 |
| St. Andrew's on a bright but chilly afternoon. A panoramic view from Bordesley station. |
Saturday 18th January
SkyBet EFL Championship
at St. Andrew's Stadium
Birmingham City (1) 1
Jude Bellingham 4
Jude Bellingham 4
Cardiff City (0) 1
Lee Tomlin 63
Lee Tomlin 63
Attendance: 20,482 (inc.1,946 away fans)
Point & hope mobile phone picture gallery: click HERE
Point & hope mobile phone picture gallery: click HERE
The last time that Blues played against Cardiff, the game ended in a 4-2 win for what was still then: Neil Warnock's team, when the two sides met in South Wales, back in November, in a Championship fixture that saw both teams have a player sent off, namely: Danny Ward for the hosts early in the second half and Blues captain: Harlee Dean, three minutes into stoppage time.
During that game, some disgruntled Bluebirds fans had chanted: "Warnock sort it out!" when Birmingham were in front early in the game, and the well travelled manager actually joined in and sang it with them... before subsequently doing just that, i.e. he 'sorted it out'.
Love him or loathe him, the game needs more managerial characters like Warnock 'keeping it real' in a world full of identikit coaches, adhering to play by numbers flip charts and percentages graphs, instead of applying good old fashioned man-management methods and rattling off a string of unscripted, off the cuff, heat of the moment amusing quotes and outbursts.
Neil Harris took over the reigns from Warnock later that month, having resigned from his position at Millwall just a few weeks before. It's too early to ascertain what progress Cardiff have made since Harris arrived, if any, but they were fourteenth in the Championship table when he arrived and started today in twelfth place. So hey! If they continue to pick up momentum at such a steady and consistent pace, they might even be promotion contenders in a year or so.
Remember where you read it first.
Today, following a one-sided first half that saw Birmingham ruling the roost, but failing to add to an early goal, scored by the sixteen year old Jude Bellingham, the Bluebirds fans implored Neil Harris to "Sort it out!"
And guess what!? 'Twas a case of déjà vu. And 'A little bit of history repeating itself', to coin a phrase by the veteran and legendary songstress, from Tiger Bay in Cardiff: Shirley Bassey.
The home side went into today's game looking for a third win in a row, having triumphed 2-1 against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, a fortnight ago at St. Andrew's, while picking up three points, on their travels at Kenilworth Road last weekend, where they beat Luton Town by the same scoreline in the Championship, but it just wasn't to be today... although if you're an eternal optimist, you might want to lay claim to the fact that Blues left the field at the end of this game, with a third unbeaten game in a row, notched in their headboard..
Both of those two results prior to today, were forged out of performances that owed more to hard graft than any particular guile... but utilising your own players strengths and adopting a horses for courses approach, while setting out your stall to grind out results, as been serving teams well since the beginning of time.
During that game, some disgruntled Bluebirds fans had chanted: "Warnock sort it out!" when Birmingham were in front early in the game, and the well travelled manager actually joined in and sang it with them... before subsequently doing just that, i.e. he 'sorted it out'.
Neil Harris took over the reigns from Warnock later that month, having resigned from his position at Millwall just a few weeks before. It's too early to ascertain what progress Cardiff have made since Harris arrived, if any, but they were fourteenth in the Championship table when he arrived and started today in twelfth place. So hey! If they continue to pick up momentum at such a steady and consistent pace, they might even be promotion contenders in a year or so.
Remember where you read it first.
And guess what!? 'Twas a case of déjà vu. And 'A little bit of history repeating itself', to coin a phrase by the veteran and legendary songstress, from Tiger Bay in Cardiff: Shirley Bassey.
The home side went into today's game looking for a third win in a row, having triumphed 2-1 against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, a fortnight ago at St. Andrew's, while picking up three points, on their travels at Kenilworth Road last weekend, where they beat Luton Town by the same scoreline in the Championship, but it just wasn't to be today... although if you're an eternal optimist, you might want to lay claim to the fact that Blues left the field at the end of this game, with a third unbeaten game in a row, notched in their headboard..
Football is a simple game. And though there is always a time and place for over-complicating things and enthralling audiences with displays of intricate passing moves. When the going gets tough, get in the oppositions faces and on their toes, use the width of the pitch to good effect, get the ball down the wings and employ the right personnel to get on the end of the subsequent crosses... and then battle like your life depends on it, right until the final whistle. Points win prizes. And they also stave off the threat of falling into yet another relegation scrap for at least another year.
