Football. Bloody Hell!
Posted by Ratbert in Birmingham, Bolton | 2 April 2006
Post match musings, and pre-match nerves... Bolton 1 Man United 2; Birmingham City v Bolton, St Andrews, Tuesday 4 April, 8pm
Well, that was crap. I felt in my heart it was our 'time' to finally give United the spanking we owe them, lord knows we've been mugged at home enough times by the red hordes. No such luck, sadly, and the practical head won the day. After a great start, we did an 'England against Brazil in the 2002 World Cup quarter final', that is meekly moving to one side whilst the opposition were there for the taking.
Valuable ground has been conceded in the race for Europe, with the inability to take advantage of Tottenham's patchy form, and the can-do-no-wrong Blackburn and Arsenal's ongoing prosperity. The risk now is that we stay stuck in seventh, or worse, flutter aimlessly into mid-table, an outcome we don't deserve - we are, in my opinion, worth another tilt at Europe given our exploits and arguable improvement this year, which is where the two games in hand come in.
Birmingham, if you remember, vanished into a haze of fog last November, and it's taken this long to arrange the re-run. I remember last time cacking myself at the thought of this game, as Birmingham were shite then, but as is the want of all struggling sides, about to get a gift-wrapped three points from the Whites, whose inepitiude against what is cannon-fodder to everyone else is well-charted. If anything, the banana skin has increased in size and slipperiness. Birmingham are fimly entrenched in the bottom three, and, just a fortnight after getting the spanking of their lives from Liverpool, have recovered enough pride to grind out a draw with the champions.
We, by contrast, are looking a bit crap right now and for the taking. Birmingham City will fancy their chances, and it would set the relegation battle alight if they could bag three points against us. That said, Bolton must surely know after Saturday just what is needed. No slip ups; and a trademark bounce back from adversity, something the team is good at. Last season's terrific 2-1 win will surely be upmost in their minds, and given El Hadji Diouf's star turn in that match, his restoration to the ranks will surely give the rest of the side the buzz it needs. And a start for Borgetti, in the land of Spaghetti Junction, might be worth a punt - go for goals early on, break the brittle Birmingham spirit, and get the season back on track in style.
Prediction: 2-1 either way. Just call me Trevor Brooking!
