Fanhouse UK Football - birmingham

Premier League Rankings: Manchester United Make Push for Return to Summit

Ian Whittell — 2010-09-02T12:02:00-05:00

Filed under: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Birmingham, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Ham, Wigan, Wolverhampton, FanHouse Rankings, West Brom, Newcastle, Blackpool

Welcome back to our regular look at who's hot and who's not in the world's best football competition.

Three weeks in and things should be settling down in the Premier League, right? Wrong.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United may be making the pace but, beneath them, there are all sorts of funny goings-on ... as you will see from our FanHouse Rankings.

FanHouse UK has used the latest, most in-depth objective statistical data, balanced with the purely subjective views of our expert staff, to come up with the answers.

All this - and much more - is revealed below (please note that the form guide includes results from the 2009-10 season) ...

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Watch Aston Villa Pounce if Alex McLeish's Contract Talks Stall

Ian Edwards — 2010-09-02T10:55:00-05:00

by Ian Edwards

Filed under: Aston Villa, Birmingham

Just when it seems that Birmingham City are on the verge of gaining serious ground, if not overtaking, their local rivals Aston Villa, they somehow manage to put their foot right in it.

Peter Pannu, the right-hand man of owner Carson Yeung, has managed to place a question mark over the future of Alex McLeish by pointing out that the manager is "no Mourinho".

Ridiculous public comments about the on-going and private contract negotiations between him and manager McLeish could yet drive one of the country's most hard-working and impressive younger managers out of St Andrew's and into the arms of their bitter rivals at Aston Villa.

Pannu has every right to comment on contractual matters, give his side of the story and state that the club and McLeish are some distant apart on the wages deal they are trying to strike. After all we have heard managers and chairmen at other clubs make the same bland comments for decades.

What he does not need to do is claim that "he (McLeish) is asking for a very large amount of money which I am not prepared to meet".

At a time when Villa are searching for a manager with Premier League experience and someone who is not consumed with the avarice of the game at top flight level, Pannu may as well have hung and 'come and get me' sign around McLeish's neck and dropped him off outside Villa Park.

For the record McLeish currently earns around £750,000-a-year, which is modest compared with the vast majority of his Premier League peers.

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Bet On Bulgaria Scoring Against a Defensive Pairing of Upson and Dawson

JP Shaw — 2010-09-02T08:57:00-05:00

by JP Shaw

Filed under: Birmingham, Tottenham, West Ham, Betting

Sky Sports News is now in High Definition. Whatever for? If there's one show that could do without extra defining it's SSN. What's next? Prime Minister's Questions in HD?

Were there any people sitting and watching Jeff Stelling and his fellow middle-aged presenters thinking, "I really need to see these static middle-aged men more clearly, perhaps in 3D." That wouldn't be a good idea, not unless you'd want Phil Thompson's nose making an unwarranted intrusion into your front room.

SSN treats its coverage of Transfer Deadline Day with all the urgency and gravitas of a state funeral, except that considerably less happens. Most of SSN's reporters are deployed expectantly at club car parks across the country and whilst there they are forced to pretend that something hugely surprising could happen at at any given moment.

Some of the superfluous headlines scrolling along the bottom of the SKY Sports News screen have been amusing. One item of "BREAKING NEWS" urgently declared that: "The Pakistan team bus has left a London hotel and is now heading towards Taunton." A more accurate headline would have read: "Somerset have beaten Pakistan by four wickets at Taunton next Thursday."

This non-event was interrupted by another equally important piece of speculation. A camera switched to a reporter, spending an unproductive day at West Ham's training ground, who excitedly declared he had caught sight of Scott Parker on the phone! He speculated over whether Parker was on the phone to Harry Redknapp. Or was he just talking to a British Gas salesperson?

The biggest transfer of the day was Asamoah Gyan's move to Sunderland in a £13 million deal. In signing the big Ghanaian, Steve Bruce is sending a clear message to all his rivals - I've lost the plot. Gyan scored three goals at the World Cup, two of which were penalties. His record at Rennes looks far from prolific, 14 goals in 47 games. Before that he notched just 15 from 53 games for Modena, whilst on loan from Udinese. Worth £13 million of anyone's money.

Gyan is 11-10 favourite with Hills to be top scorer among the deadline-day signings, with Franco Di Santo 3-1, Eidur Gudjohnsen 10-3, Rodrigo Moreno 6-1 and Alexander Hleb a laughable 8-1. The Belarusian, with the name that sounds like someone clearing their throat, scored just seven goals in 89 appearances for the Gunners and none in 19 for Barcelona. You'd wager Arsenal and Barca create slightly more goal-scoring opportunities than Birmingham.

