Monk mad over Maupay antics
Ranieri rages as Kamara goes rogue
and would not let go despite appeals from his manager and captain Tom Cairney.
Kamara then saw his vital spot-kick saved by Terriers keeper Jonas Lossl.
Ranieri raged: “I said to Aboubakar Kamara to leave a chorus of boos. His response was to applaud the 600 travelling fans.
Referee Peter Bankes became the central figure of a match which was riddled with bad-tempered duels and accusations of diving, aimed primarily at Maupay.
Birmingham boss Garry Monk (right) said: “That is his make up. He does it every game. He got one of my players sent off for exactly that reason in the last game so we knew he was going to do it.
“Everyone in football knows he does it but he doesn’t seem to get punished for it. It was obvious by the way they got him off the pitch that the ball to Aleksandar Mitrovic... he is the man who shoots the penalties.
“It is unbelievable, he did not respect me, the club, the team and crowd. I spoke with him, it is not right.
“I want to kill him. That is normal when one man takes he was going to get himself into some trouble.”
Brentford’s Thomas Frank admitted he took off Maupay to save a possible red card.
Frank said: “He was on a booking and they were all over him so I thought it was best. He has scratches all the way down his back. I know that you have to handle it and he is clever too but he is smashed and hit every single game.”
In terms of the football, this was an instantly forgettable match.
Birmingham’s squad is arguably the smallest in the Championship which means that rotating is out of the question even when legs are heavy and players hit the wall. No a ball, only because he scored the last penalty (against Manchester United). It should be Mitrovic, that is it.”
Ironically it was Mitrovic who spared Kamara’s blushes by scoring a stoppage-time winner. one could fault the attitude of either side but chances were few and far between against a Brentford team who have managed to reach the turn of the year without a win on their travels.
They set out to frustrate and it worked. Last-ditch blocks, often from Julian Jeanvier, kept Birmingham at bay and meant an unbeaten run of three games for Frank’s team. Baby steps for the Dane, whose record so far is two wins in 13 games.
Frank added: “I thought we did well in the first half but we were not brave enough on the ball in the second. We need to be better but defensively we were solid.”