This is no special match report as, well, there's been no match so far. It's 9.21 am on the final day of the Premier League season, and in just over five and a half hours Blues will kick off at St Andrews against Blackburn Rovers. So, what's it to be for next season; home to Manchester United or Home Park? The red of Liverpool or the red of Doncaster? The beautiful stadiums and fantastic players and general "place-to-be" of the Premier League, or Burnley?
I know there are people who say that they would "rather go down" and play "proper teams", but I wouldn't. I'd rather watch us play Premier League teams and compete with those. Even if you go down, there's still the same complaints - times get changed for television (admittedly not as many, but then we've hardly had a great deal this season), ticket prices are often over the top for the standard of football that you watch and Blues will lose games you really expect them to win. Yes, they'll win a few more (hopefully...), but it's just watching football, at the end of the day, and there'll be complaints at all levels.
So there you go, I want to stop up. Can we? Yes. Will we? I'm not convinced to be honest.
Firstly, there's the whole, "Blues will always let you down" thing, and to an extent, it's true. It's an absolutely beautiful day, and it's all set up for a club celebrating survival and their fans dancing on a pitch. How often is it Blues in those circumstances though? Yes, there was Charlton at home all those years ago, but that was a lower level and didn't mean as much as this does, in a way. Yes, we had a good day out at the Millennium Stadium in beating Norwich City, but let's be honest, it was about bloody time. Blues just aren't a club that get to enjoy these kind of days - it's something we almost have to accept. By the same token, it's something Blues fans almost revel in. What would we sing about and moan about if we had fantastic last-day stories to tell every season? The fact that all of our seasons end in a complete and utter whimper, well, that's what makes Blues Blues. Would we want it any other way? (Well, of course we would.)
To survive today, Blues almost need to free themselves from those "always rubbish, always fail" shackles, and that's no easy feat. Anyone who was at Craven Cottage last week will tell you that. Blues do have a few things in their favour though. Possibly the most important one is that they're at home, whilst Reading and Fulham are both away. As such, Blues will be in the midst of their own partisan atmosphere (hopefully, again). A day like this SHOULD (not the emphasis) lend itself to a fantastic atmosphere. There's also the free clapperboards at the ground. Personally I think it's a sad day that Blues as a club are having to resort to such a thing, but again, those at Craven Cottage will know that they do make some noise, so hopefully it will help. Whether you agree with it or not, it should help create an atmosphere. Is it shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted though?
If the board were so concerned about generating an atmosphere at St Andrews (and it has been needed), why wait until the 19th league game of a total of 19 to be played at St Andrews? Reducing ticket prices at some point during the season would have helped, as you'd have had full houses and those there wouldn't have sat there with some form of resentment at paying £X for a ticket. It's a sad, sad reflection that today looks like it won't even be a sell out, and Villa at home wasn't a sell out, and Manchester United and Chelsea and Arsenal and the first home game of the season, etc, etc, etc weren't sell outs. Bolton at home, however, was. Now, come on, people didn't pay to come and see Nicky Hunt and Danny Guthrie as they'd rather see them than Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, Didier Drogba, etc. They paid because it was affordable. I still don't understand a lot of the criticism of the board, but in relation to the pricing, I think it's just.
The fact that it's such a big day and I've got a blank canvas (well, screen) on which to write and I've been pessimistic and moaned, well, that sums the club up at the moment, and that's why I said last week, things need to change. Everyone will be ok at 3.00pm, but come 5.00pm, whatever the result (and the results of others), people will be moaning again and it will carry on all summer. It's like a vicious circle at the moment.
Right, finally, as this is an awful lot to take in before the game has even started, today's games - what do I think? Well, I suspect this weather is the same across the country, and it's the same for both teams, so that's a leveller already. It'll be hard work for all players for all teams though. I actually feel, bizarrely, that Derby are Blues' best hopes. Pride Park will be full again (see above moan) today, Reading will be - excuse the expression - crapping themselves, and Derby will be determined to go out on a high. I think Reading will lose, so they'll be down. Portsmouth? Well, yes, they've got a Cup final coming up, so there's the fear they won't be at it 100% and won't be flying in to tackles. On the converse though, they've been poor lately, and Harry Redknapp won't want to go into such a massive game for them on the back of rubbish form. There's also Jermain Defoe, who is cup-tied, and so will want to go out on a high and re-establish his place in the England squad for the summer games. Fulham will be up for it, but they are where they are because they aren't very good. I think they have a better chance than Reading, but think they'll do no better than a draw.