It's an international double-header this week hence the reason most of our English Premier League stars are undergoing minor operations to rid themselves of niggling injuries. Minor operations, I've noticed, are what other people endure.

The debate over whether Fabio Capello should select Mikel Arteta for the England squad is ridiculous. Surely if you're good enough you're English enough, a strategy pioneered by our national cricket side and slavishly followed by our rugger buggers.

Arteta could offer England what we're lacking - creativity, guile, and a beautiful Wag who isn't semi-orange.

The Everton midfielder knows he won't get a game for Spain because the Spaniards have an embarrassment of riches in midfield; in the England midfield he spots only an embarrassment of embarrassments.

Ferenc Puskas was a Hungarian legend yet later in his career won four caps for Spain. Alfredo Di Stefano played for Argentina, Colombia and Spain, though never in the same game.

England have a manager who isn't English, so why not continue the theme and field players who aren't English?

Hills were going 10-3 for Arteta to be selected for an England squad before the end of Euro 2012 but it now looks as though the Everton playmaker's chances have been scuppered after it was revealed he turned out for Spain's Under-16 side in the European Championship and is ineligible. Thank heavens Manuel Almunia is still available.

William Hill are expecting England to get off to a winning start to their Euro 2012 campaign when they face Bulgaria. The Three Lions are only 4-1 to score four or more goals and it is 8-13 for them to keep a clean sheet. Neither of those bets appeal as much as Bulgaria at evens to score during the game. England will field a centre half pairing of Matthew Upson and Michael Dawson, that's all the reason you need to back Bulgaria.

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Manchester City's Joe Hart Leads Next Generation of England Goalkeepers

Brian Glanville — 2010-09-01T12:37:00-05:00

by Brian Glanville

Filed under: Arsenal, Birmingham, Fulham, Manchester City

It seemed only the other day that England faced a dearth of goalkeepers. There was even talk of David James, all but 40-years-old, holding his place at World Cup in South Africa. As it transpired Fabio Capello, making one more of his serial mistakes, gave the role for the opener against the USA to West Ham's Robert Green, though he hadn't impressed when tried before, and had a somewhat erratic season with his club. Sure enough he let through a pitifully embarrassing equaliser against America and was seen no more. James replaced him.

James you will note and not the up-and-coming 23-year-old Joe Hart, fresh from a glorious season on loan at Birmingham City from his own club Manchester City who promptly reclaimed him in the summer, preferring him at once to the much-admired and costly Ireland international Shay Given. However, in the friendly games which preceded the world cup Capello stubbornly refused to give Hart even half a game.

So it was that Hart came to South Africa untried at international level; his one appearance as a substitute, for James, coming at the end of the last season but one. When Capello picked him at last to play at Wembley against Hungary, he preserved England's laborious 2-1 victory with a splendid point-blank save; after his defence had split, and went on to give a superb defiant performance at Tottenham where his save gave overpaid City a lucky 0-0 draw.

To give Capello his due he would have also had the 24-year-old David Stockdale in his squad to meet Bulgaria in Switzerland in quick succession had he not been injured playing for Fulham at Blackpool. Stockdale, born in Leeds, as was his celebrated predecessor in David Seaman, was in superb form against Manchester United at Craven Cottage where I watched his numerous saves keep Fulham in the game. This ironically, when the 37-year-old first-choice keeper, the Australian Mark Schwarzer, longing to get away and join Arsenal, was unfit. Now Fulham scarcely need him though as their new manager Mark Hughes said when I implied as much, you have to be careful with such young players.

Somewhat ironically the Spaniard Manuel Almunia, whom Arsene Wenger was to tactlessly eager to replace, not long ago seemed in line to become a naturalised Englishman and play for England. As for Stockdale, his hasn't been an easy journey, young though he be for a goalkeeper. York City, then a non-league club, let him go because he needed an extra £25 a week to cover his travelling expenses, so he found his way to modest Darlington and now Fulham.

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The Big Winners and Losers of Summer Transfer Deadline Day 2010

Matt Butler — 2010-08-31T15:00:00-05:00

by Matt Butler

Filed under: Arsenal, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Stoke City, Tottenham, West Ham, Wigan, Champions League, Blackpool

This summer's transfer window was the quietest in four years in terms of money spent, even with Manchester City's frantic activity. But there were still enough shrewd deals and dodgy signings to keep us entertained - and as the window slams shut, we present the FanHouse verdict on the best and worst from the final hours of the window.

WINNERS
Tottenham
Spurs eh? They get into one Champions League group stage and they think they are Real Madrid. In truth they went one better, by apparently signing someone from the Spanish giants: Rafael van der Vaart, who arrived on a season-long loan from Real just in the nick of time before the window slammed shut. (At the time of writing, Spurs were claiming publicly that the paperwork was complete although we still await confirmation from the Premier League). Assuming the deal was successful, whether or not the Dutch midfielder proves to be a worthwhile addition to Harry Redknapp's squad is irrelevant. Just the fact they managed to convince him to leave Jose Mourinho and the Bernabeu is reason enough for Tottenham fans to safely proclaim they are now dining at the top table.

