Europa League reflections

So how was it for you, Birmingham City's European Tour 2011?

A shame, naturally, that it wasn't prolonged further. Or course.

But regardless, it was a blast.

And Blues - the club, management, players and supporters - came out of it with huge credit.
What Blues did, coming so close to going through to the knockout stage should not be sniffed at.

And at the end the margins were fine: Nikola Zigic's penalty miss in Braga and a fluke goal from Hugo Viana; a freak turnaround in Slovenia where Club Brugge won 4-3 after being 3-0 adrift.

To finish on 10 points and not qualify, and defeat and draw with the eventual group winners (David Murphy hit the crossbar in the home game too), should be viewed with pride.

As should the way the supporters who trekked round following the team abroad conducted themselves.

They carried the city's name with them and from Madeira to Slovenia, Brugge and through to mainland Portugal, they earned respect, admiration and would be welcome back any time by the host venues.

The accent was on enjoyment, embracing the experience and the football (plus the alcohol), not seeking out trouble.

For sure Blues could have been drawn in a tougher group. And the travelling could have been worse.

But this was a relegated, rebuilt and rookie European side basically adapting on the hoof that was thrown into the competition.

In the first game, the play-off at CD Nacional, the only Carling Cup final starters who lined-up were Stephen Carr - and he was then excused duty to rest his 34-year-old legs for the entire group stage - and Liam Ridgewell, who was pressed into an emergency holding midfield role because of injuries. Incredible to think, really.

That first European game - after a 50-year hiatus - was eagerly awaited by supporters, and although the crowd was small on Madeira and Blues were restricted to less than 700 tickets, it quickly dawned on Chris Hughton and the players just how much it all meant.

I suspect that, at first, they were a little blase about the Europa League. That, because Blues weren't expected to do anything and the league was all important, especially with the parlous financial state of BIHL, it could be treated with less focus.

But the mood quickly changed and Chris Hughton, an upstanding man of integrity, grasped the importance and the possibilities a run in the competition could have as a positive, galvanising force.

Before he addressed the media on Madeira in the mandatory UEFA pre-match press conference, he took me to one side to quickly confirm how long it had been since Blues last competed on this stage; he respected and understood the significance.

The players too fed off the supporters' fervour, not just at games but from meeting Bluenoses in the street.

Europe was always a topic of conversation and I remember Steven Caldwell - an intelligent thinker, future management material - speaking eloquently about how much of a honour it was to play in the competition and also recognising the place in club history the current squad had.

The Europa League was not a hindrance to Blues, it was a help.

After coming back from Maribor, where Blues won their first European away game since a 2-1 victory at Internazionale in the Fairs Cup in April 1961, the squad were floating and embarked on a nine-game unbeaten run.

For Hughton it was quite a juggling act between domestic and foreign. He had the courage of his convictions to make changes for Europe and trust the squad.

Not everyone agreed with the selection policy but, as Curtis Davies remarked, the difference between the group is not marked; it's not as if Blues have a definitive first choice eleven and the rest are of a sub-standard, just there to make up the numbers.

Consider that Hughton picked probably what was deemed his strongest side at Braga and Blues lost.

Pablo, Guirane N'Daw and Wade Elliott benefitted from Europa League exposure, Murphy was absolutely tremendous and just look at what Nathan Redmond did.

Speaking to foreign coaches, players and journalists, they were never sure what to make of Blues.

They knew they had been relegated, lost at lot of players and would be committed - the usual British stereotype - but deep down all expected them to be the group whipping boys.

Blues used that and their second-tier standing to their advantage.

They approached games not like others might have done in Europe - be cagey, slow it down, cat and mouse - but as Championship encounters.

Go and attack, be open, enjoy it, try and win was the mantra, and all of their opponents found this approach uneasy on their own patch.

If anything, it made Blues a more dangerous opponent.

At Brugge, for a 30-minute spell in the first-half, with 5,500 roaring them on, Blues basically wiped the floor with their hosts.

And the supporters still had the good grace to remember the 23rd minute applause for François Sterchele. What a classy touch that was, and they did it at home, too, when there was no real need.

One Belgian journalist remarked to be after the game over there '. . . and Birmingham played really good football and passed the ball too', He wasn't being nasty or patronising, he was simply impressed and enjoyed it as well.

At St Andrew's, the Nacional game was something special. A full house was totally relaxed, totally behind the team and determined to enjoy the first big European night in B9 for 50 years.

And once Redmond fired the opening goal and announced his teenage talent with such breathtaking aplomb, that was it - what a carnival.

Nobody liked playing at Blues and every side, their management, players and officials, remarked on the atmosphere, even the experienced hand Nuno Gomes.

To the wider English public, Blues involvement in the Europa League was a kind of aberration and not taken that seriously.

I chatted with one national hack at the last group match and he spoke about the Carling Cup victory being 'freakish'. No it wasn't. Unexpected, yes, deserved, yes - Blues fully earned the right to compete on the European stage.

The competition may be looked upon snobbishly by many our shores, plus Manchester United and Spurs, but for Blues, their supporters, us Brummies, it meant something.

Many of us will probably be pushing up daisies before Blues win a major trophy and play in Europe again.

So it was embraced unashamedly, enjoyed and treated with respect. Blues enriched the competition with their presence - and had a bloody good go at it.

Let's not forget either that the entertainment value was high. Group H was arguably the best, the most unpredictable, played in the right spirit.

The combebacks, the attacking football, the sense of occasion - it was memorable.

And the days in Brugge, the atmosphere in the Market Square and at the ground, the way the victory came about, that was one of the most uplifting, indelible highs in Blues history.