It was just as though last season had never ended. This was just so bloody depressing. Murdered by Coventry. Yet again we showed how no matter how poor the opposition, we can get below them. I bet our poor lickle players are awfully upset. Perhaps Lawrence’s agent can get Everton to make an enquiry about him? Or Whitehead’s agent can get stories put about in the press about Liverpool being interested in him and get Reading to make an offer? Or Alnwick’s agent can get Spurs to tap him up without even going through the proper channels? Then they can have even more of our money for an even longer period of time. That seems to be the only thing that gets them over their upset.
Shit. I can hardly bare to think about this game. We had four outfield players playing out of position. Delap and Collins as full backs, Miller as a winger and Lawrence as left winger. That is 40% of our outfield team in the wrong position.
Despite all of that we held on for the whole of the first half and then scored! Murphy getting a poke into the net. If he gets a 5 year contract for scoring a couple of goals in pre-season friendlies, I assume he’ll get the freedom of the city for this.
But then the good old Sunderland clicked in and we capitulated in infuriating style. One of their strikers (Stern John apparently if you’re even vaguely bothered) got the ball in the inside right position at the edge of the box. We had had loads of “chances” like this and blasted each one of them against a defender’s legs (well except for one skying over by Lawrence) – but we are more generous than that and allowed John room to crack in a shot that gave Alnwick no chance. What the hell do they think the term “defender” means?
Some time later we completed out misery. A cock-up over a quick free kick left us looking dumfounded and Coventry strolling into the box and slicing in the ball. Whinges about what the referee was up to miss the point. The game doesn’t take place in a manner and a timing to suit you. You need to be ready for anything the whole 90 minutes. How you can call yourself a professional when you allow goals like this beggars belief. It doesn’t matter though – if this one hadn’t gone in, we would have contrived to concede another one.
On the other side we had one shot on target (the goal) and one shot come cross from Leadbitter from the right wing. Even when we went three (Elliott, Kyle and Stead) up front we didn’t actually make the goalkeeper do anything.
One of the benefits McCarthy had last time we went down was that the whole lot of the 19 point shameful over-paid gits buggered off. He pretty much started with a clean sheet of paper in pulling a side together and we were prepared to get behind them as they were a “new” team. The 15 point squad in my view is less culpable than the 19 point team. The 19 point team was full of Premiership quality players – but with crap attitudes. The 15 point team simply wasn’t good enough for the Premiership. However, while I might apportion less blame to them, the downside is that when they produce capitulations like this, all the memories of a season of broadly the same players doing the same thing come flooding back.
One game in and suddenly Birmingham has the feel of a crisis match. If we win convincingly the magic carpet is up and running. Another abject surrender and boy does Quinny have a(n even greater) task on his hands.
