Random festive thoughts

I've not seen Didier Drogba battered into submission before; well done Roger Johnson. He's like the Grim Reaper on your back all the time.

Big Rog gets a lot of the plaudits, deservedly so, but Scott Dann's a man, too. The pair are turning into a Bruce-Pallister type of combination.

Joe Hart made the point that he hadn't had that much to do, before Chelsea and Stoke City. The mark of a good goalkeeper is one who can come out of cold storage and make stops like he has when required.

Blues would be barmy if they didn't make Manchester City an offer for Hart in January. However, both player and his parent club are likely to keep their options open.

James McFadden dreads the substitutes' board going up. Keith Fahey replaced him in three straight games before the trip to Stoke. He begged Alex McLeish not to can him at the Britannia Stadium when the change came . . . Sebastian Larsson was taken off.

I've not heard a crowd cheer and roar so loudly when their team gets a throw-in or a corner like the Stoke lot.

Yes, Stephen Carr fouled Robert Huth, but the free-kick that led to the incident should have gone to Blues, for a foul on Carr. Swings and roundabouts . . .

Hands up who thought the Stoke match, a couple of days after Chelsea, might have been a game too far? The unbeaten run continued to an 11th game, a proud record-equaling achievement.

Fair play to McLeish for keeping the same team. It would have been easy to have made changes, but why muddle a winning formula? Ride the wave until it breaks.

Blues have not selected the same starting XI for eight matches in a row ever before, to my knowledge. They equaled a Premier League best for continuity too.

Are Blues eight points away from avoiding relegation, or 18 points from their highest Premier League total and maybe a possible nibble at Europe? You decide.

Blues have now kept nine clean sheets. In their previous best season in the Premier League, 2003-04, they posted 18 shut-outs all told.

Liam Ridgewell is really a ballboys' best friend. But as for his 'long throw', he would be better off doing it underarm. But then again, that's all part of the plan to make a point and wind up the opposition.

The year 2009 can be looked back on with satisfaction by McLeish and his staff. Promotion from the Championship, Blues got there in the end, despite all the pressures; Premier League participation has been far, far more than just making up the numbers.