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| St. Andrew's |
Friday 14th September 2018
SkyBet EFL Championship
Birmingham City (1) 1
Jota 27
Jota 27
West Bromwich Albion (1) 1
Matt Phillips 39
Matt Phillips 39
Attendance: 22, 715 (inc. 2,984 WBA fans)
Birmingham City:
Lee Camp, Kristian Pedersen, Michael Morrison (C). Harlee Dean, Maxime Colin, Gary Gardner, Maikel Kieftenbeld, Jota, Jacques Maghoma, Lukas Jutkiewicz (Viv Solomon-Otabor 85), Che Adams (Omar Bogle 74)
Unused subs - Connal Trueman (GK), Marc Roberts, Wes Harding, Charlie Lakin, Connor Mahoney
Unused subs - Connal Trueman (GK), Marc Roberts, Wes Harding, Charlie Lakin, Connor Mahoney
West Bromwich Albion:
Sam Johnstone, Kyle Bartley, Jake Livermore, Matt Phillips, Chris Brunt (C) (Gareth Barry 78), Conor Townsend, Harvey Barnes, Dwight Gayle, Jay Rodriguez (Hal Robson-Kanu 75), Craig Dawson, Ahmed Hegazi
Unused subs - Boaz Myhill (GK), Kieran Gibbs, Oli Burke, Kyle Edwards, Tosin Adarabioyo
Unused subs - Boaz Myhill (GK), Kieran Gibbs, Oli Burke, Kyle Edwards, Tosin Adarabioyo
Hmm, whatever possessed me to blanch out all of the attached photos, and then fill them with fifty shades of blue and white, was a misguided and silly inclination on my part, that has been duly exorcised, and consigned to a mass grave that can be found in the dank, dark shadows, beneath a big, ugly and cumbersome headstone, inscribed with the wording: "Daft ideas that I hoped might tart this blog up a bit".
So what's the word on the street round these parts since I last attended St. Andrew's?
Well, difficult as it might be to comprehend, following on the back of two really miserable seasons, it would seem
that, if speculation from a few usually reliable sources (who are hopefully barking up the wrong tree in this instance), is anything to go by; then Birmingham City, are on the brink of yet another annus horribilis of a campaign, possibly even worse than anything that has gone before, whereby, on top of their, as of yet, unresolved tangled web of a transfer embargo situation, they're now also, potentially, on the verge of facing further punishment in the form of financial sanctions and, more worryingly; it is rumoured that a points deduction is in the offing, which could amount to the EFL taking a whole twelve points (which of course, Blues don't actually have to give away just yet) off of them, which would, of course, see Garry Monk's win-less side plummet to the very bottom of the table, while also slipping into negative equity.
It never rains at St. Andrew's, it only ever buckets it down, torrentially.
So what's the word on the street round these parts since I last attended St. Andrew's?
Well, difficult as it might be to comprehend, following on the back of two really miserable seasons, it would seem
Since I last saw Albion play, when they snatched a draw courtesy of a late equaliser at Nottingham Forest, they have run into some form, winning five out of their last six games in all competitions, while only losing to a solitary goal away at Middlesbrough, where City also went down 1-0 last month. If the alarm bells weren't already sounding at St. Andrew's, the last time that Blues failed to win any of their first six games (now seven, or eight even if you're counting the League Cup), was back in the 1978-79 season, when they were relegated from the top flight. That said, as of 9.50PM tonight, they had only lost twice in the league this season... and had actually played quite well in five of those games, but have had absolutely no luck whatsoever in front of the opposition(s) goal(s).
The belief is still there, that although there is obviously a monumentally long corner to turn, Garry Monk is the man to steer Blues away from the abyss.
And the form book goes out of the window in 'local derby' games... doesn't it? And, given that the Baggies only play a couple of miles further out of the City of Birmingham than Blues main rivals from Aston do, then I suppose the close proximity of these two teams just about meets the criteria for this game to actually be called that sort of thing.
But enough of all this speculative financial predictions, club politics and tangent surfing stuff. I was here to watch a game of football, amongst a congregation of some 22,715 partisan supporters, which included just shy of 3,000 travelling Albion fans, who were housed in the Gil Merrick Stand.
A couple of minutes into the game, both sets of fans sang a rousing rendition of "Shit on the Villa!" in unison... and for the record, it wasn't the 'love in' between Blues and Baggies that fans of the unpopular team in claret and blue were claiming on social media, but simply two groups of football supporters expressing their contempt for Villa.
The belief is still there, that although there is obviously a monumentally long corner to turn, Garry Monk is the man to steer Blues away from the abyss.
But enough of all this speculative financial predictions, club politics and tangent surfing stuff. I was here to watch a game of football, amongst a congregation of some 22,715 partisan supporters, which included just shy of 3,000 travelling Albion fans, who were housed in the Gil Merrick Stand.
