Zola sets 50 points challenge for Blues
GIANFRANCO Zola has challenged Birmingham City to ease their relegation fears by reaching 50 points – sooner rather than later.
Blues are on 46 points, six points above the Championship relegation places.
The Italian boss admits his team cannot begin to relax until they clock up a half-century of points – and even then he reckons they might need more to make absolutely sure of safety.
“I know how this season has been so far,” said Zola, whose side were beaten 3-1 at Brighton on Tuesday after recording three straight draws.
“I didn’t drop my attention or my defences. I know we will have to get to those 50 points to consider us to be in a better situation might not be enough.
“If you ask me ‘Are we nearly there?’ I say until I see it I won’t drop my concentration levels.”
Zola denied Birmingham’s defeat at Brighton was a setback. Blues conceded early goals in both the first and second halves and a third in the 54th minute to give themselves a mountain to climb.
They pulled one back through Che Adams but the defensive solidity apparent against Cardiff, Newcastle and Ipswich was absent at The Amex.
But the boss wanted to put the result in context.
“I don’t think it’s a step back because of the way the team played,” he said. “And don’t forget we were playing a team that is top of the league and, above all, their home record is probably the best in – and it the Championship. I came into the game with a very good feeling, I thought we were going to stand a very good chance and for the type of strikers we had up front we could have caused them problems.
“That is the regret I have but other than that I don’t think it’s a step back.”
He attributed Blues’ self-inflicted defeat to their ‘sloppy start’.
Zola picked a slightly more offensive side than in the previous three draws.
But the whole effort was undermined by the fact Blues were caught on the counter in the first 70 seconds as Glenn Murrray gave the hosts a lead they would never lose.
Tomer Hemed scored in the second minute of the second half before Uwe Hunemeier made it 3-0 in the 54th minute. That rendered Che Adams’ late strike little more than a consolation. “If I take away probably the ten seconds for the first goal and the 20 seconds for second goal, yes, I would say we deserved something more,’’ said Zola.
“But unfortunately for my reasoning this is football. It’s not the 88 minutes that you play that determines the result, it’s that minute in which you lose attention or concentration aganst a good team like Brighton – you are going to lose the game.
“That’s exactly what happened. We started sloppy, we conceded a goal and then we came back strong, we had two very, very good chances when we should have scored.
“We were in the game, playing well and then the second half the same. We started like that and put ourselves in difficulties.
“That’s the reality of the game.”