 55 minutes. From a remarkably similar position to Bowyer in the first half, McEveley hit a highly speculative shot from over thirty yards across Hart who appeared to have it covered. He seemed to go down too early so when the ball kicked up wickedly off the pitch (I’ve seen ploughed fields flatter that this) over him into the roof of the net. Alex McCleish said in one of his interviews after the game that it looked like we were going out of the Cup and for the 18 minutes that followed the goal so did I. Derby’s tails were up now and they continued to harass our midfield. Changes were needed and they duly came on 65 minutes when the disappointing Benitez was replaced by Kevin Phillips and Fahey came on for the ineffective Larsson who had not had one of his better games. This seemed to wake Blues up and Derby started to defend deeper. However, we were not really threatening Derby’s rugged defence but corners and free kicks were stating to happen more. On 73 minutes there was salvation. McFadden’s in-swinging corner was won by Scott Dann whose powerful downward header squeezed in at the foot of the post despite the presence of a defender on the line. The 5,500 Blues fans erupted the previously taunting home fans silenced. The game was opening up now and both sides went full bloodedly for the win. Derby were now under the greater pressure as fatigue began to get the better of their valiant midfield still led by the classy Robbie Savage who, whatever we all may think of him, is a cut above anything else Derby currently have in their side.
Big Eck made the last of his substitutions on 82 minutes when McFadden got the hook for the oncoming Craig Gardner. This was to prove decisive. In time added on, a free kick given away by a tiring Derby defender was lined up by Gardner. He fired it in but I’m unconvinced he caught it as cleanly as he would have liked. The ball nevertheless came fast at Phillips standing round the penalty spot. The little fox in the box controlled it swivelled and sent a shot off in the direction of the goal in one flowing, instinctive movement only for the ball to thump against the foot of the post. What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion. The ball ricocheted across the goal spinning as it did so but agonisingly slowly. Unhindered the ball would undoubtedly have crossed the line to complete a truly brilliant strike but with two defenders nearby it would probably have been cleared. Liam Ridgewell who seems to be making a habit of being on the far post when needed lunged at the ball and from two inches crashed the ball into the net for the winner. The roar from the Blues fans was tangible and the fat bloke next to me hugged me like a long lost cousin; a dramatic end to a full blooded, no quarter given cup tie. There was still time for Joe Hart to redeem himself from his misjudgement earlier. Robbie Savage, of all people, cracked a wonderful thirty yards volley which dipped viciously and was destined for the top corner before Hart dived acrobatically to get both hand to the ball to send it over the bar to safety. It only remained for Phillips, Jerome and Gardner between them to play keep ball in the corner for the win. Another tricky tie negotiated for Blues. Derby will feel they deserved a replay and I have much sympathy with that view. They will claim that they had periods in the game when they were the better side but this is illusory. Savage, Tongue and Commons were excellent for Derby with our old player being the pick. However, despite their hard work and laudable unsettling of their Premiership opponents, they were never really good enough to hold on once they had got ahead. They were undone by the fact that they failed to defend two set pieces properly and that will cost you whatever level you are playing at.
Derby: Bywater 7; Hunt 7, Barker 7, Buxton 7, McEveley 8; Tonge 8, Green 6, Savage 9, Pearson 7; Hulse 6, Commons 8
Birmingham: Hart 6; Carr 7, Johnson 7, Dann 9, Ridgewell 8; Larsson 6 (Fahey 64 7), Ferguson 8, Bowyer 7, McFadden 6 (Gardner 82 6); Jerome 6, Benítez 6 (Phillips 65 
Referee: Martin Atkinson 7
Attendance: 21,843 (amazed that for a local derby with a quarter-final place at stake that Pride Park wasn’t packed. We did our bit though! )
Man of the Match: Robbie Savage worked tirelessly all afternoon and is still a stand out player despite the ravages of time. I enjoyed the incident when he inadvertently kicked the ball into the nether regions of the assistant referee in the first half. He behaved impeccably despite enormous provocation from the Blue Army and he only reacted once when he gestured towards us by rubbing his fingers together in response to “there’s only one greedy bastard!”
KRO SOTV
Derby County 1 Blues 2 – Brief post match thoughts
Who needs strikers, let’s just play our defenders up front!
This wasn’t a great game until Derby scored and Blues woke up but after our equaliser we were the only side looking to win it. Joe Hart had an awkward bounce but should have done better for their goal. He made up for it with a brilliant save at the end from Savage’s shot. How annoying would it have been if he had equalised?
I must admit that I didn’t think we were going to score before that corner but after that it was all Blues. The substitutions made a difference and although the free kick was mis-hit Phillips’ awareness and quick feet made the goal. It may have been going in anyway but Ridgewell needed to make sure.
It’s great to be in the draw tomorrow, hopefully we can finally get a home draw. Portsmouth or West Brom / Reading would be nice.
What a great season we are having.
VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – WEST HAM UNITED vs BIRMINGHAM CITY
Filed under: Blues News, Match reports, Matches, Reports By Bazza
On a bitterly cold night at Upton Park, David Gold got his wish for his new team to triumph over his old employees but the result can hardly be described as a “whack.” Much has been said by the two Davids in the days leading up to this one. We are of course all well versed in the playground antics of our former owners but now that they have moved on to a ‘bigger’ club their musings have been brought to higher national attention; after all, West Ham are a club that registers on the wider media Richter scale than the ‘little’ team from Small Heath in the nation’s second city.
They fielded an attacking line up with Mido and the returning Carlton Cole up front aided and abetted by Scott Parker and Diamanti. Blues made some changes with Phillips, Fahey and Gardner coming into the starting line up making a diversion from the side that had done so well for us over the last three months. Blues settled into the game after an initial opening flurry from the hosts and Cameron Jerome had a chance following a nice move but placed his shot wide from eight yards. This was to prove costly. Phillips had a searing 25 yarder tipped over by Green; Diamanti tested Hart with a fierce shot from wide and Scott Dann made a brilliant block from Cole’s fierce shot on 32 minutes which probably represented their best chance of the half. The contest was fairly even with Blues in control for the most part after the early exchanges and the board had been put up for a minute of time added on when Scott Parker’s pacy scurrying run at the heart of our defence was brought to an abrupt end by Dann’s outstretched leg. This resulted in a free kick 25 yards out and a yellow card for Dann. I had a premonition as Diamanti lined up the kick. I remember he came very close with a similar effort at St Andrews in our meeting with the Hammers there and we were fortunate to escape as the ball took paint off the crossbar. This time however, we were not so lucky and the Italian’s beautiful curling strike flashed past the despairing Hart into the top corner for a lead West Ham didn’t deserve on the balance of play but it was a goal to grace any match and would have beaten any keeper in the land. It was to be the last kick of the half.
The second half presented very few chances for either side and West Ham were resolute and more solid in defence than they had been in the first and were clearly in no mood to allow their opportune lead to be nullified by their in-form opponents. Blues played some nice stuff in midfield with Fergusson imperious again and Gardner making frequent pacy runs down the right making the letter our best player by far on the night. However, Blues could not find the killer ball or opening to trouble the Hammers defence. Michel came on for the tiring Bowyer and on 67 minutes McFadden came on for Fahey in a clear attempt to freshen the impetus in search of the equaliser. Just as the first half free kick had been the telling moment of the first period, this innocuous replacement was to be the turning point of the second. McFadden had barely stepped onto the pitch when Ridgewell found himself facing two West Ham attackers on the overlap one of whom was Faubert who found himself at the by-line. McFadden, not yet in tune with the game, realised the danger too late to help his colleague and the result was a clipped cross from Faubert to the stooping Carlton Cole who cleverly got across Johnson to head into the bottom corner; 2 – 0 and game over. This was a pity for I am sure that five minutes later and the goal doesn’t get scored because the cross doesn’t come in because the cover would have been there; a very nice finish nevertheless. West Ham held on comfortably after that and a couple of half chances which fell to Phillips were snuffed out by the uncompromising defenders. Upson clearly handled at one point but it was one of those nights when nothing ran for us and decisions like that were never going to go the way of the boys in blue.
Blues did not play badly but were undone by two key moments especially the free kick in the first half. I think it would have been a different outcome had the score been 0 – 0 at half time as it should have been. A couple of West Ham fans told me after the game that Birmingham should have been 2 – 0 to the good before Diamanti scored. It would appear that our chances were better than they looked to me from the poor viewing position I had for the princely sum of £35 last night. Unfortunately, we missed the opportunities we created and they took two of the three they carved out during the game; the other was the block by Dann of Cole’s shot. That was the difference between the sides in what was a decent game and on that basis West Ham deserved their three points. Well done Hammers, Bravissimo Zola even if your Chairman thinks you are paid too much!
On the way back to Upton Park station with Will and his brother Chris who had travelled down from the Midlands to join us, Will asked; “Hey Baz, ‘ow do yow know if yow’ve got frost bite in yower feet?” I said “when yow take yower socks off, if yower toes come with them yow’ve got frost bite!” It was freezing cold in the stands and icy underfoot; probably as chilly as the relations between the respective boardrooms? A man walked past us in the queue with his two little girls who were wearing our colours and was overhead to say “Ah well sweetheart you can’t win every game you know.” Indeed you can’t and that is one of life’s lessons and so is the fact that there is always the next game (unless you’re a Portsmouth fan possibly. ) Derby in the Cup; let’s not have a repeat of this disappointment there please Blues. West Ham are a decent side with good players and no disrespect to Derby County but such quality is not clearly visible in their squad. The Blue Army expects!
KRO SOTV
-
Partners
-
Polls
Loading ...
-
Recent Posts
- VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – PORTSMOUTH vs BIRMINGHAM CITY (REFRAIN)
- St Andrews Tannoy Sytem – Give Your Feedback
- Post Portsmouth Musings!
- Who’s going to be the top marksman?
- VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – PORTSMOUTH v BIRMINGHAM CITY
- Nail Biting Blues!
- Portsmouth v Birmingham City – FA Cup preview
- As the Blues Announce a Loss – We Ask, is it Bad News?
- 2nd Supporters Clubs and Blues Websites Meeting
- Gil Merrick Memories
-
Other Stuff