Manchester City
For keeping Shay Given and Emmanuel Adebayor - and making the window exciting by spending over £120 million. City may have been like kids in a sweet shop as they snapped up the likes of Mario Balotelli, James Milner and David Silva for over £20 million each, but they have shown a willingness to play hard ball with their star-heavy squad. Just ask Craig Bellamy, who is being paid a reported £50,000 a week by City as part of his loan move to Cardiff. Effectively, the Premiership multi-billionaires are paying the dissident Welshman that amount not to play for them and to play in another division. Similarly, Roque Santa Cruz was not permitted to join Tottenham this week for fears he would harm City by playing for a rival. Thus, Adebayor and Given were left in no doubt that they will have to stay at Eastlands to provide cover in the club's chase for honours.

Wigan
For two deals which could prove to be key to their survival. Roberto Martinez signed two starlets - Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley on a season-long loan deal and Chelsea's Franco Di Santo on a three-year contract - which could prove to be the difference between them staying up or plummeting down to the Championship. Cleverley, a gifted attacking midfielder whom Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken about as a potential successor to Cristiano Ronaldo, spent last season at second-tier Watford and proved indispensable in their successful battle to stay in the division, while Argentinian Di Santo has shown flashes of potential both at Stamford Bridge and on loan at Blackburn.

Birmingham
For beating Liverpool and Tottenham to a transfer coup. It says something for Alex McLeish's work in raising the Blues' standing in the world that they not only attract ex-Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb from Barcelona, but they can outdo Liverpool and Tottenham in getting their man. As a deadline-day bonus they managed to get rid of the less-than prolific Marcus Bent to Midlands rivals Wolves on loan - and also secured the signing of Chile winger Jean Beausejour, who turned heads in South Africa at the 2010 World Cup.

West Ham
For hanging on to Scott Parker. They might not have much cause for celebration this season, but co-chairman David Sullivan won the hearts of fans by staying true to his word in refusing to entertain any bids for star man Parker. The easy option would have been to sell him, especially given the club's debts. And Tottenham did their best to test his resolve by tabling two offers - and the player himself looked to be weighing up his options by stalling on a new deal - but Sullivan stood firm.

Stoke
For making the Potteries attractive. Manager Tony Pulis would have been well within his rights to rest on his laurels after Stoke City's 11th-place finish last term. But he has embarked on a busy strengthening spree this summer, culminating in the deadline-day acquisitions of ex-Barcelona and Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen from Monaco, former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant from Real Zaragoza and Portsmouth's Marc Wilson. This trio arrived after the record-breaking purchase of Kenwyne Jones from Sunderland and the arrival of Carlo Nash from Everton, among others - but the best bit of business was to refuse to give into Asmir Begovic's demands for a move, even when the petulant goalkeeper refused to play.

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Premier League Transfer Deadline Day As It Happened

Scott Murray — 2010-08-31T05:30:00-05:00

by Scott Murray

Text commentary of transfer deadline day in the Premier League.

Click here for club-by-club listing of summer's ins and outs.

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Transfer Window Latest: The Definitive Guide to Your Club's Ins and Outs

Ian Whittell — 2010-08-31T05:30:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Filed under: Transfer News, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Birmingham, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Portsmouth, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Ham, Wigan, Wolverhampton, West Brom, Newcastle, Blackpool

A feverish summer of transfer activity is winding down to a juddering halt.

Here is your complete club-by-club guide to the comings and goings through August 30.

For live commentary of transfer deadline day as it happened, see the FanHouse UK minute-by-minute report.

ARSENAL
IN: Laurent Koscielny (Lorient) £8.5m, Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla) £3.2m, Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux) Free, Kyle Ebecillo (Feyenoord) Free, Phil Roberts (Norwich City) Free.

OUT: Eduardo (Shakhtar Donetsk) £6m, Jay Simpson (Hull City) £1.2m, Luke Ayling (Yeovil Town) Free, Sol Campbell (Newcastle United) Free, William Gallas (Tottenham Hotspur) Free, Fran Merida (Atletico Madrid) Free, Philippe Senderos (Fulham) Free, Alie Sesay (Leicester City) Free, Mikael Silvestre (Werder Bremen) Free, Kyle Bartley (Sheffield United) Season Loan, Pedro Botelho (Catragena) Season Loan, Francis Coquelin (Lorient) Season Loan, Sanchez Watt (Leeds United) Season Loan, Luke Freeman (Yeovil Town) Six Month Loan, Armand Traore (Juventus) Loan, Nacer Barazite (Vitesse Arnhem) Loan.

