Overdue

It's been over 2 weeks since my last post and it seems this blog is suffering from neglect.  The header seems to have shrunk and my Last FM chart has disappeared. In my defence I have been quite busy of late. As well as the usual gigs, football and so on you also get the chance to catch up with friends and family, eat, drink and generally have a good time.  That's exactly what I've been doing

First up, The Vaccines at Leamington Assembly.  We arrived early.  Thinking doors opened at 6 we caught the train about 7pm. It turns out that doors were at 7 so we ended up catching all of the bounds. 

First up Howler.  I didn't want to like them because the were young and American.  They were actually very good and had some great tunes. Frankie and the Heartstrings were next and again I warmed to them very quickly despite not wanting to.  They had interesting songs with an 80s feel.

Finally, The Vaccines.  Very loud and lots of strobe lighting.  Short, sharp shocks of songs and a set that lasted about an hour.  Of all 3 bands these were the most disappointing although I don't know what I was expecting (if you'd pardon the pun).

The set list went something like this

Blow It Up
Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
Tiger Blood
A Lack Of Understanding
Wetsuit
(New Song)
Post Break-Up Sex
All In White
Under Your Thumb
Wolf Pack
If You Wanna
Family Friend
We're Happening
Nørgaard

The following day Clare and I went to see Hugo.  We saw the 3D version obviously.  It looked fantastic and I can understand why the film is being credited with rejuvenating the 3D format.

Twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy.

Directed by  Martin Scorsese and with a cast that includes Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone, this is a lovely story which is visually stunning and as far as I'm concerned, a must see!

Later in the week I spent an evening at an old friend's. It was good to catch up and had a really nice evening.  At the end of the week I found myself at the Westley Arms Hotel in Acocks Green for a Christmas meal.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot but the staff were friendly and the food much better than I expected.  Most people opted for the carvery but I went for the vegetarian option.  I started with the leek and potato soup. I'm not really a soup fan but I thoroughly enjoyed it!  For my main I went with Pepper, Spinach and Mushroom Tart with a red pepper sauce.  It was accompanied by the veg from the carvery.  I was worried it may be a bit dry but my fears were unfounded. The sauce was lovely and more than enough to see me through my meal.

On the Saturday Clare and I took my mom into town to visit the German market.  My mom had not been before and she thoroughly enjoyed it.  We also went to Bacchus Bar for a warm drink and to the  Handmade Burger Co. for lunch.  It was busy but after a 15 minute wait for a table we were rewarded with great food and a lovely table with great views of St Martin's in the Bull Ring.

My mom had a lovely time and Clare took her on the carousal in Victoria Square. 

Last week and another meal with friends. Another carvery, his time at the Wheatsheaf in Sheldon.  Being the first to arrive we ordered drinks at the bar and whilst we were being served the rest of the staff were shouting across the bar to each other about their Christmas shifts.  It seems that most were unhappy with what they had been given.  The staff serving food seemed to lack the Christmas spirit and by the time we got to the counter there wasn't much in the way of vegetables. We waited for them to be replenished and eventually asked a passing member of staff.  The food arrived and having helped myself to the fresh roast potatoes hurried back to the table.  I was surprised to find that they were cold!  Still, it was good to catch up with friends and despite the food was a good night.

The following night it was time to wrap up warm and head to St Andrew's. Blues were taking on NK Maribor in their last group match of the Europa League.  Unfortunately qualification was out of their hands.  Not only did they need to win but they need a Braga victory against Bruges to qualify.  Birmingham did their bit winning 1-0 thanks to a Rooney goal in the 24th minute.  However, Braga could only manage a draw which meant we finished 3rd in the group with 10 points.  Bruges & Braga went through with 11 points. 

I'm not too bothered that our European adventure has come to an end.  It was nice while it lasted but I don't think anyone would have believed we could have gone on to win it.  We got there and played well but it's time we concentrated on the League.

That pretty much brings things up to date.  Just this weekend to cover.

Friday - Hatton Craft Village for late night shopping and a Christmas Nativity with real animals!  I really enjoyed it!  On a cold night, wrapping up warm and singing carols around a nativity scene. The highlight was the donkey which started braying at the end of Hark The Herald Angels.