A couple of minutes into the game, both sets of fans sang a rousing rendition of "Shit on the Villa!" in unison... and for the record, it wasn't the 'love in' between Blues and Baggies that fans of the unpopular team in claret and blue were claiming on social media, but simply two groups of football supporters expressing their contempt for Villa.
Newcastle United's Dwight Gayle, who is on loan at Albion again this term, went close early on, finding the side netting, from an angled close range effort.
After making several good touches during the opening exchanges, it was Jota who opened the scoring in the twenty seventh minute, starting and finishing the move, from which he met Lukas Jutkiewicz's headed knock back with the outside of his left foot to squeeze the ball in between Sam Johnstone and the right hand post, after he'd initially rolled a pass back to Gary Gardner, for him to deliver a well flighted cross towards Blues number ten..
Within two minutes of Jota's strike, the same player had the chance to double Blues lead from the penalty spot after Kyle Bartley unfathomably swiped the ball with his outstretched hand from Jacques Maghoma's over-hit cross from the right hand side of the Baggies area. But the Spaniard's resulting spot kick was hit at an easy height for Johnstone to save and he got down to his left to turn the ball away.
After making several good touches during the opening exchanges, it was Jota who opened the scoring in the twenty seventh minute, starting and finishing the move, from which he met Lukas Jutkiewicz's headed knock back with the outside of his left foot to squeeze the ball in between Sam Johnstone and the right hand post, after he'd initially rolled a pass back to Gary Gardner, for him to deliver a well flighted cross towards Blues number ten..
Within two minutes of Jota's strike, the same player had the chance to double Blues lead from the penalty spot after Kyle Bartley unfathomably swiped the ball with his outstretched hand from Jacques Maghoma's over-hit cross from the right hand side of the Baggies area. But the Spaniard's resulting spot kick was hit at an easy height for Johnstone to save and he got down to his left to turn the ball away.
Albion were back on level terms six minutes before the interval, when Matt Phillips broke into the right hand side of Blues area and when Kristian Pedersen failed to clear his lines and inadvertently nudged the ball back into the path of Phillips whose momentum carried him on towards Lee Camp's goal and stabbed the ball home off of the wrong-footed keeper's outstretched left foot.
That man Jota skinned two defenders on the right flank and crossed to Jutkiwicz beyond the far post, who unselfishly cushioned a header into the path of Che Evans, who, with the goal at his mercy, took the ball down under control and lashed a shot over the bar from eight yards out.
HT: Blues 1 v Baggies 1
Right at the start of the second half, Adams and Maghoma exchanged passes inside the visitors area, but the former couldn't get enough purchase behind his shot, that went through Ahmed Hegazi's legs, and Johnstone got down to his right and turned the ball away at the expense of a corner.
Play switched quickly to the other end of the pitch and following some good work from Jay Rodriguez, it took a good save from Camp to keep out Harvey Barnes shot from just inside Blues area.
Maghoma won a corner off Craig Dawson, but as the home side abandoned their short corner routine and a cluster of players gathered at the back post, Jota put his flag kick straight out for a goal kick. Moments later, Adams surged through the right channel and cut the ball back across Albion's six yard box, but Maghoma was a fraction away from connecting with an attempted diving header.
Play switched quickly to the other end of the pitch and following some good work from Jay Rodriguez, it took a good save from Camp to keep out Harvey Barnes shot from just inside Blues area.
Maghoma won a corner off Craig Dawson, but as the home side abandoned their short corner routine and a cluster of players gathered at the back post, Jota put his flag kick straight out for a goal kick. Moments later, Adams surged through the right channel and cut the ball back across Albion's six yard box, but Maghoma was a fraction away from connecting with an attempted diving header.
Adams knocked a cheeky back heel into the path of Jota, who burst forward towards the edge of Johnstone's area and fizzed a shot no more than a foot over the visitors bar.
Bartley and Dawson got involved in a comedy duo defensive mix up, but Johnstone cleared the ball before Adams could reach it. Lady luck had turned her back on Blues once again.
Phillips long free kick was headed over Camp's goal by Barnes as the game went into the final ten minutes, as Albion started to calm down again after a spell of shaky defensive play that Birmingham were unable to take advantage of and capitalise on.
Having been a touch fortunate to still be on level terms, Darren Moore's side almost stole a lead when Gayle crashed a shot against Blues bar and Camp had to clear the ball away from Barnes in the ensuing scramble that followed the rebound.
Garteh Barry tried his luck with a first time shot from outside the area, that troubled the stewards in the away end more than it did Camp... and Phillips crashed a long range thumping shot that Harlee Dean blocked.
It ended up all square, which was a good result for the Albion all told, particularly as they moved up to fifth place, and within three points of the top two clubs in the Championship, namely Leeds United and Middlesbrough.
However, even though Blues are still without a win all season, they're still actually unbeaten at home and, for what it's worth, they edged their way up the table to seventeenth tonight... and they're certainly not playing like a team that are down in the doldrums.
FT: Birmingham City 1 v West Bromwich Albion 1
