And then there were three
From Birmingham, onto Berkshire; the must win game moves.
Reading's win at Norwich City, thanks to Shane Long's two goals, has set up one heck of a showdown and made Blues failure to book their Premier League ticket on Saturday all the more galling.
Blues lose at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday, Sheffield United do no better than draw - and it's the Royals who go up automatically.
No question, Blues blew it against Preston North End. At 1-0 up - their favourite scoreline this season - you expected them to have seen the game out.
But four minutes after Keith Fahey's goal, Lee Bowyer and Lee Williamson tangled like pair of rugby league players, went forehead to forehead, and were sent-off.
Bowyer was daft to become embroiled as he did, especially as he was on a yellow card anyway. However, especially with emotions pumped and the stakes in the game so high, you're never going to get him to act like a shrinking violet.
Phil Dowd is the sort of referee you can accurately describe as officious. He makes his mind up, and that's it. Taking into consideration the magnitude of the game, he should have realised it was not a violent confrontation and had a word.
In the Scottish Cup semi-final hours earlier in the day, there was a flare-up involving Rangers' Mo Edu and St Mirren's Stephen McGinn that incorporated a hard push in the chest and a slap in the face.The referee in that instance, Calum Murray, told them to calm down and get on with it.
It was a further eight minutes after the red cards until Paul McKenna smashed a stunning equaliser. In those eight minutes, should Alex McLeish have sent on Lee Carsley, probably for the ineffective Garry O'Connor, and shored it up? Quite possibly.
Although it was 10 against 10, by having four across the middle of the park and James McFadden up front - who can keep hold of the ball to allow others to join in - Blues might have stifled the eager threat Preston carried.
That said, you can't legislate for two such well struck long range goals, nor Blues turning in one of those performances that they have done on occasions at home, just when it was least needed. They weren't quite firing, they missed chances, they were on edge at the back.
Talk about problems at home, though, and thoughts turn straight to Reading.
The Madejski Stadium has become a temple of doom: four defeats and three draws in their last seven games there, and just two goals.
Away, they are unbeaten in nine games.
The pitch, churned up because of the ground share with London Irish Rugby Club, won't be something that Blues will complain about either.
Here's what Dave Kitson - a McLeish summer and January target - had to say about it: "It's not the only excuse but all the lads will tell you it is a very big factor and people don't realise that.
"Our away record has been excellent but we haven't won in seven home games and I'm certain that is the reason why. I just hope it will be OK for Birmingham."
Something's not been right with Reading this season, they haven't clicked as they should considering the type of players they have and they way they like to play.
They have beaten Wolves twice and rattled in three goals defeating Blues at St Andrew's, and their team has been kept more or less in tact for around three years.
But they don't have the same ruthlessness as the 2006 version that romped the division and then finished eighth in the Premier League.
That said, undoubtedly last night's result was a killer for Blues.
Blues wanted Reading out of the equation and obviously therefore less motivated.
Steve Coppell probably would have held back some of his key players. James Harper, Chris Armstrong were missing against Norwich, Noel Hunt is out with a broken bone in his foot and Kevin Doyle's knee isn't quite right, hence why he was on the bench at Carrow Road.
Reading's superior goal difference now gives them a big, big sniff.
Sheffield United are at Crystal Palace, and the conspiracy theories involving Neil Warnock have surfaced.
Although Warnock is a well known Blade for life, apparently he and Kevin Blackwell aren't exactly the best of buddies and he left Bramall Lane in acrimonious circumstances.
However, it won't be a team of Warnocks out on the pitch. Neither a team of Simon Jordans, however much that would appeal to him. Palace's players have no history, no beef with Sheffield's; you have to base the predictions for Sunday on Palace's players being on the beach already.
So here we go again; for the second week running Blues have it there before them, only this time it's now got a whole lot tougher.
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Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum’s view of what’s going on at Birmingham City FC.
