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I'm sure I read someone earlier say that midfield was not a problem for Rovers today. Good grief, how badly can you read a game? All Birmingham's goals came as a result of their midfield running past ours into space. Ferguson and Tugay were pathetic defensively in the first half. They may be quality when they have the ball but without it they are a liability.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest! Anyway, we started the match like a house on fire. Some terrific football saw Reid attacking down the right (a recurring theme this) and playing a clever low cross into the middle. Dickov's step-over bought enough space for Jansen to smash the ball in and put us 1 up inside 5 minutes.
For a while we looked as good as we have all season. We looked confident, knocked the ball around with no small amount of skill, and had the likes of Emerton, Reid and Dickov making driving runs at the Brum defence.
Just as I was starting to enjoy myself Birmingham scored from their first real attack. A decent ball to Morrison caught our defence square. His cut-back found its way to Anderton on the edge of the six-yard box who finished easily. Anderton had run 30 yards to get into that position and no Rovers player came even close to tracking him.
Suddenly we looked a different team, all our early confidence drained away and we started losing possession and our composure. Birmingham stepped up a gear and got at us down their right. Melchiot ran past McEveley like he wasn't there for Birmingham's second goal, crossed low into the box, Reid ballsed up the clearance, and Savage finished in style. It was noticable how many players Birmingham had in the box compared to us. Again, none of our midfielders (except Reid) bothered to track back.
Five minutes later they got their third in an almost carbon-copy manner. Melchiot again ran past McEveley (who'd decided to go on a wander), again he crossed low into the box, but this time it was Dunn who applied the finish. He had masses of space.
Half time was a relief, it could have been any score if the half had gone on much longer.
Gallagher replaced the injured Jansen at half-time and we started to look better straight away. Dunn had dropped deeper into midfield at the start of the second half and you sensed that Birmingham were happy to protect what they had rather than kick on and put the game safe. This played into our hands as it meant that Ferguson in particular could get a grip on the game without having to worry too much about defending.
Still, it took the substitiution of Tugay for Thompson to act as the catalyst for our recovery. Thompson's first touch put Reid away clear on the right. He took his time and hit the shot well, but the goal owed a lot to a deflection. Who cares - we were back in the game.
It was all Rovers now and it was no surprise at all when the equaliser came. Thompson hit a long ball through the centre of Birmingham's defence for Dickov to run onto. Dickov got there first, held off the defender, but scuffed the finish. No matter, Gally was on hand to force the ball over the line from about a yard out.
We continued to dominate and Thompson, Reid (twice) and Ferguson all had chances to score. About ten minutes from the end though we started to look nervous, as if we weren't sure whether to defend what we had or push on for another goal. This allowed Brum back into it and the last few minutes were just like schoolboys football. Savage hit the post, both teams had numerous corners and free-kicks, and the ball flew from one end to the other with increasing speed.
Just as we'd settled for a draw, Dickov was put through at the death one-on-one with the keeper. The keeper saved but Dickov really should have done better. It would have been hard on Birmingham though - perhaps a draw was a fair result.
We defended shockingly at times in the first half, but to just blame our defence misses the point. After saying that though, our defenders were poor today. McEveley can only be in the team ahead of Gray because Hughes and his staff think he's a better defender, as McEveley gives us very little going forward. Well today McEveley gave us very little in defence. He looked very raw and inexperienced today and was at fault for two of Brum's goals.
All three goals were scored from the centre of the penalty area, an area of the pitch where our centre-halves should be dominating. And as I've said previously, all three goals came either directly or indirectly as a result of their midfielders running off ours. Oh, and Neill was as pants as ever.
Ferguson went some way to redeeming himself in the second half with a superb display. He controlled the tempo and flow of our game in that second period and all our good work went through him. Tugay showed some good touches but all too often he also showed some poor ones. He's not consistent enough for the Premiership anymore.
Reid was superb throughout - my man of the match. In the past few games he's given us some much needed solidity in midfield but today he also added a real attacking threat to his game. Their left back had a torrid time. He fully deserved his goal. Emerton continued to look like a quality player and was a threat every time he had the ball. His work-rate going forward is outstanding. If I had to criticise one thing though it would be the lack of help he gave young McEveley at left back.
I mentioned a couple of days ago that I'd seen nothing from Thompson to convince me that he could play centre-midfield. Well, maybe I did today. He looked class when he came on and gave us some much-needed creativity. However, this was against a team who were sitting back and defending for most of the half - it might be a different story if he plays there against a team who are committed to attacking us. Is he good enough defensively? Only time will tell I guess although I still have my doubts.
Jansen took his goal well but looked a little sluggish I thought. Maybe his injury was troubling him. Dickov worked his socks off as ever and improved as the game wore on. He should really have got the winner at the end though.
Overall you have to be happy with a point after coming back from two goals down. However, it's wins we need. The team showed it's got a tremendous amount of heart and committment today, but we still lack quality all over the pitch and we're still making daft mistakes that cost silly goals. If we win next week at Fulham then we can say we're on a decent 5 match unbeaten run. Lose and it's a long run without a win - and our confidence will be dented accordingly. It's that tight at the moment.
Match report written by Scotty
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