ASTON VILLA
IN: Stephen Ireland (Manchester City) Part-exchange.

OUT: James Milner (Manchester City) £26m + part-exchange, Nicky Shorey (West Bromwich Albion) £1.5m, David Bevan (Walsall) Free, Jack Dyer (Burton Albion) Free, Marlon Harewood (Blackpool) Free, Stephen O'Halloran (Coventry City) Free, Harry Forrester (Kilmarnock) Five Month Loan.

BIRMINGHAM CITY
IN: Ben Foster (Manchester United) £6m, Nikola Zigic (Valencia) £6m, Enric Valles (NAC Breda) Free, Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos) Season Loan, Jean Beausejour (Club America) Undisclosed, Alexander Hleb (Barcelona) Loan, Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow) Undisclosed.

OUT: Lee Carsley (Coventry City) Free, Artur Krysiak (Exeter City) Free, Franck Queudrue (Panionios) Free, Gary McSheffrey (Coventry City) Free, Jake Jervis (Notts County) Six Month Loan, Robin Shroot (Cheltenham Town) Six Month Loan, Luke Hibbins (Notts County) Five Month Loan, Colin Doyle (Coventry City) One Month Loan, Jordan Mutch (Watford) One Month Loan Marcus Bent (Wolves) Loan.

BLACKBURN ROVERS
IN: Hugo Fernandez (Union Deportiva Cornella) Nominal Fee, Benjani Mwaruwari (Manchester City) Free, Mame Biram Diouf (Manchester United) Season Loan.

OUT: Michael Hall (Accrington Stanley) Free, Andrew Howarth (Bury) Free, Marcus Marshall (Rotherham United) Free, Steven Reid (West Bromwich Albion) Free, Nick Blackman (Motherwell) Five Month Loan, Alex Marrow (Crystal Palace) Five Month Loan, Zurab Khizanishvili (Reading) Loan.

BLACKPOOL
IN: Chris Basham (Bolton Wanderers) £500,000 rising to £1m, Craig Cathcart (Manchester United) £500,000, Elliot Grandin (CSKA Sofia) Undisclosed, Ludovic Sylvestre (Mlada Boleslav) Undisclosed, Marlon Harewood (Aston Villa) Free, Dekel Keinan (Maccabi Haifa) Free, Malaury Martin (Monaco) Free, Luke Varney (Derby County) Season Loan, DJ Campbell (Leicester) Undisclosed, Matt Phillips (Wycombe) £325,000.

OUT: Al Bangura (Mersin idmanyurdu) Free, Hameur Bouazza (Arles-Avignon) Free, Ben Burgess (Notts County) Free, Daniel Nardiello (Exeter City) Free

BOLTON WANDERERS
IN: Marco Alonso (Real Madrid) £1.6m, Tom Eaves (Oldham Athletic) £350,000, Robbie Blake (Burnley) Free, Ivan Klasnic (Nantes) Free, Martin Petrov (Manchester City) Free, Rodrigo Moreno (Benfica) Loan.

OUT: Chris Basham (Blackpool) £500,000 rising to £1m, Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan Athletic) Season Loan, Zoltán Harsányi (Dunajská Streda) Free, Nicky Hunt (Bristol City) Free, Ricardo Vaz Te (Panionios) Free

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Team of the Week: Luke Varney Leads Unfamiliar Names in TOTW

Ian Whittell — 2010-08-30T08:30:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Filed under: Team of the Week, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Sunderland, West Brom, Newcastle, Blackpool

The modern Premier League may be all about big names and even bigger bucks but Blackpool forward Luke Varney showed at the weekend that there is still room for a little romance in the top flight.

Signed on loan until the end of the season from Championship side Derby, Varney marked his debut for the Seasiders with a goal and man of the match showing in a 2-2 draw which builds on the belief around Ian Holloway's underdogs that they can actually survive in the EPL this season.

Varney's nine-out-of-ten made him the pick of the division's forwards this weekend, no mean feat considering the calibre of the opposition, with no other striker receiving better than an eight from our team of FanHouse experts at every Premier League game.

For that reason, the FanHouse Team of the Week comes in an unfamiliar formation this week. With five midfielders receiving a nine-out-of-ten, we have opted for a 4-5-1 formation to accommodate them all.

Nani, of Manchester United, was outstanding in his team's stroll against West Ham. A regular feature in our TOTW, the Portuguese winger looks poised to be one of the division's outstanding performers this season. And, as the highest-paid player in the EPL, Manchester City's Yaya Toure should also be expected to make frequent appearances in TOTW. He was man of the match in his team's defeat at Sunderland and, like Nani, is set to be one of the division's influential performers in 2010-11.

