Blues lose hard fought derby

Aston Villa 1 Blues 0

In between all the hype and expectation of a second city derby, it’s easy to forget that three points are up for grabs. And if 90 minutes ever summed up Blues’ season, this was it.

For all the heart, endeavour, blood, sweat and tears – Blues carried very little goal scoring threat. For all of the huff and puff, there was no attacking outlet.

The same can be said for both sides. It was a game of two chances. Che Adam skied Blues’ into row Z when it looked easier to score, Gabby Agbonlahor took theirs. It’s as simple as that.

Of course, Steve Bruce only uses Agbonlahor for the derbies. He spends most of his spare time in the bakery, but you can’t deny him his prolific record against Blues. The fact he only touched the ball twice makes the outcome all the more aggravating. And that is Blues’ season to a tee.

This was a typical Championship derby – very short on quality. Amazing to think Villa have spent £80m to assemble a squad that was no better than their visitors.

Harry Redknapp will have learned more about his squad in the 90 minutes today than he did in the 72 hours prior to kick off.

After a first half in which Blues were the better side, they were feeding off scraps in the second. Bruce had a game plan to keep it tight with Blues’ woeful record in front of goal in mind.

Greg Stewart’s introduction livened Blues up for the final 15 minutes. He put a beautiful ball in which David Davis headed over. Apart from that, there was a worrying lack of composure about Blues in the final third.

You can’t fault the players today. Every single one of them worked their socks off. It just wasn’t to be.

Harry has a plan though. He’ll save us. The organisation shown today was a vast improvement when compared to recent weeks. And that will hopefully see Birmingham City through.