Opinion: How can we break the St.Andrews hoodoo?

Saturday saw Blues fall to yet another disappointing home defeat as Gary Rowett’s side were narrowly beaten by the similarly under fire Charlton Athletic.

Blues have now failed to find the net in four out of the last five home matches, and this worrying stat doesn’t show any signs of letting up.

Many could point the finger at the devastating injury blow for top scorer Clayton Donaldson, who could face a further six weeks on the sidelines after aggravating a groin injury whilst on international duty.

However, the home woes of Blues have been down to something much more prominent than the leading marksman’s absence.

Gary Rowett has his heart set on a counter attacking style of play, which aims to soak up the pressure from the opposition and then break away quickly and exploit the gaps in the defence through the pace of the wide men, and the innovative craftsmanship of the number ten play maker.

With the weaker teams such as Rotherham United, Nottingham Forest and also Wolverhampton Wanderers aiming to adopt a defensive approach when visiting St Andrews, their defences have been harder to break down as a result of this.

Blues have been trapped in the attacking third, unable to explode away in any spaces out on the flanks due to the rigid back lines of our fellow second tier counterparts.

A ball that is pumped up-field would usually be a way of breaking this drought, however the normal striker, Clayton Donaldson or Nicolai Brock-Madsen in Saturday’s case, are being completely surrounded by opposition defenders leaving absolutely no outlet ball.

I feel because of this complete reluctancy to play two strikers, this drought will continue. Personally, I would link Brock-Madsen and Demarai Gray in a front two combination. This would give a chance for Blues to offer a direct style of play in hitting Brock-Madsen whilst also having the option of the runs in behind with the pace of Gray.

Instead of aiming to soak up that pressure of the away side, why not create the pressure ourselves and provide some entertaining football at St Andrews once again?

With a tough away match at unbeaten Brighton next up, perhaps that similar counter attacking formation should be continued for one more week.

But if Rowett doesn’t want a repeat of the recent home set backs, he should perhaps consider setting up slightly differently for the next home game against Huddersfield, another team who will look to sit back on us.

Blues fans, do you agree with the thoughts of Jack? What would you do to change the home form? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!