From current league leaders Chelsea - the only team with a 100 per cent record after two, let alone three, games - Michael Essien was the pick of the bunch while Midlands clubs filled the remaining two of our five midfield spots this week.

Karl Henry was in fine form as Wolves drew with Newcastle, continuing their unbeaten start to the new campaign, while Lee Bowyer turned back the clock with a similarly impressive display for Birmingham in their somewhat disappointing draw at Bolton.

As for our defensive nominations for the third week of Premier League action, there are some unfamiliar names stepping to the fore.

Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet helped Sunderland record a clean sheet in that important victory over Manchester City while fellow north-easterner Mike Williamson was impressive at the back for Newcastle as they collected that point at one of the division's surprise teams of the season to date, Wolves.

In fact, Mick McCarthy's team has a representative in TOTW, left-back Stephen Ward earning his place with an eight-out-of-ten showing against the Geordies. The back four is rounded out by West Brom's Jonas Olsson, outstanding in his team's narrow defeat at Liverpool, and full-back Luke Young, the highest ranked defender this weekend for his display in Aston Villa's important home victory against Everton.

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Bolton 2 Birmingham 2: Robbie Blake Crowns a Fine Comeback by 10 Men

Neil Johnston — 2010-08-29T10:34:00-05:00

by Neil Johnston

Filed under: Bolton, Birmingham, Match Reports

Substitute Robbie Blake's first goal for Bolton capped a stunning comeback by a team reduced t0 10 men after Jussi Jaaskelainen was been sent off.

Birmingham's fine start to the season under Alex McLeish looked to continue as Roger Johnson's first goal for the club put the visitors ahead.

Their chances were then enhanced as Bolton were forced to play more 50 minutes with second choice keeper Adam Bogdan after a moment of madness by Finland international Jaaskelainen.

The veteran of more than 450 appearances for Bolton was sent off for slapping goalscorer Johnson in the 37th minute after the Birmingham defender had gone in on the keeper.

The Birmingham player's challenge was clumsy more than malicious but it triggered an astonishing reaction from Jaaskelainen, who lashed out at Johnson and in doing so received the fourth red card of his 13 year Bolton career.

Birmingham had already established the lead by then after Johnson had slotted home from six-yards following a fourth minute cross from Lee Bowyer which was flicked on by Cameron Jerome.

McLeish's side had won only once in 10 away league games in 2010 before this fixture. But the early lead and Jaaskelainen's ridiculous reaction appeared to have combined to help Birmingham continue their flying start to the season - especially when Craig Gardner made it 2-0 shortly after half time.

However, Bolton staged a magnificent recovery against the odds to maintain their unbeaten start. Kevin Davies reduced the deficit from the penalty spot in the 70th minute after he had been fouled by Johnson.

Birmingham should have still clung on but Blake, a 66th minute replacement for Johan Elmander, levelled with a sublime free-kick nine minutes from time.

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Premier League Commentary: Bolton v Birmingham City Minute-By-Minute Report

JP Shaw — 2010-08-29T08:25:00-05:00

by JP Shaw

Filed under: Bolton, Birmingham, Min-By-Min Reports

Minute-by-minute commentary from the Reebok Stadium.

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Bolton v Birmingham Preview: High Life Suits Two Managers On the Move

John Percy — 2010-08-28T05:18:00-05:00

by John Percy

Filed under: Bolton, Birmingham, Match Previews

PREMIER LEAGUE: REEBOK STADIUM, SUNDAY AUGUST 29, 2010. KICK-OFF: 1330 BST

Hands up who thought a few weeks ago that this would be a fifth v sixth clash?

Fifth from bottom versus sixth from bottom perhaps, but not an early-season clash between two teams near the top of the table.

Thanks to Johan Elmander's new-found confidence in front of goal, Bolton have made a flying start to the campaign and started the weekend above Liverpool in the table and level on points with Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Birmingham have continued from where they left off last season. Having secured a highly creditable top nine finish, Alex McLeish's team are also unbeaten after two games.

Yes, there are 35 more matches to go after this encounter, but both teams will be more than satisfied with the starts they have made.

That said, both will also see it as mission accomplished should they finish above the relegation zone next May although having spent more in the transfer market, McLeish is under greater pressure than Bolton manager and fellow Scot Owen Coyle.

Last season's finish and the arrival of keeper Ben Foster from Manchester United and Nikola Zigic from Valencia have combined to raise expectation levels at Birmingham.

Key Match-up: Gary Cahill v Nikola Zigic: Bolton defender Cahill will be keeping his mobile phone close to him this weekend in the hope of receiving a text message confirming his latest England call-up. The former Aston Villa man has responded in a positive manner since returning from international duty bitterly disappointed not to have featured in the friendly win over Hungary earlier this month. Serbian forward Zigic has yet to score since his £6 million arrival from Spain but will be looking to put that right at the Reebok.