That's it then? We're safe! Well, I can actually see Blues failing to win too. Blackburn are sixth in the league and impressive away from home. As much as Blues are favourites because of the circumstances, they still have a dreadful defence and Blackburn have decent firepower in Roque Santa Cruz, David Bentley, Morten Gamst Pedersen and others, so it will be tough. Hand on heart, I can see the other results going in Blues' favour, but Blues letting themselves down. Again.
I pray I'm wrong.
6.12pm
There we go then. Relegated again. Blues didn't let us down, so that's ok, but Reading and Fulham proved me wrong and got their results. I'm a bit sadistic as a football fan, so although I couldn't give a toss about either Reading or Fulham, I'm pleased that the Reading fans would have been revelling in their hammering of Derby for so long before getting stung by Fulham's late winner. I like other football fans to suffer too.
I'm not going to go into great detail into Blues' display, except to say, frankly, they were superb. Had they produced perhaps just one more performance like this in the past two months, they'd have been safe. They didn't though, and so they're down. Liam Ridgewell and MAik Taylor saved their finest individual performances of the season until the final game, and Blues absolutely spanked a decent team who were up for it. Cameron Jerome showed why he should have been used more lately too with two fine strikes. I won't mention his horror miss.
That's that then, with respect to the football. So, to the antics of some of the "fans". I say that like that first of all, because with less than an hour gone, a signnificant minority began singing "sack the board". It was no time to do it. At the time, all three relevant matches hung in the balance, moreorless - Blues was 1-1 - and the team needed supporting. To be honest, those singing that at that point should be ashamed.
As Blues' fate was sealed late on, the songs continued and were followed by a pitch invasion and protest in front of the Kop and the Director's Box. As I said above (some hours ago), I can understand some gripes with respect to the board, but not all. The protests may have looked better had it not been a load of Kappa tracksuit-wearing, bare-chested, baseball cap-clad youths who were probably taking in their second game of the season (after Hereford at home in the Cup, when they got in for £1). It looked pathetic, to be honest.
My thoughts? Well, I said last week that the relationship appears to have broken down and everything's gone stale and that a change is probably needed. I still think the same. There's a few things I would like people to think about though...
Firstly, the club has spent money - it just hasn't necessarily been spent wisely. Last summer, the two clubs playing at St Andrews today spent approximately £3.5m on a striker. Blues got Garry O'Connor. Blackburn got Roque Santa Cruz. Can you blame the board for that? It wasn't them that chose to spend the money on O'Connor - it was the manager at the time. They also brought in Olivier Kapo and Daniel de Ridder who everyone was very excited about. It's not their fault that Kapo missed a chunk of the season through injury or that two managers decided to exclude de Ridder from the team. It's not their fault that Borja Oubina wrecked his knee at Anfield or that Liam Ridgewell kept making mistakes.
In January, Blues spent £6m on a striker - not many struggling teams spend that much on a player. They also spent a fair chunk on a full-back, paid a hefty loan fee to get in someone regarded as one of the hottest properties in world football and sanctioned a £5m move for a centre half who made a personal choice to go elsewhere. Yes, there was little Plan B to the Cahill issue, but Alex McLeish himself has admitted he got caught for time on that. Had Cahill said "yes", then there wouldn't have been an issue.
I know that there are issues, but as I say, the above things are not the fault of messrs Gold and Sullivan. Blackburn and Bolton don't spend a great deal of money, but they stay up each year. The difference is that they've had people who spend the money wisely. Santa Cruz = £3m. Bentley = £1.5m. Pedersen = £2m. Samba = £700k. Their chairman didn't sign those players - their manager did. For that, you could get Garry O'Connor and Olivier Kapo, moreorless. Whose fault is that? The Blues board cannot be blamed for their managers mis-spending the money.
Secondly, there were those who sang "sack the board". Who is going to sack them, for a start? But more importantly, who's going to replace them??? In 16 years, the only takeover bid the club has had is from a bloke from Hong Kong who has no money! Who else is waiting in the wings? There's no one. That's the crux. In the early 90s, when the current board came in, Blues fans would have sold their children for their club to become a Yo-Yo club between the top two divisions. I'm not saying we should be grateful forever, and as I say, there are faults and it's gone stale and we all need to move on, but... BUT... who is there to come in? Who is going to take over? There's a danger of this club crumbling before our eyes, and some of the fans involved today will be responsible for that.
Anyway, my positive hat is already looking to next season, and the Championship has been so poor this season that if Blues can keep something of a squad together, they should be contenders.
To be honest though, after years and years of following Blues and England home and away, I really am looking forward to a summer off. Following those two sets of underachievers for such a period of time has drained me, and I can't wait to turn my attentions to Warwickshire and England in the cricket...
Oh.
Have lovely summers, all of you, and I'll see you all next season for Blackpool at home and Swansea away. Keep right on. We'll reach the end of this road, one day.