Birmingham City
Blues Trust
Blues 4 All
Hi Bluenoses, everywhere.
What a strange week we have had. Robbed in the epic game against Southampton on Saturday we went off to Hull with mysterious changes to the side and came away with a well-earned point. It could have been a better result had referee Mr. Stroud and his assistants had not missed the obvious hand ball which projected the ball into our net. A makeshift defence containing four full backs were impeccable, backed up by one outstanding save by John Ruddy which kept the score at 1-0. If ever a clean sheet was deserved, it was on Tuesday. As for Mr. Stroud, he has passed the retirement age for referees and should be duly given his release papers and put out to pasture.
While the defence was on overtime our even more makeshift attack was basically ornamental. In the last 25 minutes four subs were made and with Sunjic on a yellow card he too was benched with Jukey sent on to save the day. And boy did he do just that. Another of the bench warmers in Alex Pritchard swung over a world class centre and Jukey rose like a gazelle, or at least like a man ten years his younger and powered his header past Allsop in the Hull goal.
Of course, Mr. Stroud wad to be part of the story when George Hall, happily restored to full fitness, burst past three Hull defenders, and was brought down, before George, already a yard clear, could finish off his fine work. A clear foul, probably a red card and almost certainly a yellow was completely ignored by Stroud.
Enough of incompetent referees. I don’t want to hear his name again. Something has suddenly come to my attention regarding some of the players who when they arrived this season not only were hailed as wonder signings, they showed themselves to be worthy of such adulation. Dembele, Sanderson, Bielik, Sunjic and Miyoshi have become the scapegoats of our inconsistency. All these guys under Eustace performed well and were the reason we stood in 5th place in the league. Having had their confidence destroyed by the inadequacies of the previous manager they are a shadow of their early season. Tony Mowbray, sadly sidelined, which hasn’t helped, had as yet been unable to repair that situation. These five and others have been shuffled in and out the team, sometimes with positive results sometimes not. Form is temporary while class is permanent. We are fortunate to have depth in our squad and there are a number of players who have been automatic choices who now are nowhere near a place even on the bench. We are at full stretch at this moment and we need to get behind whoever is in that Blue shirt.
Millwall on a Saturday is not usually allowed, and I suspect there are many like myself who cannot get a ticket due to the limitation on the allocation. If the game can be played of a Saturday, then a full allocation should be allowed. The Millwall fixture starts a downturn in the level of opposition we are coming up against. I say that with tongue in cheek. Apart from the three relegated teams from last season and Rotherham there is hardly a fag-paper between the others. The so called strugglers are so close in the table that the games between them are so tense and so tight that they can go either way. My tip the Mark Venus to sway the balance in our favour is to try Hall and Stansfield up front. Pace and more pace you cant beat it.
See Ya Monday
God Bless the Bluenoses
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