Siriki Dembele of Birmingham City with the ball while Andy Smith of Hull City is under pressure. (Photo: Getty Images, 2024))
Following a 1-1 draw in their FA Cup third round match on Saturday, Birmingham City and Hull City will play four times this season. The winner of the replay match at St Andrew’s will determine who moves on to the fourth round. Lukas Jutkiewicz had given interim manager Steve Spooner the perfect start when he bent to head home in the first twenty minutes, but Matt Jacob’s header and Neil Etheridge’s careless cross at the end denied what would have been a valiant and long-overdue away victory.
For what would likely be his lone game in temporary command, Spooner made seven changes.Kevin Long entered the game out of the cold, and Neil Etheridge, Krystian Bielik, Koji Miyoshi, and Gary Gardner also got off to starts. There were many changes on both sides, as Hull was without players like Liam Delap, Jaden Philogene-Bidace, and Jean Michael Seri (the latter due to AFCON).
All things considered, this was a lot more like Blues, both collectively and specifically in terms of defense. These are the points of discussion.
In general, you would have wanted a reaction at first from Blues. The work off the ball, keeping their shape, and the counterattacking when it was permitted, which could have resulted in additional goals, were the nasty aspects of the game. It was nearly the ideal away day plan, with Spooner’s suggestions being carried out to the letter in a matter of minutes.
While it’s true that ITV4 won’t be considering this match when choosing reruns for Big Match Revisited, Blues fans who traveled north didn’t require it to be a thrilling match in and of itself, especially at this juncture in the team’s history. They answered that question, even though it wasn’t victory and advancement to round four, but rather discipline and a unified front.
The players have had a bit of an audition here for the new man who will, if expected, be taking training from next week. This is especially true for the traveling supporters who expressed their gratitude to the players at the end for supporting them throughout and showing aggression and a will to hold onto their lead. Though they didn’t win, Blues’ performance met a lot of expectations.
Kevin Long submitted the show of a man who had participated in every game for the previous three months in ninety minutes. It’s difficult to imagine he hasn’t played since Wayne Rooney’s first home game as manager when these two teams faced in the league, but on this display, it seemed like he had always been there.
It’s possible that Long won’t play raking passes out to the flanks in order to build from the back. He’s no nonsense, courageous, and obviously has a working relationship with Dion Sanderson, who would have welcomed having him back after being called in from the cold. He’s good at what he does.
“I was concerned that players hadn’t had that long game time coming into this, but we spoke about it as staff and we planned for plan B, plan C and what subs we were going to use and when,” Spooner stated. But that’s Kevin, and it speaks volumes about the man. Being a skilled player, he probably took care of himself while he was not playing. They defended as a unit—the entire back four, but Jukey led from the front as well.”
Even though Blues’ performance wasn’t perfect and they missed a lot of good opportunities, you can sometimes be happy with a victory nonetheless. If Blues had triumphed away from home, after defending their lead and goal with tenacity and aggression, during a period when their manager is in transition, that would have been greatly appreciated.
It was unfortunate that Etheridge made a careless mistake just when they had a chance to ensure that result, since they were just two or three minutes away. Players—goalkeepers included—don’t intentionally commit mistakes, especially because they frequently result in a goal being given up. This marred Etheridge’s otherwise respectable performance, as he rarely has the chance to put pressure on the Blues in league play with John Ruddy on board.
“He apologized, but it wasn’t necessary,” Spooner disclosed. “Unfortunately, you’re at the end bit and it goes in when you’re a goalie. It’s a fact of life in the game that other players make blunders. They are only human, the players have helped him, and we will help him too.
Actually, the Blues haven’t had a lot of manager changes during the season in previous years. Undoubtedly, they have overcome a great deal, yet during their individual tenures, players like Lee Bowyer, Pep Clotet, and Garry Monk all left during the off-season. But now that they have another mid-season appointment scheduled for this campaign, they are making up for that record.
All evidence suggests Tony Mowbray. The 60-year-old has a wealth of Championship experience, a proven track record of playing excellent football, and the ability to develop gifted young players, all of whom Blues have in abundance. His reputation has only grown since leaving Sunderland, where Black Cats lamented his dismissal from the team following their FA Cup derby loss to Newcastle.
The replacement man will arrive on schedule. Blues still have much of the transfer ahead of them if they want to make changes to the team, which had a substantial rebuild in the summer, to be fair. Now that the club’s external management has stabilized after years of instability, it is time for visible signs of improvement to appear on the field.