We all knew it was going to come down to the last game of the season - this is Blues we were never going to do it the easy way!! End of the road and all that .....
these players have got no bottle they will lose at reading and get dumped out in the semis mark my words there are to many players down there taking the michael big time back in the 80"s blues fans would never have stood for this shower these players are a disgrace to our once proud club KRO SOTV
Apex, if they win and go up are they still a disgrace? They are not a shower. The relegated teams players are a shower. This kind of attitude makes it no wonder that Blues players feel like they are playing the opposition and their own fans!
Apex is both right and wrong. Some players are coasting but the main reason for us not playing to potential is McLeish's crazy tactics and selections. I was chuffed when we got him but he's just not good enough.
O'Connor is not back to form or full fitness and McLeish leaves our top scorers on the bench for most of the game.
When we needed leadership after Bowyer turned into Stone Cold Steve Austin, he dithered and let Preston exploit the gap in midfield.
There were better managers on the terraces on Saturday and the bulk of the fans know this. This is why we all left early. It's not the players we're angry with as much as McLeish. They seem to have done it in spite of him.
What manager starts a season by saying we haven't got the skill in midfield to play football?
After what they did to us at St Andrew's I fear for us at Reading, but I'll gladly eat my words if we sneak the win.
Just read your article on 27/04/09.
Did Rangers not clinch title against Hibernian after Scott McDonald scored twice for Motherwell?
Good luck to Blues on Sunday.
Gents
Now is not the time for moaning and slagging players, managers etc. off.
We really need to try and lift everybody over the next 5 days.
Saturday was a real kick in the wotsits but listen if we win on sunday we are up. The bookies still have us as favourites for promotion.
Deep down the players know that they ballsed it up on Saturday and they do not want to be in the play offs so lets hope they can be real men on sunday and carry the citys name with pride.
KRO
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Job Description: To weld the roof back onto a double decker bus.
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Why did McLeish waste most of the match against Preston by starting with O'Connor and McFadden up front?
We started the game with our two top goalscorers and our captain (also the only Brummie in the team) on the bench.
We began the match with absolutely no pace on the pitch. Sinclair has been dropped out of site after good performances.
Phillips needs to start his record proves that. Jerome with one leg is more effective than O'Connor.
This team selection was worse than the Charlton line-up.
Get it right this weekend please Alex, it's pretty easy to just pick your best team. We'll even call them Hamish Jerome and Kevin McPhillips for afternoon if that helps.
McLeish has done well to get us into this position with no money, the board sniping and ridiculing him and ignoring Kitson, Roberts, Watson, Mills etc and preferring loans, players who were left over from Bruce's pile of rubbish and a load of injuries to the key players. He has also had to deal with moaning whining fans who don't quite understand football and the fact that the root cause of all this is the board and the lack of ambition
Sinclair has been awful out of his depth. The team selection was right players didn't perform simple. Johnson deserved to stay in, McFadden was probably our most dangerous player. I agree that Phillips and Jerome have to start now
Harry - are you serious? I think it's Mr Mcleish who doesn't understand football. Who else would leave his two top goalscorers on the bench for the most important home game of the season?
Jerome and Phillips have scored nearly half of all of our goals this season. Lee Carsley is the reason why our defensive record has been so good because he patrols in front of the back four making tackles in the area where the first goal came from.
McLeish has Zarate on the bench - the alarm bells should have been ringing then for anyone who 'knows football'
Crazy team selections have disabled Blues on so many occassions this season and that's down to one man
Poor team selection. Phillips and Jerome should start, its obvious. Bowyer sent off ? then bring on Carsley, its obvious. Johnson and Fahey played well but with Larsson already injured, our midfield was overwhelmed. And our defence just retreated from the ball instead of attacking it. Poor tactics. obvious even to big eck ? or not ?
Any blues fan using this space to moan have sums up my feelings about the club this year: it's the not the board, manager or players who have annoyed me, it's the fans!
Apparently McLeish doesn't know what he's doing and the players have no bottle - we should swop with Norwich and that would soon put into perspective how well off we are. Before we had a few years in the Prem' I would have been in dreamland to have spent most of the season in the top few places.