Form Guide: Both teams head into the game with their unbeaten starts to the season intact after safely negotiating tricky midweek hurdles against lower league opposition in the Carling Cup. Ivan Klasnic's goal ensured Bolton's long journey to Southampton was not wasted while Birmingham came from behind to defeat Rochdale 3-2, Matt Derbyshire scoring the
crucial third goal on his first start for the club since joining on loan from Olympiakos.

Odds: Bolton 11/10, Birmingham 5/2, Draw 23/10

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Birmingham 3 Rochdale 2: James McFadden Penalty Helps Spare Blues' Blushes

John Percy — 2010-08-26T15:08:00-05:00

by John Percy

Filed under: Birmingham, Carling Cup, Match Reports

Birmingham eased their way into the Third Round of the Carling Cup after a controversial penalty allowed James McFadden to cancel out League One Rochdale's early lead.

The spot-kick, awarded for Marcus Holness's innocuous challenge on Matt Derbyshire brought the Premier League club back into the tie two minutes after the visiting side had made an impressive start capped by Gary Jones's 25th minute opening goal.

Back on level terms, Birmingham were able to demonstrate their superior quality, establishing a two-goal lead before Jones struck again with 14 minutes to ensure a nervy finish for Alex McLeish's side.

City manager McLeish was clearly unhappy with his side who were matched for long periods by a Rochdale team that has struggled in the league so far this season.

The difference between the two teams was summed up three minutes after the interval, however, when Rochdale lost concentration at a corner allowing David Murphy to sweep home from Roger Johnson's knock-down.

Derbyshire extended the lead in the 54th minute when he was fortunate to see a close range effort deflect back against his shin to give the striker his first goal since returning to England following a spell in Greece with Olympiakos on loan.

At 3-1, the home side should finally have been guaranteed a comfortable evening but Jones's second goal ensured there could be no complacency on the part of Mcleish's team.

REACTION:
Birmingham manager McLeish was relieved as his players extended their unbeaten home record to 18 matches:
"I've been involved in games like that throughout my career and gone on to win the cup so hopefully that's a good omen! We've seen some teams stumbling over the last couple of nights and it can happen.

"When we got to 3-1 I thought we'd score more but credit to Rochdale, they kept going. If you get a kind draw you never know how far you can go in the competition. We pay great respect to the Carling Cup but our main priority is the Premier League."

On Derbyshire's first Birmingham goal since his arrival on loan from Olympiakos:
"He got brighter as the game went on. We didn't see much of him or Garry O'Connor early on due to Rochdale's superb performance but he showed us a glimpse of what he can do. He won us the penalty and started to look very dangerous in the second half in and around the box. He took his goal well and that's why we bought him."

On substitute Nathan Redmond, who became the second ever youngest Birmingham debutant at 16 years and 173 days:
"He set the place alight. We didn't have a full house but the fans who were here warmed to his performance. He was very bright, quick and got a couple of good shots away. He was a really bright spark for us."

On his pursuit of Wigan Athletic winger Charles N'Zogbia, after a second bid was rejected:
"I've got nothing to say on it, there's nothing I can say until the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. I've got no comment on what Roberto Martinez has said. But it's fair to assume the second bid was not less than the first."

On Sunday's trip to Bolton Wanderers:
"We're unbeaten, as are they so both of us have got a record to preserve. We had a good away record last season and we want to do as well on that score. It will be a big task. We took teams by surprise last year but we're not the surprise package anymore. There's more pressure on us this season but the players have the mental toughness to cope with it."

Rochdale manager Keith Hill said:
"I wasn't too concerned about the penalty decision, I'm more concerned about the performance. I recorded it on Sky Plus so I'll watch it again when I get home. I'm led to believe it was a good performance by ourselves but it was a hard luck story. I'm reasonably happy with it."

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Premier League Rankings: Arsenal Fired Up by Demolition of Blackpool

Ian Whittell — 2010-08-26T07:52:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Welcome back to our regular look at who's hot and who's not in the world's best football competition.

6-0, 6-0, 6-0 ... the Premier League had one of its most incredible goal-scoring weekends which had us wondering if we had tuned into a re-hash of Wimbledon fortnight instead of the weekend footy results.

Those six-goal wins - for Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - are bound to have a big impact on this week's FanHouse UK Rankings, both at the top and the bottom of the charts.

FanHouse UK has used the latest, most in-depth objective statistical data, balanced with the purely subjective views of our expert staff, to come up with the answers.

All this - and much more - is revealed below (please note that results in the form guide include the 2009-10 season) ...

