Andy Munro on Blues’ defeat at Leicester.
Listening to the Tom Ross phone-ins you would have thought Blues had lost 9-0 instead of leading and then losing by the odd goal in five. Mind you, the question for most depressed and Pannu weary Bluenoses is whether the glass is half full or completely empty.
To be fair, Leicester deserved to win on the balance of play but at least the Blues players couldn’t be faulted for lack of effort. Perhaps lack of class but , as I desperately try and not jump on the Lee Clark Hating Bandwagon, I have to say that not playing Chris Burke in a team battling to be effective offensively makes no sense. His goal perhaps says it all.
Of course, it is still early days and Blues’ defence held out admirably for most of the match but eventually we were overwhelmed by the Foxes. However solid a defence is, it will eventually be undone by pressure if only through the law of averages. At least, it was good to see Matt Green score and that will do his confidence the world of good but surely labouring Lee Novak now needs to be rested, even with Aswante and Ziggy unavailable. (Ziggy apparently is still ‘some way off’ in fitness terms but then we’ve known that for several years). Surely with Burke in the side we could rest Novak and play one of the talents of Shinnie or Allen just behind Green. Undoubtedly the skills of Burke and Allen/Shinnie allied to the pace of Matt Green would give us a more potent strike force than the current offering.
In defence there wasn’t too much wrong with the back three although Barkley (who gave away a penalty) has yet to convince. Let’s hope that he’s not going to be a footballing equivalent of Audley Harrison – good pedigree, looks the part physically but horribly vulnerable when under pressure.
It’s a difficult time for the Blues and Lee Clark has a desperate job in desperate circumstances whatever anybody might think of his tactics and persona. I think we all want to see the club sold and Yeung, Pannu and co disappear over the other side of the Great Wall. Maybe, we would be better off taking the administration hit and start again instead of watching the Chinese outfit bleed the club try in their desperation to get their pound of flesh.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
– Is Eardley just a journeyman?
– When they’re fit would you play Ziggy or Aswante?
– Are we better off losing to Yeovil to concentrate on survival?