Blues have no time to WASTE during break!
BLUES have two weeks to lay the foundations to prevent this chaotic season from having the worst possible climax.
A third successive 1-0 defeat, this time to Watford, has put them on the cusp of the relegation places in the Championship. Huddersfield’s failure to defeat whipping boys Rotherham is the sole reason Blues are not spending the international break inside the bottom three.
All of the statistics are damning. Their run of five defeats in six games since manager Tony Mowbray stepped aside for medical treatment puts them at the bottom of the form table with Rotherham. Blues have taken 21 points from 27 matches since sacking John Eustace and replacing him with Wayne Rooney in October.
With no confirmed return date for Mowbray, interim boss Mark Venus has to battle on and see the job through. Blues have to make every second count on the training ground over the next fortnight.
What they must not do is waste it, like Rooney did in November. After four defeats in his opening five games as manager, he gave the players too much time off during that particular international break.
It should have been the perfect time to work on Blues’ transition in playing style but it was wasted. Blues can’t afford to let these next two weeks pass them by. Here are the talking points from Saturday’s defeat at St Andrew’s.
Good signs
Make no bones about it, Blues didn’t deserve to lose to Watford – but we can’t keep talking about performances at this stage of the season. Putting points on the board is the beall and end-all right now, as goalkeeper John Ruddy put so perfectly last week.
Ruddy insisted ideas and styles must go out of the window. Blues played with an intensity against Watford that wasn’t there against Middlesbrough and their supporters responded. Watford’s interim boss Tom Cleverley was full of praise, saying: “I thought Birmingham played well. I came to their game on Tuesday and thought they played in quite a flat way, today I thought they were excellent.”
Plaudits will never equate to points, though. Blues need to start grinding out some positive results.
Are they built to do that?
This is the greatest concern at the moment. Nobody is doubting Blues have quality in their squad, but are they likely to grind out three or four 1-0 wins? Everything on paper suggests they aren’t.
Blues have kept seven clean sheets in their 38 Championship games – only Rotherham (four) and Blackburn (six) have managed fewer. The other issue here is that Blues rarely score more than one goal. They have only managed that in 13 of the fixtures up to now. Blues have scored two goals or more in just two of their last ten matches – they have failed to score at all in five.
To make matters worse, Watford didn’t have to work for their goal. It was an absolute gift from Emanuel Aiwu who, until that point, had produced a faultless performance.
Mowbray’s return can’t come quickly enough
His health is more important than any football match or season outcome. His recovery over the past few weeks can’t have been aided by the results his team have had in his absence.
It is quite clear Mowbray’s return can’t come soon enough for all concerned. The players, coaches and fans need their leader.
Six weeks will have passed since he stepped aside when Blues host Preston on April 1. The initial statement presented a best-case scenario of six weeks, let’s hope it wasn’t far wide of the mark because Blues are in dire need of the boost Mowbray’s return would provide.