The aesthetically pleasing geometry that Blues have employed this season, is very easy on the eye and has been a joy to behold at times. In actual fact, there have been times when I've enjoyed perusing such an approach enormously.
But... getting back to basics and winning ugly is good too, when the need to pick up a few results becomes ever more vital and imperative. 'Results based industry' is, was and always will be the name of the game in the second-tier of English football. Just saying.
But... getting back to basics and winning ugly is good too, when the need to pick up a few results becomes ever more vital and imperative. 'Results based industry' is, was and always will be the name of the game in the second-tier of English football. Just saying.
But during the first half this afternoon, I was almost forced to concede that the above analogy was ever so slightly off-kilter as Clotet's team, passed their way around the visiting side, with an array of flicks, tricks and back-heels, while seemingly having a private game amongst themselves to see how many opposition players they could nutmeg.
But, after the interval, Clotet's side's collective compass malfunctioned and they were all over the place, as they became disjointed, sloppy, and visibly low on confidence, while a physical Cardiff side plugged a few gaps and began to grow into the game, imposing themselves far more convincingly than they had even looked capable of doing before the half-time break.
All things considered, a draw against a team six places higher in the table today, isn't exactly the end of the world, but the way that Blues let Cardiff back into the game, after they'd had them on the ropes while giving them a bloody good hiding during the open exchanges, demonstrated a lack of focus and application as the second-half, by and large, passed the hosts by.
Fair play to the visitors, they knuckled down after the interval and deserved something out of the game.
Fair play to the visitors, they knuckled down after the interval and deserved something out of the game.
It probably hasn't escaped your attention, that Birmingham City, have the potential to become the next Bolton Wanderers, or even Bury FC. Be it either via the EFL continuing to put the squeeze on them, or by way of the dubious financial practices employed by the directors, that the owners have trusted with the role of the day to day running of the club.
There is a theory doing the rounds that the head honcho at Trillion Trophy Asia: Paul Suen Cho Hung, doesn't actually know the full extent of what ever it is that Xuandong Ren (AKA Dong, very apt) and his cohorts at the football club have been getting up to. Given the massive sums of money involved in some of their robbing Peter to pay Paul, then borrowing off Paul so that he can rent the clubs assets back to Peter, so to speak.
However, I personally think that it is highly unlikely that the the British Virgin Islands-registered investment body, is unaware of anything pertaining to Blues current situation. And furthermore I don't believe that they have abdicated all responsibility for running the club to 'Dong', and can't accept the notion that they are having no input into the major decisions concerning Birmingham City FC or it's stadium (and training ground) either.
But hey! What the hell do I know?
Regular blog readers will know, that I attempted to cover this subject at great length last week, via a six billion character long blog post (an exaggeration numbers wise perhaps, but only a slight one), and though all of the responses I received were very supportive and even appreciative of the time I spent narrating on these matters, I think it would be wise to suggest, that if want to delve deeper into what has happened at St. Andrew's, and is continuing to pick up momentum (and more debt) in a downward trajectory, then you could do a lot worse than to visit: www.1875.uk and/or subscribe to their mailing list for regular updates.
I don't agree with everything that appears on their site, but I'm attuned at least 90% of it... and genuinely applaud their fact finding efforts and attempts to cover all bases.
And I recommend that, whatever your point of view is on the situation at BCFC, you should at least click the above link and see what they're all about.
Today, at very short notice, these guys had arranged the unfurling of a banner in the lower Tilton End in the fourth minute of the game, proclaiming: 'KILLING THE CLUB' at which time, supporters were invited to join in with the protest by displaying the red cards depicted above, the right hand side one of which has all of the relevant details printed on it.
Of course, almost inevitably, the fourth minute was superseded by opening goal of the afternoon, when Maxime Colin's pressing the defence on the right, saw Cardiff concede a corner, that Dan Crowley took towards the near post, where Jeremie Bela helped the ball across the face of the visitors goal, for Jude Bellingham to stab it past Alex Smithies from close range.