We are good enough - even if we have to do it in the play-offs!
C Smith - we thought we had moved on. Harry H - apart from Muamba and Kapo this team is virtually identical to last season's. They should have walked this league. Remember why we were all fed up of Steve Bruce? The BAD football. Who could ever have anticipated a new manager could possibly make it WORSE? And then, when we need ten defenders on the pitch, the plank goes and leaves 2 up front with Carsley on the bench. It defies belief. Oh, and it has been obvious from very early on that this man knows little about football. Remember he was 'only going to sign players who would improve things?' Apart from the chance signing of Carr, that looks like so much hot air to me. Costly, Sinclair, Traore, Bouazza - what an improvement on what we already had, eh? OK he's a nice person but I'd rather have Hitler in charge if it meant we'd actually get somewhere.
What will you say Tatts when the boring negative defence first football we played up to the end of Jan - that you defended so vigorously as being the best method and saying we needed to grind out results comes back and bites us on the rear end and we miss out on goal difference?
That 'boring, negative, defensive football' as you call it - which it wasn't actually - kept Blues in touch as it was clear the team could not create and take enough chances, and never has been able to all season. I didn't defend it 'vigorously' either, simply pointed out that Blues were better suited to going down that route, especially with the St Andrew's pitch, and relying on their core strength. Nobody has been happy at the lack of goals, the lack of free-flowing football but no team has played like Fulham did a few years back in sweeping the league aside either, not even the title winners themselves. Lack of goals has been Blues Achilles Heel and I have certainly made that a criticism on numerous occasions.
Anonymous, which says it all, Eck sure wanted to bring in better players but hasn't been able to because of this board. That is obvious. They want cheap, cheerful, loans, frees, so they can make a profit.How many loans do Reading have or Wolves? There is no long term ambition with this board and the manager if it's Eck Bruce or whoever will suffer. Those who want Curbishley please save us! He turns out boring teams and knows less about tactics than Bruce as for Martinez had time to build his team, he wouldn't get that at Blues and the fans would crucify him for 20 draws. It's not the manager who should go but this board
I think we may just get the required result on sunday,no matter who plays.
Its just a shame that most of the usual brilliant away fans wont be there,when the team need them most.
1,000 plus 500 on the £99 package,coach lunch at Newbury,programe and free match ticket,no questions asked only credit card details.
St Andrews car parks going to be full of 4 + 4s,jags,and the likes on sunday morning.
Hope the prawn sandwich brigade are going to get behind the team.[bet they have all got sky at home as well]
I will at home listening on the radio and kicking every ball with the boys.
Good Luck Boys,YOUR THE GREATEST.
Laurel.
It won't matter which division we're in next season it will be as miserable as 'eck.
Gold has already stated there will be no money, how motivating is that for management, players and supporters?
Obviously over the years there has been a rule in place that we have been unaware of that states, unlike other football clubs BCFC can't receive any milliions from TV, no income from season ticket sales, sponsorship, money from the sale of players, parachute payments, revenue from the sale of BCFC brand products, matchday tickets, catering sales, advertising etc, etc, etc.
Of course that begs the question, where exactly does the money get to?
If there is no such rule then surely replacing the Jeff Hall wristwatch and installing undersoil heating and a big screen (I'll beleive it when I see it) can't have drained the finances that much can it? I guess its the fans fault for being so demanding regarding these major improvements to St. Andrews.
everyone was crying out for carsley to come on after bowyers tussle,just hope am realizes sooner on sunday that IF blues are struggling and IF changes need to be made he actually thinks about it before putting managerial blunders into place yet again!
bouazza for me should of played saturday instead of jonty,2 bright sparks to come out of our season 1,steven carr one of the best right backs i have seen at blues for many a year and 2,keith fahey seems a jem of a player with a lot to give for blues with hopefully us in the premier next season
wishing all the best to BCFC supporters and players alike for the last 90 mins of our season
and hopefully we will have at last a reason to celebrate,