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Birmingham v Rochdale: Craig Gardner is Relishing His Midfield Role

Ian Edwards — 2010-08-25T08:00:00-05:00

by Ian Edwards

Filed under: Birmingham, Carling Cup, Match Previews

CARLING CUP: ST ANDREW'S, THURSDAY AUGUST 26, 2010. KICK-OFF: 1945 BST

Alex McLeish likes winning and likes the idea of silverware. While it is a bit early to be suggesting Birmingham are live contenders for the Carling Cup, they proved their knockout pedigree in the FA Cup last season and are primed for another mission to reach Wembley.

Realistically, sides like the Blues and the rest of those outside the top four, look upon the Carling Cup as a potential avenue to the national stadium, especially if bigger teams field weakened teams and they get the rub of the green along the way.

Neighbours Aston Villa showed what is possible last season and, if McLeish wants to see progress, this competition is one area where he can realise that desire.

He will also want to protect a proud unbeaten home record that means Carson Yeung has yet to see the club he bought almost a year ago lose at St Andrew's.

Saturday's victory over Blackburn Rovers extended Yeung's streak to 17 games in all competitions, but nothing will be taken for granted by McLeish.

Rochdale are still trying to find their feet at League One level, since their promotion last season, but they have already accounted for Championship side Barnsley in the previous round and are relishing the prospect of taking an even bigger scalp.

Key Match-up: Nikola Zigic v Josh Thompson: Thompson has only just arrived at Rochdale on a season-long loan from Celtic and he might wish he had delayed his arrival for a week or so. The 19-year-old has very little SPL experience but will still be expected to somehow try to contain the 6ft 7in frame of Serbian striker Zigic. Birmingham's £6 million summer signing from Valencia is still trying to get to grips with the English game and his new team mates and this could be the ideal environment for some quick learning.

Form Guide: At St Andrew's, Birmingham are phenomenal and have not been beaten by Premier League opponents for 15 games. They won the trophy for the one and only time in their history in 1963. That was a year after Rochdale became the only club in the bottom tier of the English game to reach the League Cup final, which they lost to Norwich City.

Odds: Birmingham City 2-5, Rochdale 7-1, Draw 7-2

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Birmingham 2 Blackburn 1: Ben Foster Shines On Birmingham City Debut

John Percy — 2010-08-21T11:47:00-05:00

by John Percy

Filed under: Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham, Match Reports, England

Ben Foster triumphed in the battle of forgotten England goalkeepers as Craig Gardner embarrassed Paul Robinson to earn Birmingham their first win of the season.

Foster produced an excellent home debut and a stunning penalty save to render the loss of Joe Hart an afterthought but Robinson, who shocked Fabio Capello earlier this month by quitting the international game, was badly at fault as he allowed Gardner's low drive to slip through his fingers 19 minutes from time.

The £6 million spent on Foster looks a bargain, though, as the former Manchester United goalkeeper performed heroics to keep out Morten Gamst Pedersen's fierce spot kick. Steven Nzonzi did find a way past Foster with a close-range header nine minutes into the second half before Gardner levelled with a volley.

And then Gardner collected another from 20 yards to ensure Birmingham have still not lost a game on their own turf since September.

Birmingham's Chinese owners were paraded around the pitch before the game, with two lions dancing around them, and there was a nagging feeling the game wouldn't live up to such a dramatic build-up.

It wasn't until the half-hour mark that the hosts finally carved out their first chance of the afternoon, with Scott Dann forcing a fine reflex save from Robinson with a header.

The first half was virtually a non-event and gave no hint of what was to come in the second. Blackburn were awarded a penalty four minutes into the second half when Nikola Zigic foolishly hauled down Chris Samba as the Rovers defender waited for Pedersen's corner.

But Foster brilliantly clawed Pedersen's fierce penalty onto the crossbar to keep his new club level. The goalkeeper produced more heroics shortly afterwards, tipping Nzonzi's header over the bar, but he could not keep out the Rovers midfielder's near-post flick, from the resultant corner.

Birmingham were level just three minutes later with Gardner volleying in at the far post from James McFadden's clever pass. Blackburn should have gone ahead though, with Nikola Kalinic testing Foster before Samba headed against a post.

But Robinson inexplicably allowed Gardner's daisy cutter to find the corner to gift Birmingham three barely deserved points.

REACTION:
Birmingham manager McLeish was delighted with Foster as his side extended their unbeaten home run to 16 matches.

"He (Foster) was excellent in his first home game. It was a brilliant penalty save and one of the best I've ever seen. He is gearing up for a new chapter and new chances for him.

"If he and Joe Hart are vying for an England place then Joe's in pole position at the moment but who knows. Foz is a great professional, just like all players who come from Manchester United. He has that winning mentality you would hope for."