Saturday - The morning was spent shopping and the afternoon spent wrapping.  We spent the evening Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jnr.  I enjoyed it but Clare fell asleep.

Today - Leamington Spa Christmas Market.  I have come to understand that a Christmas Market is the same as a normal market with a few decorations (in some cases no decorations).  Despite the dawning of this truth it was a lovely day.  Getting home a couple of hours ago, Clare finished the wrapping and I watched the football whilst writing this.

So there you have it, back up to date. All I need to do now is sort out the layout. Think I'll do that over the holidays.

Birmingham City 2 Club Brugges 2

On a mild November night I was at St Andrew’s to watch Blues fight back from two goals down to earn a point against Club Brugge in the Europa League.

The Belgian side went ahead after 39 minutes through Thomas Meunier who scored from a corner. 5 minutes later it was 2-0 when Joseph Akpala side-footed past Colin Doyle.

Jean Beausejour pulled a goal back in the second half after Brugge failed to clear Nikola Zigic's effort. Marlon King levelled the score from the penalty spot after Ryan Donk fouled Beausejour.

The point leaves Blues second in the Group H table, on head-to-head, with two games to play.

To be honest, the first half performance was poor but after King, Wood and Burke were brought on after 65 minutes we looked a better side.

It was good to see another full house and I was surprised at the amount of Brugges fans who made the trip. 3000 of them all in good voice (well at least until Blues scored).

A nice moment was the applause on 23 minutes. It turns out that Club Brugges fans do this at each match in memory of  sriker Francios Sterchele who passed away in a car crash back in 2008. When we played them at their place the Blues fans who had travelled over joined in, the only away team to do so. Last night we did it again. Both home and away fans came together for that minute, something the Club Brugges fans appreciated. At the end of the match they even sang Birmingham City’s name! A nice touch and something I’d not seen before!

Although we only managed a draw it was a great night and I’m hoping for many more European nights before this competition is over!

Sunday Sunday

An early start on Sunday for a trip to Solihull Nature Reserve.  Arriving at sun up we managed to see the best part of 40 species of bird in just under 2 hours.  Not bad for what is in fact a park with a couple of fields attached. 

Redwing, Fieldfare, Brambling, and a couple of Green Woodpeckers were amongst the highlights but my favourite was the return of the Mute/Whooper hybrid swans on the lake.  I last saw them on January 10th!

Having arrived home the rest of the day was spent listening to music and watching Blues take on Leicester City (live on BBC 1).  A dismal first half and an action packed second.  A penalty to Blues (Marlon King putting it in the bottom corner giving Blues a 1-0 advantage), Not long after Leicester, were reduced to 10 men but still managed to put up a fight until a great move by Blues on the counter attack saw Chris Wood fire home Blues' second.

The Last Five Days

The plan for this weekend had been a trip to Oxford but as it was postponed we needed a back up and so this is what we came up with.

Yesterday was a lazy-ish morning not leaving the house until gone 10am which is unusual for us.  We headed for Solihull Nature Reserve to see what birds were around.  Still all quiet.  We had hoped there might be the odd returning bird on the lake but it was mainly Black Headed Gulls and Mallard with the odd Moorhen and Coot.

After spending a couple of hours wandering around we headed for The Robin Hood for a carvery.  We arrived after the main rush and within a few minutes of entering we were tucking into our dinner.  Obviously I didn't have meat and Clare decided to go without also.  At the end we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had been charged £8 less as we had the vegetarian option.  In all the time I have had a carvery I didn't realise that I got it cheaper by not having meat!  I just assumed I paid the same as it was my choice to abstain.

We got back from the pub in time to watch West Brom versus Man Utd.  A game West Brom were unlucky not to take a point.  Rooney's early goal was cancelled out by Long in the 38th minute.  In the second half Ashley Young's cross was deflected into the back of his own net by Reid.  The final score 2-1 to Man Utd.

All in all not a bad Sunday
Saturday, and having been to the Post Office to collect a package (photos) it was off to Morrison's for breakfast. Again another lazy morning! Afterwards and it was off to the bookies for our weekly bet.

Early afternoon and we set off for St Andrew's for Birmingham's first home match against Coventry. Having had a quick drink at the bar we took our seats. I was surprised at firstly how few Coventry had brought and secondly at the lack of our own support.  The gate was just over 19,000.  Coventry, however, despite their lack of numbers completely out sung the Blues fans who seemed to be suffering from the same lethargy as the team.