There is a theory doing the rounds that the head honcho at Trillion Trophy Asia: Paul Suen Cho Hung, doesn't actually know the full extent of what ever it is that Xuandong Ren (AKA Dong, very apt) and his cohorts at the football club have been getting up to. Given the massive sums of money involved in some of their robbing Peter to pay Paul, then borrowing off Paul so that he can rent the clubs assets back to Peter, so to speak.
 |
| Left click image for enlarged view. |
But hey! What the hell do I know?
 |
| It's a goal! |
And I recommend that, whatever your point of view is on the situation at BCFC, you should at least click the above link and see what they're all about.
Today, at very short notice, these guys had arranged the unfurling of a banner in the lower Tilton End in the fourth minute of the game, proclaiming: 'KILLING THE CLUB' at which time, supporters were invited to join in with the protest by displaying the red cards depicted above, the right hand side one of which has all of the relevant details printed on it.
Of course, almost inevitably, the fourth minute was superseded by opening goal of the afternoon, when Maxime Colin's pressing the defence on the right, saw Cardiff concede a corner, that Dan Crowley took towards the near post, where Jeremie Bela helped the ball across the face of the visitors goal, for Jude Bellingham to stab it past Alex Smithies from close range.
So although the protest aimed at what is (and just as pointedly, what isn't) going on off of the field of play, was somewhat thwarted, by the timing of Bellingham's strike, at this point and for the opening half a hour or so, Blues were purring, like a well-tuned Ferrari. And mesmerising Cardiff to such a point, it was almost as if they were a huddle of grown-ups on a beach, playing keep-ball against a team of toddlers.
But, for whatever reason, the home crowd were somewhat subdued this afternoon, even though Blues were having a blinder and the resident local hero had scored. Perhaps current events are taking a toll on people and that explains some of the quiet spells, as the mood of the place is dampened by the foreboding reality of what is happening at St. Andrew's and people have reached the end of their tether, following similar uncertain times in the not too distant past.
Chances went begging, as Kristian Pedersen and Karim Mrabti, combined with Bela on the left hand side of the attack to p*ss rings around a virtually disorganised Cardiff defence, who were redefining the meaning of the term 'chasing shadows' to almost embarrassing proportions.
But in spite of Blues territorial dominance, they still needed a second goal, because one is never enough with so long left to play. But despite their best efforts, it wasn't to be forthcoming... and when Bela's spectacular long-range shot crashed off of the crossbar, moments before Smithie kept the ball out when Bellingham looked odds on to score from Lukas Jutkiewicz's knock-down.
Half-time came and went and all that Blues had to do, was repeat their formula from the first half and keep plugging away until another goal came their way.
But Cardiff were having none of it... and whatever had been said to them while they were having their arses kicked during the break, obviously led to them upping the ante, at exactly the same time that Blues began to concede a string of unnecessary fouls and misplace far too many passes.
In the match programme Lee Tomlin had a page dedicated to him, bearing the title: THE MAIN THREAT. It's a shame that none of the Blues team had read it, because shortly after having what looked like a decent appeal for a penalty over-ruled by the referee and being denied a goal by by Jutkiewicz last ditch clearance, Tomlin headed the equalising goal from Marlon Pack's corner kick. Get that programme editor warmed up... it seems that he knows who to pick up at set pieces, even if Clotet's game-plan didn't include any special measures to deal with the visitors striker.
The first half had been Birmingham's, but there is no disputing the fact that a Cardiff goal had been forthcoming for a while now.
Jutkiewicz, who had been busting a gut all over the pitch all afternoon, while trying to lead by example in his captain's role, was thwarted by Smithies who made a great stop at full stretch, but it was Cardiff who almost claimed the result when Tomlin was allowed time and space again, but fizzed his shot just wide of the upright.
FT: Blues 1 v Bluebirds 1
A fair outcome all told, given that both teams had each been the better side for one half of the game apiece.
As an aside to this afternoon's main event; on Tuesday night, Coventry City saw off Bristol Rovers fairly easily, by three goals to nil, in a FA Cup replay at St. Andrew's, that was watched by a crowd of 2,963.
Which means that Mark Robins Sky Blues, have earned themselves a 'home' tie against Birmingham City in the fourth round, at this very ground, next Saturday afternoon.
I snaffled my 'away end' ticket for this much talked about game on Thursday afternoon. Although, that said, the usual visitors section in the Gil Merrick Stand (AKA the Railway End, in old money) is apparently not going to be open, at the insistence of the West Midlands Police (Oh no! Not them again!) for segregation purposes.
