Birmingham v Boro 0-2 (Connolly, Balogun)

[Smogzilla 7,484]

Fairly comfortable in the end. As soon as the 1st went in they seemed to wilt. 

Great that weve won this one, can enjoy the build up to the special game on Saturday now that we've done the business tonight. 👏 

[TeaCider24 12,642]

4 minutes ago, RiversideRed said:

Big week after the break with Peterborough and Hull either side of the Fulham game.

Got to beat both of them.

Fulham are 14 points clear of 3rd, and are starting to drop off a bit.

Could do with them winning on the 2nd, so they feel complacent when they play us.

[TheJew 2,938]

In fairness, whilst Connolly is garbage at least he doesn't hide. Impressive for someone who could probably hide quite easily.

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

7 minutes ago, TheJew said:

In fairness, whilst Connolly is garbage at least he doesn't hide. Impressive for someone who could probably hide quite easily.

Lmao at your profile pic, at least you take it well

[TeaCider24 12,642]

https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/watch-flo-balogun-post-match-reaction-birmingham-city

Nice post match interview with Balogun, he sounds a lot more enthused about this loan than he sometimes looks on the pitch.

He's probably just like me and has a naturally mopey looking face.

[Dynamo Kev 1,558]

connolly looks okay but then in the vital moments still messing up to much. like the goal he should be tapping that in missed it then we got a lucky rebound off the defender and we score. the stats say he has 2 goals but hes doesnt lol. 

i thought he looks better each game. his touch is better and hes looking at full pace now. frustrating thing though, he we try and put through balls into him he seemed to me to run at an angle what made the pass harder for him to get. few times he made the runs and with a slight tweak in his run angle might have give us a better chance at putting him in. i quite like him now. i can see he is actually offering us something now and with his workrate and all. balogun looking better, ball still getting under his feet to much and he fannied out of a tackle at one point but looks more confident and scored a cracking goal.

[kentucky 341]

Connolly reminds me of Shane Long , puts the running in but will never be prolific in front of goal.

[Foogle 2,104]

Hoping the young strikers can kick on after that! Great to have Dijksteel back in the team, he really helps us tick over. 

[p_mards 1,365]

The result tonight feels massive. If we didn't win then I simply couldn't see how we could finish in the play offs as our away form has been that consistently poor previously. A win away to Peterborough in the league is the next big step; if we can do that then I'll be getting carried away with our chances of settling in the play off positions.

Birmingham's pitch was awful to play football on so we did well to cope with it, especially considering our poor form away from home and packed fixture list. After McNair's missed penalty I was starting to fear the worst but we did well to keep our composure and get a second goal. Howson's calming influence breezing through the middle of the pitch was vital tonight. Tavernier was fantastic again, buzzing all over the pitch and creating space for teammates. His pass and run created the opportunity for Balogun to get the space to get his shot off. While Crooks has been rusty lately, Tavernier and Howson's incredible energy, consistency and quality has helped the midfield trio still operate well.

Balogun and Connolly's improving performances bodes well for the end of the season. Balogun in particular looks especially exciting. He has moments of quality that take me back to when we had Bamford on loan and I thought we've got ourselves someone a class above in the Championship. Take tonight: Balogun's clever backheel to play Dijksteel in the build up to Connolly's goal, and especially his fantastic whipped strike from the edge of the box. It's them moments of quality that highlight why Wilder has had such faith in him, particularly ahead of someone like Watmore.

The two week rest after the Chelsea game on Saturday should provide us with a great opportunity to refresh key players like Crooks and Jones back to top form, get injured players back fit like McGree and get more sharpness into rusty players like Bola, ahead of attacking the end of the season in the strongest position we've been in since Wilder arrived.

Edited March 16, 2022 by p_mards

[sackrobson2 371]

5 hours ago, p_mards said:

The result tonight feels massive. If we didn't win then I simply couldn't see how we could finish in the play offs as our away form has been that consistently poor previously. A win away to Peterborough in the league is the next big step; if we can do that then I'll be getting carried away with our chances of settling in the play off positions.