The first half wasn't much to write home about. Blues opting to play Chris Wood up front on his own.  Not many chances at either end.  A change in the second half saw Wood replaced by Adam Rooney, who headed against the post before teeing-up the rebound for Keith Fahey to hit home in the 73rd-minute. The game ended 1-0 to Blues giving us our first 3 points of the season, having lost to Derby last week. 

Friday afternoon was spent in The Field House catching up with a friend.  It was great to catch up but the location could have been better.  I'm not keen on this pub.  The staff are friendly enough but if you are not a regular then all eyes are on you when you walk through the door. 

Thursday was a fantastic day!  Weather wise it didn't bode well. Waking up to grey skies I was worried about what was in store. 

England versus India in the 3rd Test at Edgbaston.  With England 2-0 in the series a win at Edgbaston would see them ranked as the number Test side in the world.  Clare and I had tickets for Day 2. England had taken to the crease having bowled India out for 224 and at the end of play on Day One they were 84-0.

Heading into Moseley, Clare and I had breakfast at Maison Mayci.  Whilst we tucked into scrambled egg on toast (with extra toast) the rain outside seemed to be getting worse.  By the time we paid the bill it had eased off and when we arrived at Edgbaston it had stopped all together.

I was disappointed to find that there were no spirits available and instead ended up drinking pear cider.  It wasn't too bad but didn't go down quite as easy as my usual gin & tonic.

Play had been delayed by 30 minutes due to the weather but when the players took the field it was dry and warm although there was still a lot of grey cloud around.  The cloud remained throughout the day with the sun breaking through.  When it did it was actually quite hot and both Clare and I ended up with a bit of a tan!

The play itself saw Cook pile on the runs ending the day 182 not out (he went on to score 294).  Strauss managed 87 before being bowled out to, what was later found to be, a no ball.  Pieterson managed 63. Bell managed 34 before being bowled out.  I was still applauding Cook's century which he had reached from the previous ball.

The day ended with England 456-3 with Cook and Morgan at the crease. They went on to win the match by an innings and 242 runs.

Making our way home we walked the last leg of our journey with a bag of chips.  A fantastic, although tiring, day out.

This Week

Firstly, the lunar eclipse on Wednesday night was a let down due to cloud cover. It seems I never have any luck when it comes to star gazing.  This was a long eclipse and the moon turned blood red although we didn't get to see it.  Last night and Tuesday had fantastic views of the moon (through the clouds) but Wednesday's show wasn't to be.

Secondly, Alex McLeish's move across the city.  Having resigned from Blues last Sunday it has been announced this morning that he has now been installed as the new Villa manager.  This despite fan protests at Villa Park and Blues insisting on compensation (Villa have agreed to pay 2 million).

To be honest, I don't blame him going.  I think Blues have some real problems behind the scenes but I am surprised he has crossed the city!  I think Blues fans are unhappy about it but not as much as Villa fans. Some sections are talking about giving their season tickets back.  A few wins under his belt though and it will soon be forgotten.  In the meantime Blues have to find a new manager and start planning their bid for promotion and their campaign in Europe.  Interesting times ahead!

Finally, the fixtures for the coming season have been announced today. Blues kick off against Derby for the first game and end the season at home to Reading.  The last away game is Brighton!  Hopefully a trip to the seaside to celebrate our return to the Premier League!

Now I Wasn't Expecting That!

I was just about to write up my day when I received a text with some odd news. I checked it out and this is what I found on the BBC Sport website.

Alex McLeish has resigned as manager of Birmingham City.

Birmingham won the Carling Cup in February but went on to be relegated from the Premier League at the end of the past campaign.

The club's board had stated that McLeish's job was "safe" in the aftermath of their drop into the Championship but the Scot has now decided to leave of his own accord.

Aston Villa are already being suggested as a possible destination for McLeish.

"Birmingham City Football Club can confirm that Alex McLeish has resigned as manager," said a statement on the St Andrew's club's website.

"Acting chairman Peter Pannu received an e-mail resignation from McLeish earlier today [Sunday] while away on business in Amsterdam.

