KwAcKy's Konfessional |
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Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk  
  
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04 January 2004
A Tale of Two Cities It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A few weeks ago Blues entertained Blackburn. We never do well against this team and lady luck is certainly out of town when the two collide. Dugarry did his best to ensure he could go Christmas shopping before the shops shut. He managed to avoid a red card for using an elbow to break a nose but made sure he picked up 2 cards and that early bath. Blues held their own for 2/3rds of the game, let in a soft goal then sat down on the pitch and watched Blackburn score at will. 0-4 Steve Bruce said it was the worst performance he had seen in his tenure. The next day it's the FA Cup 3rd round draw. Blues never do well in the cup. We're always drawn away from home and we ensure we make the "Giant Killer" headlines for all the wrong reasons. The balls are rolling. Blues at home. To Blackburn. Someone somewhere is taking the piss. For whatever reason many fans stayed at home. Cold weather, lack of funds, poor 3rd round record or the recent rout. Eighteen thousand is piss poor. When the lights failed I thought I had made the wrong choice and should have joined the ranks of the stay aways. Kenna played at right back and Lazaridis took the left side with Dunn on left midfield and Morrison paired with his old strike pal Forssell. A very attacking bench meant the absence of Cisse and Purse. Good early exchanges saw both sides have a pop. It then looked like it would fizzle out. Then woe came to town. Upson and Cole challenged. It looked like a simple tackle. Upson didn't get up and rolled in pain only taking time to flag the bench. The stretcher came out and off went Upson to a standing ovation. 
On came Bryan Hughes. The player most Blues fans thought would be best suited to the Prem but often fails to stake his claim to the starting XI. Kenna took Upson's place and DJ dropped to right back. The faint smell of fear caught the cold winter air. Kenna is no centre back and lacks pace. Hughes could have one of his off days. Blackburn took full advantage of the settling in period and attacked with gusto (a new Turkish forward!). Blues stood, took the battering then found self belief. Hughs made an early impact, going just wide after a few minutes and and then setting up Morrison who took his goal well. Clinical finishing indeed. Forssell continued to harass and Morrison harried. Hughes provided support. Kenna and Cunningham mopped up and Kenna even showed pace. In the 36th minute we had a goal from Stephen Clemence who drilled left-footed into the bottom-left of goal from the centre of the penalty area. Dunn, told to stick to his usual game and not over impress, ran hard at the Blackburn defence, took two on, passed to Forssell who saw Hughes and BANG in it went. Birmingham 2-0 Blackburn. An assist by Mikael Forssell. Blues could do this. Then further heart ache just before half time as Lazaridis hobbled off to the chant of "there's only one Stanley". On came contractual Carter. Clemence dropped to left back. Dunn looked like he was struggling with his injury and spent long periods on the far side of left midfield. He was later replaced by Kirovski (76th minute). In the second half Blues continued to show their worth. Kenna and Cunningham brought the back line forward ensuring the linesman learnt semaphore. Dino Baggio came on and helped point Blackburn in the right direction but to no avail. Taylor called loudly for most crosses and the communication with his defenders remained sound. Hughes was in the thick of things and Savage tussled with Tugay, at one point kicking the ball off his his head at the Turk lay prone to earn us a throw in. Tugay vented his vexation with a careless challenge and the very good Paul Durkin proved his pockets hadn't been stitched up. Forssell earnt his much deserved goal when Taylor saw he was being played onside. Long ball out of the Blues goal mouth, brought down sweetly by Forssell, defender beaten, goalie clueless, Blues 3-0. The dying minutes ensured that revenge was complete at Morrison, Forssell and Hughes ran straight at the heart of the Blackburn defence, Morrison squared to Hughes who calmly slotted it in to make it 4-0. 
Reports Singing the Blues BBC Sport Sporting Life Sky Sports The Ref During his warm up the Blackburn fans booed him and Durkin mockingly chook his fist at them. As he passed the Blues fans we cheered and were rewarded with a thumbs up. The chant of "who ate all the pies" saw Durkin point to an assistant and boos from the Tilton saw him stop and wag his finger. Good stuff. More of the same please referees. He controlled the game, watching for advantage to allow the game to flow and tired with Blackburn being caught off-side so frequently he played on if Blues won the ball. A consolatory chat with Hughes after he went wide by a gnat's wing and a restraining hug for Tugay when Savage did what Savage does. An excellent performance from the Men in Black. More please. Player Ratings Taylor - 8- good saves and strong in the air. Good foresight for Forssell's goal Lazaridis - 8 - nice passing and ran well overlapping with Dunn. Cunningham - 8 - marshalled his makeshift defences and looked good with Kenna Upson - 8- looked his usual solid self Kenna - 8- there's life in the old dog yet. Showed he can still run and reads the game well when he's in the centre DJ - 8- held the ball well and didn't panic. Clemence - 8- good in midfield and at left back. Hughes - 9 - Excellent vison, nice passes, attacked well with Morrison and Forssell but helped out with midfield duties Carter -7 - Didn't do too much but didn't do anything wrong Savage - 8 - another terrier like performance. Wound up Tugay a treat. Dunn - 8- Good at attacking defenders but he must look up before he passes. His forward passes are great but some of this midfield passes found the wrong team. Morrison - 9- Tracked back, tackled, chased, scored and set up others. Forssell - 10- SIGN HIM UP. If we don't get this guy I'll tear up my season ticket. Kirovski - 7 - a good option for midfield. |
