Birmingham 0-0 Wolves - St. Andrews Stalemate

By Tom Bason
January 7 2012

Wolves and Birmingham will both head into the fourth round FA Cup draw after a stalemate at St Andrews. Matt Jarvis went closest to winning it, hitting the post late on, but ultimately neither side did enough to force a result.

Perhaps more interesting than the players who were included in the 18 man squad today were the players who weren't. I would have thought that today would have been an excellent opportunity to give Adam Hammill and Adlene Guedioura opportunities to stake their case for a first team spot. Instead, Stephen Hunt and Karl Henry kept their places in midfield; I could understand the inclusion of both them - Henry was probably included as a more senior player to bring debutant Eggert Jónsson through the match and as insurance in case the Icelandic international flopped. On the other hand, Hunt's form has been poor of late and this was seen as a lighter game to let him play himself into some form. But, neither Hammill nor Guedioura were on the bench, and with two or three new signings seemingly likely if you believe the rumours, some members of the 25 man squad will have to be left out.

Saying that, I was pleased Michael Kightly and Kevin Doyle were given starts. Kightly has impressed while on loan at Watford, while Doyle is in dire need of a goal. I was slightly disappointed that Kevin Foley was not fit enough to start - I have always been a big fan of Foley, having his name on my shirt in his first season and firmly believe he should be our choice right back. What I would give for another Foley to slot into the centre of midfield. Forget singing for a team of Stephen Wards, a team of Kevin Foleys would be far superior.

I have to say the first half was awful, with Birmingham just edging it. Doyle and Hunt were particularly poor, with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kightly only marginally better. Throw in a central midfield battle that was comfortably won by Guirane N'Daw and Morgaro Gomis for Birmingham City and it doesn't take a genius to see that the team struggled. The defence dealt with what Birmingham through at them reasonably well, and didn't let the ankle injury to Roger Johnson effect the team.

There's not a huge amount to say tactically. Both teams played 4-4-2 formations, which as I have said before, effectively turns the match into a series of individual battles. While Birmingham players won a number of these, they then didn't have the guile to create any real chances once they broke with the ball, relying heavily on the prodigiously talented 17 year old Nathan Redmond on the wing.

Wolves came to life a little more in the second half, and introduced Matt Jarvis into the fray. Yet, despite having an England international on the flank, Wolves struggled to get the ball out to him. This is one of the big flaws in a 4-4-2 formation that includes two defensive central midfielders. Neither Henry nor Jónsson seemed to have the ability or awareness to get the ball to the flanks, and far too often the ball reached Jarvis and Kightly when surrounded by blue shirts. Saying that, Kightly didn't always help himself, spending much of his time cutting in from the right hand flank, denying him the space he may have gained had he held his position.

You can probably count the amount of clear cut chances on one hand, and don't need me to recount them for you Ebanks-Blake blazed the best of them over the bar when he really should have scored. My preference for Doyle has always been based on the fact that if Ebanks-Blake is not scoring goals, he doesn't contribute to the team performance as a whole. Therefore, for him to be in the team, he needs to be scoring goals, and he doesn't score enough, nor has ever looked like scoring enough to justify the other 10 players carrying him.

I should have realised that the game wasn't going to go well before kick-off. Apparently, my face was shown on the TV coverage quite often, but I was pleased the camera wasn't focuses on me throughout the pregame build up. I was situated just to the right of goal, 12 rows back when the players started their shooting practice. I'm sure you can work out just what is coming next. Eggert Jónsson shot a fierce shot whistling past the post straight at me. I positioned myself, like a slips fielder ready to pounce. I watched it all the way into my hands, except just before it nestled comfortably in my palms, the person in front of me inexplicably stuck their hand up and deflected it straight into my face. My right eye is still a little sore as I write this, and if any of you see any footage of a fan getting a ball in the face on ESPN over the next few weeks, chances are it was me.

me v bloos

Birmingham 1-1 Wolves - St. Andrews Stalemate

Posted by: Wolves (IP Logged)

Date: 07/01/2012 16:16

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