Dreaming the dream

The sonar has just gone 'ping'.

For most of a season Blues have gone under the radar.

Since relegation and Alex McLeish's sensational walk-out, it's been about court appearances, financial crisis, player sales, cramming in European games and playing catch-up in the Championship.

They've gone under radar, all right - but not anymore.

Level on games with most of their rivals now, Blues sit third in the Championship table after the victory over Portsmouth on Tuesday and are unbeaten in a dozen games (all competitions).

And the rest of the league, and the country, are taking notice of the sterling, marvellous efforts of Chris Hughton and his players - and with some fear, as well.

Graham Taylor was on the radio a fortnight ago and apropos nothing in particular volunteered his view that Blues would be promoted this season. The silence among his fellow pundits was deafening.

That's because nobody, apart from outside this region, really knows what to make of, or say about, Blues.

To some they're the team who won the Carling Cup, got relegated, lost their manager to their rivals and are going under . . . aren't they?

It's no coincidence that in five of the last six pre-match media conferences Hughton has given at Wast Hills, your Birmingham Mail correspondent has been the only newspaper/online journalist present.

All that's changing now, with Blues on the fringe of the top two and continuing to confound, surprise and delight.

And the increased scrutiny and pressure shouldn't have an adverse effect on them. Hughton and his coaching staff are too shrewd for that, and there are a glut of very experienced, strong characters in a squad that is very close and together.

They only nagging fear is that because of the volume of games - Blues are up to 41 played now - and the relatively lean squad, they could fall just short and burn out.

But at present, their sharpness, durability and fitness is not in question.

Blues have scored 20 of their 63 goals this season between the 80th - 90th+ minutes and it's hard to recall a game when they didn't finish stronger than the opposition.

Hughton's subtle selection alterations throughout the season have worked. Everyone has been involved, and importantly everyone has also stepped up and played a part and made a contribution. One or two loan signings to add some freshness and vigour should also help.

Jean Beausejour's sale could hurt Blues perhaps more than imagined.

A clever, creative footballer, Beausejour counter-balanced right winger Chris Burke's qualities nicely and added positively to the overall team shape. He also worked prodigiously hard going the other way and built up a good understanding with that Roberto Carlos impersonator, David Murphy.

Since his departure Hughton has started Morgaro Gomis and Jordon Mutch wide on the left, players who, in my book, are not suited to the position. They will do a job and work the line, sure, but they are at their most effective in central midfield.

This could become a vexed issue in the coming weeks, especially if Hughton opts not to pick either Nathan Redmond or Wade Elliott there regularly, both of whom would provide a better balance to the side.

But certainly it's not something the manager isn't aware of and, let's be fair, in a season of so many questions, Hughton has usually come up with the right answers.

Overall, he has had Blues performing with élan. There's been genuine width and wing play, patient but purposeful passing, chances, goals.

Recalling some of his early training sessions during pre-season in Ireland, he kept barking out 'pass, pass, pass, pass' during practice games and intoned the players to look forwards, not backwards.

Hughton has got Blues going out to win games, to take games to the opposition. The performances away in the Europa League were testament to that. There was no caginess, they went after Club Brugge for example and they didn't know what to make of it.

But also the bedrock is there - the top defensive unit in the Championship, whatever the combination.

Foster, Dann, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Parnaby have all gone but no matter.

I wrote at the season's start that Blues arguably had the best defence in the division; there's no argument now.

The group as a whole all work very hard. Watch how Burke is relentless up and down the flank, Nikola Zigic covers around 2km more per game than the average Championship striker.

Blues have kept eight clean sheets in their last 11 games. That's the
best sequence since 2003. They went 490 minutes without conceded a league goal between October and November.

At St Andrew's - where they remain unbeaten - only six have been let in, which is remarkable going.

With four of the five teams immediately below them to come at St Andrew's, Blues are handily placed to dream what many felt was an impossible dream in May.