On Craig Gardner:
"He's a very versatile player and his two goals were great strikes. I know the first one was only from close range but he's shown great awareness to get in there. He's got a big part to play for us this season."

On the victory:
"It's good to keep the unbeaten home record going. It was a gutsy display because you know what you're going to get from Blackburn. We stood up to it well and got our rewards at the end."

Blackburn manager Allardyce was adamant that it was Foster who ensured the hosts picked up all three points.

"Good goalkeepers win you points and there's no doubt Ben Foster has won them three today. Had he not pulled off those saves at the time that he did we would have been 2-0 or 3-0 up and coasting to the end of the game.

"But because he pulled off those saves, particularly the penalty one which was an outstanding save, we have come away with nothing. He proved his agility and outstanding ability on more than one occasion."

On the Blackburn performance:
"For our players the lack of finishing quality has cost us dear here today and in the end we have had some really sloppy defending to concede two very sloppy goals that both could have been avoided quite easily had we all done our jobs right.

"Birmingham didn't create a lot in the 90 minutes, we created six good chances to score goals and only scored one."

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Through The Fixtures From Around The Grounds As It Happened

Howard Swains — 2010-08-21T08:45:00-05:00

by Howard Swains

Filed under: Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Birmingham, Everton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Ham, Wolverhampton, Min-By-Min Reports, West Brom, Blackpool

Minute-by-minute commentary from the Emirates Stadium, St. Andrew's, Goodison Park, Britannia Stadium, The Hawthorns and Upton Park.

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Birmingham v Blackburn Preview: Matt Derbyshire to face Former Club

John Percy — 2010-08-20T08:50:00-05:00

by John Percy

Filed under: Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham, Match Previews

PREMIER LEAGUE: ST. ANDREW'S, SATURDAY AUGUST 21, 2010. KICK-OFF 1500 BST

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Premier League Rankings: Unusual Suspects Make Early Push For the Top

Ian Whittell — 2010-08-19T11:11:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Welcome back to our regular look at who's hot and who's not in the world's best football competition.

The world's greatest domestic footbal league is back and it's like it's never been away. Chelsea are scoring goals without breaking sweat, Wayne Rooney can't score a goal and Manchester City are spending money like Roberto Mancini is playing fantasy football at his local.

Still, at least now the talking has stopped and there is real, breathless, live action for us to study and that means the first meaningful FanHouse UK Rankings of 2010-11.

FanHouse UK has used the latest, most in-depth objective statistical data, balanced with the purely subjective views of our expert staff, to come up with the answers.

All this - and much more - is revealed below (please note that the form guide refers to results during the 2009-10 season) ...

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Sunderland 2 Birmingham City 2: Liam Ridgewell Crowns Late Comeback

Jason Mellor — 2010-08-14T12:15:00-05:00

by Jason Mellor

Filed under: Birmingham, Sunderland, Match Reports

Liam Ridgewell completed a second-half comeback by Birmingham to earn them a point with an 88th minute equaliser.

It was an outcome that appeared unlikely after Sunderland surged into a 2-0 lead early in the second half.

But, reduced to 10 men for more than half the match, Sunderland were pinned back in the closing stages and eventually cracked.

Lee Cattermole, named as Sunderland's captain earlier in the week, was the player sent off for his second bookable offence in the 43rd minute.

It was a red card that angered manager Steve Bruce, who was escorted away as he attempted to confront referee Anthony Taylor at the end of the half

Sunderland had gone ahead in the 25th minute when striker Darren Bent opened his account for the season from the penalty spot after Stephen Carr brought down Fraizer Campbell, although the defender claimed the foul was committed outside the area.

The luckless Carr was also at the heart of Sunderland's second goal in the 56th minute when he headed Jordan Henderson's cross past his own keeper.

Birmingham responded immediately by sending on summer signing Nikola Zigic and the 6ft 7in striker soon made an imapct when a long-range shot was turned over keeper Simon Mignolet.

It proved to be the start of an awkward spell for Bruce's 10-man team as Birmingham took control.

Alex McLeish's team eventually pulled a goal back in the 78th minute when Scott Dann headed a corner through the legs of Mignolet.

Dann went close to an equaliser a minute later when he was again given too much space inside the area, but failed to connect cleanly with another header.

But Birmingham did earn a point when Ridgewell poked the ball past Mignolet during a scramble inside the area in the 88th minute.

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Through The Fixtures As It Happened

Howard Swains — 2010-08-14T09:46:00-05:00

by Howard Swains

Filed under: Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Birmingham, Everton, Fulham, Stoke City, Sunderland, West Ham, Wigan, Wolverhampton, Min-By-Min Reports, Blackpool

Minute-by-minute text commentary from around the grounds.

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