Team Focus: Rowett Faces Uphill Task After Latest Birmingham Embarrassment

When Paul Caddis headed the equalising goal against Bolton in the final minute of last season to keep Birmingham City up, a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. The Championship would await again in August and this time things would be more straightforward. All was still not well and off-field issues were likely to be a continued hindrance but the general feeling was that there would be no major relegation panic.

Or so they thought.

It has been apparent for a few weeks now that Birmingham are enduring the same struggles which saw them teeter on the brink of the third tier only three years after residing in the Premier League – and, lest we forget, beating Arsenal in the League Cup final.

Lee Clark, whose wild celebrations after Caddis’s heroics remain one of the enduring memories of last season, has gone having failed to produce an upturn in results and Gary Rowett will take over this week.

But for all of last year’s bleak showings, the shameful surrender to Bournemouth was a new low. And while it would be safe to declare that on a game-by-game basis things are unlikely to get worse than an 8-0 defeat at home, there is still one more place to fall in the table.

Everything that could go wrong at St. Andrews on Saturday went wrong. That is not to detract from Bournemouth’s impressive performance. Six of their team ended up on the WhoScored team of the week, including the goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who saved a penalty from Caddis.

Birmingham were an embarrassment. Behind inside three minutes and reduced to 10 men within six, it was always going to be a tall order.

But taking the deficit and numerical disadvantage into account, the onus should have been on damage limitation. It was 3-0 at half-time, the second half will leave long-lasting scars for the 13,000 or so hardy souls who filtered into the ground with what can now be scarcely anything more than a glimmer of hope.

Under no set of circumstances, regardless of the level of disarray, should a team concede 28 shots at home, nine of which came from the 80th minute onwards. Bournemouth also struck the woodwork twice. Darren Randolph, the Birmingham keeper, made another seven saves.

Then again, it would be churlish to place any blame on Richard Beale and Malcolm Crosby, the unfortunate caretakers entrusted with temporarily organising a squad void of any self-belief. “In the end it was an embarrassment,” Crosby said. “I don’t blame the circumstances. There can be no excuses for losing 8-0. Even when we got a penalty we missed it. It’s been a terrible day. We apologise to the supporters.”

Confidence is a major issue at play here and with the chalice evidently poisoned, it is hard to imagine a household managerial name jumping at the chance to take over.

Owen Coyle, Chris Hughton and the former Manchester United assistant, Mike Phelan, had been mentioned but Rowett was the chosen one. He has built a solid reputation for himself at Burton Albion and while the leap to the Championship appears like a natural progression – he is gambling the foundations that have been laid.

On current form, it would be a gamble he is likely to lose – unless he produces a galvanising effect which is then prolonged when the honeymoon period comes to an end. Then again, maybe the allure of returning to a club he played at overrides any sense of hesitancy.

One of his first tasks will be to rectify their home form.  Only one win has been recorded in seven games – 1-0 against Cardiff – and they have a point more (6) on the road. Although they similarly have only managed a single victory away from home, at Millwall, they have only been defeated in three of their seven road trips.

Courtesy of Saturday, they have an average goals conceded of two per game but have only hit the net 12 times in 14. Interestingly, Birmingham have also picked up fewer yellow cards (13) while amassing three reds - joint most along with Leeds and Watford. Their pass completion rate is the division’s lowest by 2%. Rowett’s challenge is a daunting one.

Will Birmingham be embroiled in another relegation dogfight and, if so, can they beat the drop once again? Let us know in the comments below