Blackpool in the Premier League 10 years on: No disgrace in defeat at Birmingham City

On this weekend a decade ago, Blackpool lost 2-0 at Birmingham City, and as STEVE CANAVAN reported in The Gazette at the time, it was a game where an opposition manager changed tactics to frustrate the Seasiders...

Some folk have a strange – if wonderful – view of life.

The brilliant comedian Steven Wright, for instance, has a great joke: “I went to a restaurant that serves ‘breakfast at any time’. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance”.

Oscar Wilde, meanwhile, on seeing Niagara Falls for the first time, remarked: “It would be more impressive if it flowed the other way”.

He’s got a point... unlike the Blackpool fan who accosted me outside the ground and barked at me: “We should be winning games like this”.

Ridiculous, and the kind of statement that must drive Ian Holloway mad.

Birmingham have lost once at home in 13 months. They finished in the top 10 of the Premier League last season and have a transfer kitty of £50m (which makes one wonder why they couldn’t afford better pre-match entertainment than a steel band playing ELO covers, but there you go).

Brum are, if we’re being honest, on a different planet to Blackpool.

I’m not saying the Seasiders had no chance of beating them.

As they’ve already proved at Liverpool, Newcastle and Wigan, Holloway’s men are well capable of mixing it with the bigger boys and showing what they’re made of, despite what they might lack in resources off the pitch.

The point is that there are inevitably going to be defeats this season and there is no shame in losing at St Andrew’s, a tough place to go.

Besides, Saturday’s contest was a bit of a compliment to Pool.

Alex McLeish, a canny manager if ever there was one, changed his tried and trusted formation to deal with what he termed the Seasiders’ ‘attacking threat’.

His four midfielders played in a diamond formation which worked a treat, stopping Holloway’s men playing their normal game.

Most affected was Charlie Adam, who found himself constantly surrounded by blue shirts every time he got the ball.

McLeish, of course, knows all about Adam from the days when he managed him at Glasgow Rangers, and was clearly determined to make sure his fellow Scot wasn’t given any space to play.

Adam’s frustrating day was crowned by a horrendous mistake for Birmingham’s decisive second goal (but you’d be wrong to criticise too severely, for how often has Adam been the hero?), then a nasty challenge which left him requiring a few stitches to his ankle.

Subbed just after the hour, Adam, so inspirational against Manchester City the week before, won’t be in a hurry to go to St Andrew’s again for a while.

As Adam’s plight proved, McLeish’s tactics were spot-on. But it was still a very close contest, with little to choose between the teams.

In the first half, in particular, I thought Blackpool were terrific and created several half-chances which, on another day, would certainly have gone in.

That said, Birmingham deserved their victory, though the outcome was only really decided by two corner kicks, both taken by Sebastian Larsson.

The first, on 37 minutes, was headed against the crossbar by giant striker Nikola Zigic and Liam Ridgewell was on hand to nod the rebound into an empty net.

Zigic, by the way, is at 6ft 8in the tallest player in the Premier League. He calls Peter Crouch ‘wee man’, which says it all.

Ian Evatt and the magnificent Craig Cathcart deserve great credit for keeping him quiet for the most part.

That made it 1-0, but it was only when Birmingham scored from another corner kick 13 minutes into the second half that the points were decided.

This goal did not make pretty viewing. After the flag kick came in, and the ball had pinged around for a while, Adam decided to take a touch on the ball in the six-yard box before clearing.

A fine plan, except that the touch was what might politely be described as on the heavy side and the ball rolled straight into the path of Zigic, who gleefully knocked it in from all of three yards.

Adam, as he won’t need telling, should have hoofed the ball clear. It knocked the stuffing out of the Seasiders, who didn’t look the same thereafter and the game cruised to its conclusion with Birmingham in full control.

Things might have been different had Gary Taylor-Fletcher got more power on a first minute header or if referee Anthony Taylor had spotted Ridgewell’s early handball in the penalty area.

Alas he didn’t, though if Holloway was cheesed off with that decision he didn’t show it afterwards.

“The referee was very, very good,” he said. Clearly he doesn’t fancy the idea of another £9,500 fine. Why, he could get another 100 chickens for that...

Pool improved towards the end when subs Keith Southern, Matt Phillips and Brett Ormerod added vigour and intent.

Southern had a couple of efforts and must surely be in line for his first Premier League start soon.

Phillips is in the same boat, he makes an impression every time he gets off the bench and deserves a longer runout.

Don’t be surprised to see that pair, plus Elliot Grandin (rather unfortunate to be omitted here), start against in-form West Brom next time out.

In the meantime, don’t be down about the result – for me, the 90 minutes were further evidence that Pool are in good nick and adapting rather nicely to life in the Premier League.

Continue to play like this and the points will come, though defending corners a little better is a must.

Blackpool: Gilks, Eardley, Evatt, Cathcart, Crainey, Vaughan, Adam (Southern 68), Taylor-Fletcher, Varney (Ormerod 73), Harewood (Phillips 68), Campbell.

Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgwell, Larsson, Ferguson, Hleb (Murphy 74), Fahey (Bowyer 66), O’Connor (Derbyshire 83), Zigic.