"No further comment will be made at this moment in time and updates will be released in due course."
More to follow.

I'm a bit surprised but not sure that I'm that upset by it.  I'd like to know his reasons.  Is it because Blues seem to have no money or has he had a better offer from the other side of the city.  Time will tell.

Update

Not much to say except that Blues and Blackpool were relegated.  Wolves, despite losing 3-2 against Blackburn, stayed up along with Wigan who, to my suprise, managed to beat Stoke 1-0.

Blues went 1-0 down five minutes into the second half ( a great strike by Pavlyuchenko) putting us into the bottom three.  Craig Gardiner equalised with ten minutes to go. Just as I started to believe we would be OK  Wolves pulled a second goal back against Blackburn which put us back into the relegation zone on goal difference.  In the dying seconds of the game Pavlyuchenko scored his second and condemned Blues to the Championship.

Not the greatest of afternoons but as the song says Keep Right On To The End Of The Road!

The Weekend So Far

With the earthquake (8.9 on the Richter scale), tsunami and possible nuclear catastrophe in Japan it doesn't seem right to say that my weekend has been pretty good so far.  Watching the footage on TV makes me thankful that I live in a place that is, geographically speaking, pretty safe.

That said, my weekend started by taking delivery of a copy of Autopia, the new album by Eat Lights Become Lights.  I have to say that Enraptured Records have a great system. I ordered it on Tuesday and yesterday it arrived in sturdy packaging ensuring my new LP was in pristine condition. I haven't had time to listen to it yet but I am really looking forward to putting the needle on the groove and kicking my feet up.

Today, the postman arrived with a couple of DVDs which Clare had ordered for me (Y Tu Mama Tambian and Red Road). A nice surprise and a lovely way to start a Saturday morning.

We were meeting friends for a walk this morning.  Originally the plan was to head up to Shropshire but our friend up there cancelled so we decided to stay local.  We ended up wandering the fields and lanes around Barston, stopping to each lunch in St Swithen's churchyard in Barston. Spring was most definitely in the air and it was quite warm especially when the sun came out.  Unfortunately as we were making the walk up as we went along it wasn't quite as long as usual.  It probably wasn't a bad thing though as it seemed to get colder towards the end and as I write it has started raining.

Getting home early meant I was able to catch the second half of the Blues vs Bolton in the FA Cup Quarter Finals.  Blues lost 3-2 ruling out another trip to Wembley.  To be honest, I'm not too bothered as with the danger of relegation looming we need to concentrate on staying in the Premier League.

We've Never Won F*** All

On Sunday I got up early and headed to the train station.   I was on my way to Wembley for the League Cup Final between Arsenal and Birmingham City. Arriving at the station I rounded the corner to find a queue just to get on to the platform. Over an hour later I was on a train London bound. It was standing room only but the two hours passed quite quickly.  The atmosphere was fantastic.

Eventually I got to Marylebone and after a short walk to Baker Street met my brother and some mates. We found a small pub just around the corner (Bok Bar) and stayed there until it was time to head over to Wembley.

The weather, when I arrived, was lovely but by the time we left the bar it was raining and had become quite chilly. 

Before I knew it I was walking up Wembley Way and within minutes was inside the stadium.  It all seemed quite surreal.

I'd been to Wembley before to watch England but to walk in and see a sea of blue and white was something special.

The game itself seemed to pass quickly and a lot of it is still a blur. Luckily Clare has taped it for me so I can watch it back when I get the chance.  Standing behind the goal was a great place to see Birmingham's Zigic rise to head in the first goal after 28 minutes.  The Blues fans went wild but 11 minutes later Van Persie's great strike meant it was all level at half time. 

The second half saw Arsenal have a good spell and most of the Blues fans were getting frustrated.  We were expecting an Arsenal goal but as the time ticked away we were all thinking of extra time and penalties and then it happened. In the 89th minute a long ball from Foster is met by Zigic in the Arsenal area.  Koscielny (Arsenal defender) should have cleared the ball but Szczesny (Arsenal goalkeeper) came out to collect. The ball is miskicked and rolls to the feet of Martins (Blues on loan striker) who is faced with an empty goal.  He taps it home and the Blues fans cannot believe it. The 4 minutes added time seemed like forever but eventually the whistle blew.

