Blues 2 Ipswich Town 2

Last updated : 20 September 2006 By Richard Barker
Following on from recent crazy home games (see bizarre events that unfolded against Colchester, Palace and Hull) this game didn't disappoint in the 'Leaving The Ground Scratching Your Head Wondering What You've Just Seen' stakes. Blues twice came back from behind, doing so the second time playing with only ten men and only one defender. That defender was Martin Taylor too, so even that may be stretching the point a little. (For all you Martin Taylor fans sat their wearing your 'Tiny Is Misunderstood' t-shirts, don't throw your toys out of the pram, scream at your computer screen and stop reading... you never know, I might be nice to him later...)

Anyway, back to the start... Steve Bruce made two changes from the team that won at QPR during the week. Mehdi Nafti returned from injury to take Fabrice Muamba's place in the heart of the midfield, whilst the suspended Nicklas Bendtner was replaced up front by Cameron Jerome. As with the previous two games, this meant that Radhi Jaidi and Bruno N'Gotty were actually the only two Blues defenders on the pitch, with Damien Johnson and Sebastian Larsson playing as full-backs as they did at QPR.

I am so used to writing that Blues started slowly but grew into the game, that it feels a little bit strange to report that today Blues started really brightly but gradually faded. That's what happened though. Blues came out of the blocks like a really fast starting sprinter, but as the half progressed they resembled Paula Radcliffe more and more.

During Blues' good start Jaidi had a header from a David Dunn corner cleared off the line, and Blues really bossed proceedings. Gary McSheffrey was lively, and Johnson and Larsson both got forward well from their defensive positions. Ipswich looked a little shell-shocked early on.

Credit where credit's due though, the visitors began to get the ball down and play some neat football at about the same time as Blues began to get frustrated at their lack of progress. As Ipswich settled, Blues resorted to long balls at Jerome's head, and the balance of the game shifted Ipswich's way somewhat.

Up front for Blues Jerome and DJ Campbell were struggling to get any sort of service from those behind them - unless you count service as being balls coming at them from 60 yards away about 7 foot in the air. Campbell made what he could of the situation, and looked quite lively, but Jerome really struggled. It's unfair to level too much criticism at the ex-Cardiff man himself though, because like his predecessor Emile Heskey, he doesn't look like he particularly enjoys the aerial side of things as much as he does getting the ball down at his feet. We all know that Blues' eyes light up when we have a tall centre forward though, and suddenly ball after ball is lumped at his head.

Blues were also hampered somewhat by an injury to Jaidi who clashed heads with Ipswich striker Alan Lee. Whilst Jaidi got back to his feet, it appeared that the club doctor made the decision that he couldn't continue, and as such Martin Taylor came on to replace him. A couple of Ipswich efforts aside - a long range shot from Sylvain Legwinski and a decent chance by the lively Mark Noble (who proved why he was so highly-regarded at West Ham) and that was that as far as the first half was concerned.

Having started one half well, Blues were in no mood to push the boat out or anything and try that again, so they came out looking sluggish at the start of the second half, and were punished after only a few minutes. Ipswich had a corner which was not really cleared, and enter David Dunn - someone who always likes to tee up a goal for a striker. Dunn's never really been one for hoofing the ball - he likes to caress it and treat it with respect, as if it were a dancer in the Rocket Club. However, there's a time and a place for nice little touches, and facing your own goal about 8 yards out surrounded by opposition players isn't one of them. Dunn tried to bring the ball down on his thigh, the ball headed towards Maik Taylor's goal, and Lee was on hand to smash Ipswich into the lead.

Ipswich were on top now, and Blues looked more nervous than a small child asking Mike Tyson if the rumours about his sexuality are true. Johnson had to come to the rescue on a couple of occasions at the back, as Ipswich played some excellent football and threatened every time they went forward. Lee in particular was proving to be a right handful, in the Alan Shearer sense - he was playing fairly well, but was always in the faces of the officials, pulling shirts, backing into people and generally bending the rules a little. Fair play to him though, as he was giving N'Gotty his first real test of the season, and N'Gotty was beginning to get frustrated with him... watch this space.

Blues did start to get themselves back into the game, and Dunn went close before McSheffrey dillied and dallied and took too long when he himself was presented with a good chance. After 73 minutes though Blues were level, and Dunn was again setting up goals. This time it was at the right end, as Ipswich 'keeper Lewis Price fumbled his long-range effort and Campbell following in did well to turn the ball into the net. Price looked fairly solid in goal for Ipswich with his positioning and command of his penalty area, but his handling on some shots was decidedly questionable.

About five minutes later Ipswich were ahead again though, as Larsson stupidly cleared the ball across the pitch from left-back, when it should have gone down the pitch. The ball found it's way to Simon Walton whose shot took a wicked deflection and wrong-footed Maik Taylor and nestled in the back of the net. Bruno N'Gotty, who really was now the boy with the thorn in his side, clearly decided he'd had enough of Lee by this point, so decided to punch the celebrating Ipswich forward. We've all been there, haven't we? Someone's been winding you up for over an hour, then they get all cocky, and you just want to punch them. Well, N'Gotty did, and was sent off.

This now left Blues 2-1 down with just ten men. Add to this the fact that the only defender on the pitch wearing a Blues shirt was Martin Taylor (who, in fairness to him, was superb this afternoon after he came on - especially as he was the only Blues defender for the last 10 minutes) and things looked a bit of a mess. Blues had 7 midfielders on the pitch though, together with strikers. Unfortunately they didn't go with the 1-7-2 formation that the personnel allowed, and that mean Steve Bruce bloke made Johnson and the overall disappointing Neil Danns play as defenders in a 3-4-2 formation.

Blues are not only making a good habit of getting players sent off this season, but also of scoring important goals once their numbers have been diminished. They did it after Jerome's dismissal against Colchester and they did it after Bendtner's dismissal against QPR, and they did it here again today. Blues' mad midfielder overload/lack of defenders formation worked a treat by confusing everyone in the stadium, including Ipswich. After McSheffrey was cynically fouled on the edge of the area, he played a short free-kick to Dunn who was obviously so upset at not being involved at all in Ipswich's second goal that he played a one-two with an Ipswich defender (his right foot shot was charged down) before firing home with his left foot.

Blues then moved to a 4-4-1 formation to hold onto the point, understandably, and again, this involved people playing all over the place. Damien Johnson (who was excellent again) moved into the heart of defence to partner Martin Taylor, and thus tick off 'Central Defender' on his list of duties carried out for Blues, leaving only 'Striker' and 'Goalkeeper' unfulfilled. Let's face it, they'll both happen though, won't they? If Geoff Horsfield and Nigel Gleghorn have both been allowed a go in goal in the past, it's only a matter of time before Johnson gets his chance. As I say though, he was excellent again today, in all his positions.

So, there we go. At the start of this report I said that the game left you wondering quite what had gone on, and I still think that - it was a crazy second half. I'm not totally sure what to make of it, but I suppose you have to be happy with a point when you're down to ten men and have been behind twice. Throw into the equation the fact that Ipswich were comfortably the best team we've played this season, and it's hard to be too down about the result given how events unfolded. In saying that though, Blues finally started a game well, and this in turn got the fans behind them, and they really needed to capitalise on that, but didn't. Had Jaidi's header gone in, maybe it could all have been very different. Blues got frustrated at their inability to break Ipswich down a little too quickly for my liking, and their good start soon turned into a pretty average display. Still, as I say, given what happened I think you have to take a point, say that we've got one of the better teams in the division out of the way, and move on. So I will.