We are down and over the next few days the reality of it will sink in to the point where I will feel like striking out to make someone understand just how bitter I feel. For now, I am numbed by the thought of playing back in the Championship so soon, and looking hard for reasons.
Various scapegoats spring to mind: ********** Carson Yeung ********** Steve Bruce and Eric Black ********** A string of referees ********** The Board of Directors ********** Gary Cahill ********** Our defence ********** Midfield mediocrity
But, when all is said and done, we failed to survive by a single point, and we can easily find matches where defeat could so easily have been converted into a draw to give us one extra point. We were unlucky to lose at home to Chelsea, and at Old Trafford; we lost 2-1 at St James' Park when we could easily have picked up a point. Late goals cost us points on several occasions (but the game ain't over til the ref says so).
But what genuinely caused relegation was three specific results at St Andrews
15th December: Birmingham City 1 - Reading 1
29th December: Birmingham City 1 - Fulham 1
2nd February: Birmingham City 1 - Derby County 1
No-one can deny that those were all winnable and the resultant six points dropped would have made us safe a couple of weeks ago. Those kind of results are just not good enough and make me question my own support of McLeish as the man to turn the club round.
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