Blues hit by a Wall of frustration

After a positive run of results recently, I was quick to put a pin in the notion that Blues had turned the corner. I was also quick to call for calm after the home defeat to Millwall – Blues’ third successive loss in league and cup.

Now is not the time to panic. Did we all think that Blues were home and dry – perched comfortably on their Championship stool after the win at Sheffield Wednesday?

This was just another avoidable defeat. We’ve had many of them in the recent past, this was just the latest offering.

It was a game that, possession wise, Blues controlled without having any cutting edge. Steve Cotterill’s post-match interview confused the living daylight out of every man and his dog. His ‘the best team lost, we didn’t deserve to win, we didn’t desrve to lose’ comments baffled me.

No, Blues didn’t deserve to lose if your assessment is based purely on the stats. But when you don’t stick the ball in the net – or even create a clear cut chance – you most certainly don’t deserve to win.

Millwall came with a game plan and stuck to it rigidly. It worked. Steve Morison played his part winning every ball, flick on and 50/50 and Blues simply couldn’t handle him. Millwall didn’t create much, nor did they have to.

The moment Fred Onyedinma’s effort nestled in the back of David Stockdale’s net in the 77th minute, an away win was a dead cert. Blues huffed and puffed for 90 minutes but their failure to add to the squad in January is already haunting them.

Cotterill has been criticised recently for leaving his substitutions too late. This time, he acted swiftly by introducing Jota at the interval but, in hindsight, all that produced was more space for Millwall to drift into.

Che Adams must be wondering what he has to do to be awarded a start and Sam Gallagher must be screaming out for some support. To many onlookers the soluction seems glaringly obvious. But Cotterill won’t budge from his favoured system and he most definitely won’t choose to pair two strikers together.

The system has worked well in some games – but often a manager must have a plan B, something Cotterill doesn’t seem to have or indeed want.

While the performance didn’t warrant the booing at the final whistle, it was just another game in which Blues have lost and failed to score and the fans are becoming frustrated once again.

Vital Birmingham Man of the Match: Harlee Dean