Birmingham's pitch was awful to play football on so we did well to cope with it, especially considering our poor form away from home and packed fixture list. After McNair's missed penalty I was starting to fear the worst but we did well to keep our composure and get a second goal. Howson's calming influence breezing through the middle of the pitch was vital tonight. Tavernier was fantastic again, buzzing all over the pitch and creating space for teammates. His pass and run created the opportunity for Balogun to get the space to get his shot off. While Crooks has been rusty lately, Tavernier and Howson's incredible energy, consistency and quality has helped the midfield trio still operate well.

Balogun and Connolly's improving performances bodes well for the end of the season. Balogun in particular looks especially exciting. He has moments of quality that take me back to when we had Bamford on loan and I thought we've got ourselves someone a class above in the Championship. Take tonight: Balogun's clever backheel to play Dijksteel in the build up to Connolly's goal, and especially his fantastic whipped strike from the edge of the box. It's them moments of quality that highlight why Wilder has had such faith in him, particularly ahead of someone like Watmore.

The two week rest after the Chelsea game on Saturday should provide us with a great opportunity to refresh key players like Crooks and Jones back to top form, get injured players back fit like McGree and get more sharpness into rusty players like Bola, ahead of attacking the end of the season in the strongest position we've been in since Wilder arrived.

Good post, sums it up well. Great to have got 3 away points on board especially as we don’t play in the league for quite a while now. 

[Downsouth 6,327]

https://www.skysports.com/football/birmingham-city-vs-middlesbrough/report/447783

Clears up a few things penalty should not have been awarded and clearly off the defender for the first goal.

But who cares, not I!

Wakawakawoo our good away win was long overdue😉

 

[sanddancer 1,967]

A pretty scrappy game we could have and should have put to bed with better finishing, but it’s games like these when perseverance and hard work is a key to success. 
Puts to bed a pretty dismal and unwanted away form that has put us in among the battling contenders for a playoff place, when with better away results we could be contesting second. Now who would have said the same before CW arrival. 
Another big game coming up that brings with it it’s own controversy, so will Chelsea be distracted or raring to prove a point. 
Then on to a very much needed crucial break to recover and get ready for the run in. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by sanddancer

[Downsouth 6,327]

Mentioned this before but have you noticed we have picked up away points by not wearing our green away kit?

Red shirts from now on!

[Barnaby 957]

8 hours ago, TeaCider24 said:

https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/watch-flo-balogun-post-match-reaction-birmingham-city

Nice post match interview with Balogun, he sounds a lot more enthused about this loan than he sometimes looks on the pitch.

He's probably just like me and has a naturally mopey looking face.

Yeah I got a face looks like it was on fire and somebody put it out with a flip-flop

[Borodane 6,301]

What a big win. The table is so tight, and with us not playing at the weekend the three points was a must. Inside the playoffs now, but I doubt we will be after the weekend. Apart from a shaky opening before we scored we were very comfprtable and didn't really need to break out of third gear. Good thing that we didn't need to battle hard and avoid yellow cards to key players on the verge of a two game suspension.

Two very good goals. When you are so close under goal and under pressure like Connolly was you can only divert the ball on target and hope it's not blocked. There is no way you can expect the striker to pick a spot that's not covered. Just get the ball on target and hope. It was well worked and some neat play by Balogun and Dijksteel. The second goal was a quality finish by Balogun. This was by far Baloguns best game for us and for the first time his potential really shone through. Let's hope it continues for the rest of the season.

After the Chelsea game hard working players like Howson, Crooks, Tav and Jones can get some deserved rest as they have really played more minutes since the turn of the year than you'd ideally want. Not that the others aren't working hard, but we haven't really had alternatives to those four because of the unfortunate injuries to Payero and McGree.