Dominant Blues draw a blank against stubborn Forest

BLUES 0 FOREST 0

The lingering feeling of frustration that remains in the air won’t evaporate without winning football matches. Today, Blues totally dominated the game against a Nottingham Forest side who were intent on leaving with a share of the spoils. The final third is still an obstacle that Blues are struggling to overcome. For all their possession and toil, Gianfranco Zola’s troops were toothless in front of goal.

In six games under Zola’s watch, Blues have enjoyed the lions share of the ball in four yet have only scored five goals. This afternoon followed a similar pattern. Only three shots on target from 65% possession tells it’s own story.

There’s no question of a plan A or plan B in Zola’s vocabulary. The only plan is a total commitment to play football the ‘proper’ way. It’s easy on the eye and entertaining. Yet, a club has never won points for being merely entertaining. Football will always be a results business regardless of the style a team plays.

For much of this game, Blues’ passing was laboured and too slow. Che Adams played like a man possessed during the early exchanges and was the biggest threat throughout. Craig Gardner’s introduction did much to inject some life into a subdued St. Andrews crowd. His long diagonals bought back pleasant memories from his first spell and his performance today, despite a lack of game time, makes him a shoo-in to start next weekend’s trip to Blackburn Rovers.

Blues tried every avenue in an attempt to break down the stubborn Forest defence who had kept only a solitary clean sheet prior to today. The one time both sides did bundle the ball into the net, the offside flag put a premature end to any celebrations.

On another day, a stone wall penalty could have been the way through but the referee didn’t award one despite a cross seemingly hitting a Forest arm inside the area.

A flurry of free kicks and corners, sent over dangerously by Gardner and David Cotterill, offered some minor scares to the visitors but it was to be one of those days.

Evidently, Blues aren’t a million miles away from being a good side. The foundations are there and the hope is that, given time, the right sort of players will be too. For now though, this one will have to go down as two points dropped.