Fans from elsewhere, travelling St. Andrew's (and other clubs in the area), have often complained about how they are treated by the local officers of the law... but at least they only have to tolerate such heavy-handedness once or twice per season, when in truth, they're no more co-operative, user-friendly, obliging with or tolerant of the natives on their own manor, on any given match day.
Which means that Mark Robins Sky Blues, have earned themselves a 'home' tie against Birmingham City in the fourth round, at this very ground, next Saturday afternoon.
I snaffled my 'away end' ticket for this much talked about game on Thursday afternoon. Although, that said, the usual visitors section in the Gil Merrick Stand (AKA the Railway End, in old money) is apparently not going to be open, at the insistence of the West Midlands Police (Oh no! Not them again!) for segregation purposes.
'Cov' themselves, have an excellent playing record at their new temporary shared 'home' this season and as a consequence, Pep Clotet and his hit/miss inconsistent side, won't be able to take the threat posed by the League One promotion chasers lightly.
Well, you'd hope that is his plan of action anyway. But watching this current Blues side perform on a regular basis, is like eating a bag of Revels... inasmuch-as you never quite know exactly what flavour you're going to get next. Unless, like me, you nibble a bit of the chocolate off first and save all the orange centred ones 'til last.
Today's visitors: Cardiff City, face a trip to Reading in the fourth round, after they edged their way past League Two side Carlisle United in a third round replay on Wednesday night, courtesy of a 3-4 win at Brunton Park. Prior to beating the Cumbrians, Neil Harris' side had drawn four and lost another four of their previous eight games.
But the home and/or away, landlords v tenants, Championship v League One, novelty factor West Midlands derby (that, believe it or not, the club shop is selling half and half scarves for) against Coventry, in the cup, is next weekend... and Blues main priorities this afternoon had to be getting on with the job in hand against Cardiff, before preparing thoroughly for Tuesday night's rearranged visit to Middlesbrough, which was originally scheduled for Saturday 25th January.
And as regards the first item on that 'to do' list, Blues fell some way short today.
My travelling companion for the afternoon commented as we headed back to the station: "For that first half a hour I thought: Wow! These play really good football and I want to come here again. But then the other sixty minutes... well, they weren't very good at all and I wouldn't want to watch that every week". Cheers missus! With my tongue firmly in my cheek, just let me say: it's your loss, they're a work in progress and they'll come good eventually.
You decide for yourself, who I was kidding just then: her or myself?
Truth be told, I already know the answer... neither of us!
Incidentally, I was looking forward to heading up to Teesside next weekend, as one does (cough) but I'd already agreed to work nights this coming week, before the new date was set for the game, at short notice.
Tsk! You can't trust those bungling EFL plebs to get anything right, can you!?
PS. I hope that the 1875 people who tried to organise a protest today, aren't too dispirited that the timing of events today conspired against them, nor that some of the abuse aimed at one of them on social-media is going to put them off keeping right on with what it is they're doing.
Today's visitors: Cardiff City, face a trip to Reading in the fourth round, after they edged their way past League Two side Carlisle United in a third round replay on Wednesday night, courtesy of a 3-4 win at Brunton Park. Prior to beating the Cumbrians, Neil Harris' side had drawn four and lost another four of their previous eight games.
My travelling companion for the afternoon commented as we headed back to the station: "For that first half a hour I thought: Wow! These play really good football and I want to come here again. But then the other sixty minutes... well, they weren't very good at all and I wouldn't want to watch that every week". Cheers missus! With my tongue firmly in my cheek, just let me say: it's your loss, they're a work in progress and they'll come good eventually.
Truth be told, I already know the answer... neither of us!
Incidentally, I was looking forward to heading up to Teesside next weekend, as one does (cough) but I'd already agreed to work nights this coming week, before the new date was set for the game, at short notice.
Tsk! You can't trust those bungling EFL plebs to get anything right, can you!?
PS. I hope that the 1875 people who tried to organise a protest today, aren't too dispirited that the timing of events today conspired against them, nor that some of the abuse aimed at one of them on social-media is going to put them off keeping right on with what it is they're doing.
 |
| St. Andrew's on a dark and increasingly cold evening. Another panoramic view from Bordesley Station. |
