sport news Birmingham 3-0 Coventry: Ivan Sunjic and Jay Stansfield give Blues fans ... trends now
Afternoons such as this, when the football is enjoyable and St Andrew’s is in full voice, have been in desperately short supply this season.
From the optimistic start under John Eustace before the new American owners sacked him, the disasterclass under Wayne Rooney and then Tony Mowbray being put out of action, certainty has usually been lacking.
All the while, Birmingham’s league position slid from potential play-off candidates to mid-table to the very real danger of relegation into League One.
This emphatic derby win over Coventry gave those survival prospects a boost with goals by Ivan Sunjic and Jay Stansfield following an early Bobby Thomas own goal.
There was then further cause for celebration when Nahki Wells’ 100th minute penalty for Bristol City to hold relegation rivals Huddersfield to a 1-1 draw lifted Blues out the bottom three.
Birmingham gave their fans something to cheer about after beating rivals Coventry 3-0
The result sees the Blues move outside the Championship relegation zone by a point
Gary Rowett admitted to reading the riot act to his team after their tame defeat by Cardiff
It was a happy ending to a week which saw chairman Tom Wagner unveil plans for a new stadium to be completed by the end of the decade, part of a £2billion Sports Quarter regeneration.
Such planning for the future looks incongruous if Birmingham crash into League One but there was no doubting the belief here they can avoid that fate as Blues fought tooth and nail.
‘The performance was a lot more of what we’d expect. We were not only solid defensively but scoring goals,’ said Rowett.
‘We spoke quite publicly after Wednesday, the senior lads held themselves accountable. Tonight is a much better feeling.
‘The atmosphere was incredible, they all turned up again and it is nice to reward that loyalty with a performance that had a similar edge to it.’
Coventry’s hopes of making the play-offs for the second consecutive year are pretty much over given Norwich’s win at Preston opened up an eight-point gap.
Maybe Mark Robins’ side had their minds on next weekend’s Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United because this was a very out-of-character display.
‘It looked like a lethargic performance, with people making poor choices in terms of their tactical roles and that cost us three goals,’ said Robins, who believes his team’s play-off hopes are over.
‘We just couldn’t keep the ball, we didn’t get the basics right and it beggared belief at times.
‘Football keeps giving you opportunities and if you keep turning those down you don’t deserve it.’
Gary Rowett admitted to reading the riot act to his players after their tame midweek defeat by Cardiff City. From the outset, with the backing of a raucous St Andrew’s crowd, it was obvious the team had plenty to prove.
While there was an early moment of consternation when Milan van Ewijk flashed a shot across their goal, Birmingham had the wherewithal to seize control of the game.
