Andy Munro watches Blues go down 1-0 at home to Middlesbrough.
Blues were off the pace and played with no confidence, unforgivable in what was such a vital fixture.
The defence were awful, although Marc Roberts going off injured was a blessing in disguise as moving Lee Buchanan across in the middle gave us a more solid and mobile look. This was despite John Ruddy continually tying himself in knots as he was closed down and forced into continually kicking wayward balls into touch.
The midfield were generally equally awful with the subs making little difference. Andre Dozell looked one paced whilst the normally influential Korean duo were out of sorts as was the usually reliable Jordan James. It was the same story up front as Jay Stansfield ran his socks off to no avail, invariably surrounded by two or three men, with no support. In fact it was only when the Juke came on did we look a bit more dangerous even if the final ball into the box was generally of low quality.
And the less said about the other sub, Tyler Roberts, the better.
If we continue in this vein then we look dead men walking and certainties for the drop. Nobody took responsibility in a captaincy sense and there was little urgency or fight. The players must take some responsibility, as must the stand-in manager. Mark Venus is a well-meaning coach but never a leader when we need it most.
My view is that we won’t see Tony Mowbray again this season and I would look for a stand-in manager such as Neil Warnock with a big bonus if he keeps us up. Yes it has come to that and for that, the blame lies squarely at the door of Messrs Cook and Rooney.