Blues had won the the Carling Cup.  Despite being written off by the bookies and the media we had done it.   Our first major trophy in 48 years.  Everyone was ecstatic and as the Arsenal fans filed out of Wembley the Blues sang.  Keep Right On, Mr Blue Sky, Food for Thought.

When the team collected the trophy I don't mind admitting I had tears in my eyes (I wasn't alone).  Eventually we left Wembley and the party continued.

Blues were going to party all night but I was shattered so eventually made my way back over to Marylebone to catch the train home.  I could have caught it at Wembley but figured I had a better chance of a seat by heading back across London.  I was right. 

3 days later and I still can't believe we have done it.  It's not a cheap day out but it was worth every penny!

It's A Long Long Road......

Last night my football team qualified for their first major trophy in 10 years.  Blues last made the final of the League Cup back in 2001, losing to Liverpool (on penalties) at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.  Blues have won the cup once, back in 1963 when they beat local rivals Aston Villa.

Last night they beat West Ham 4-3 on aggregate and booked their place at Wembley where they will face Arsenal.

West Ham came to St Andrew's with a 2-1 lead after the first leg.   That game had seen Blues fail to make an impact in the first half but gave a much better performance in the second.

Last night was very similar.  A dire first half saw Carlton Cole score for the visitors.  The second half saw the introduction of Zigic and much better Blues performance.  Bowyer levelled the score, on the night, after 59 minutes. As the game entered it's final stages Roger Johnson's header levelled the score on aggregate and took the game to extra time.

Craig Gardener had already hit the post twice with long range efforts and put the ball in the back of the net in extra time taking the final score to 3-1 on the night.

The final takes place on 27th February.  I hope I'm able to get a ticket!!

Today's The Day!

Today's the day England find out whether their bid to host the 2018 World Cup has been successful.  With the Prime Minister, Prince William and David Beckham amongst the delegation in Zurich trying to sway the votes. A presentation at 10.00 and the winning bid been announced at 15.00 has given the media the chance to report something other than the weather.  From what I can gather it's very close and it's proving to be quite exciting.

The bid seems to have been strong but a Panaroma investigation alleging corruption of certain FIFA Officials and other allegations in the press probably haven't helped the cause.  Something else that wouldn't have helped would have been the scenes of violence during the Carling Cup Quarter Final Match between Birmingham City and Aston Villa last night.  Birmingham won the game 2-1 and face West Ham away in the Semi Final.  After the match a pitch invasion by Blues fans led to flares being fired and seats ripped up as they tried to get to the Villa fans.

I'm not going to talk about the rights and wrongs of football hooliganism but I will say that a lot of these so called hooligans are the same fans that will travel the country week in week out, whatever the weather and whoever their opponent may be. 

The West Midlands derby has always been a passionate affair, on and off the pitch and is often overlooked by the media. The game is usually played on a Sunday lunchtime at the insistence at of the police.  Last night however it was decided that the game would not be moved and the trouble followed. 

The game itself was scrappy albeit played at a fast pace. Blues took the lead thanks to a Seb Larson penalty after Lee Bowyer had been bought down.  Blues scored again  but this was disallowed.  Villa then went up the pitch and scored, although this should also have been disallowed for offside.  With extra time and penalties looming Zigic managed to put the ball in the back of the net and send Blues through to the next round.

On an evening when the temperature never made it above -2C I thought I was being clever staying at home and watching it on TV. Having seen the match and what followed afterwards I think I made the wrong decision!

Football Fixtures

So, the football fixtures have been released today.  I always look forward to them coming out.  The first thing I do is look at the last game of the season.  Are we home or away?  I prefer to be away as it is more of an occasion.  The next thing I look for is our opening game.  I prefer one of the big clubs because, if I'm honest, it means we get them out of the way.  Finally I look to see when we play Aston Villa. I'm sure I've mentioned I support Birmingham. Villa are our biggest rivals.

Our last game of the coming season is Tottenham away. As much as I like the away trips, I just hope that we don't need the points at that stage of the season because I don't think we'll get anything there.

This year I have another couple of games to look out for, West Bromwich Albion.  Another local derby and also, Clare's team. 

Last season saw us finish 9th in the Premiership.  Our best finish for 51 years.  Here's hoping we capitalise on that this year.