Lee Clark's Blues prove too much for Swansea's second string
Well, that was rubbish wasn't it? Pre-match, Lee Clark's effusive comments about the Swans seemed, to me, of the type that would normally unsettle his charges, however he obviously knows better as tonight Birmingham rode off into the distance after a much improved second half performance which saw them claim the win, and advancement into the next round.
Laudrup made ten changes to the side which drubbed Crystal Palace on the weekend, and by all accounts it showed. There'll probably be limited highlights on the League Cup show later, but it seems profligate finishing in the first half cost the Swans dear. Bony then Pozuelo hit the woodwork in quick succession, while apparently Roland Lamah also missed a gilt-edged opportunity when Doyle saved with his legs.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it's possible that with no game-time so far this season, starting Garry Monk was a big risk. I'm as big a fan as anyone, but Birmingham away in the League Cup is a high-tempo affair, and with pace not being one of Garry's strong-points he was always going to be up against it. Strange as it may sound, it's likely he'd be much more suited to a European match against St Gallen or the Russian team I can't remember, as you'd imagine we'd have a bit more time on the ball and wouldn't be pressed so high up the pitch.
Birmingham went with two up top, and once they'd weathered the first half Swansea storm they quickly found their feet in the second half, with two goals in four minutes. Centre-back Dan Burn headed in after Swansea couldn't clear a corner, before Matt Green and Tom Adeyemi made sure of things. Wilfried Bony got a late consolation, but it didn't really matter. Out of the League Cup at the first possible opportunity...well at least it'll help the fixture list with European advancement a distinct possibility thanks to the humbling of Valencia.
Positives? Err...no-one got injured? It seems that we ran the first half and missed a good number of opportunities before taking our foot off the gas in the second half. Against Palace we could have scored more, and it's important the squad learns to take chances whenever they occur. No mercy, no surrender! As I've not seen the match this is all mostly speculation, but one plus point is that the players who come back into the squad for this weekend's match with Arsenal will be looking to restore the pomp and swagger we'd started to become used to.
I'll try to find some extended highlights to either put a fuller report up or link to, so until then I'll refrain from commenting further. That is, apart from to point out once again that we're still in the Europa League.
You never know...