Birmingham v Luton
There were a few noticeable changes from the away loss to Norwich. Trusty, Chang and Bacuna were all out of the starting XI, while Dean, Gardner and Jutkiewicz all started.
Trusty was missing from the matchday squad altogether. I can’t help thinking it’s an injury considering he hasn't missed a game all season. We now know my suspicion was true with Eustace confirming the defender will be out for a few weeks.
First half
Adopting a 4-4-2, glad to see the back of the 5-3-2 or 4-5-1 with a lone striker of Hogan.
Both teams came out in the first 5 minutes with an intent to attack, it was a frantic start. Very much a shame that it didn’t stay that way.
You could see Luton were a very physical side, especially up top, and they tried to work with that all half. Hats off to Long and Dean who put their head and boot on everything.
Hogan had a half chance with a cross from Juke, but his header went wide. You'd like to see Jukie receiving a cross from Hogan, but frustratingly we saw Jukie having to do the dog work, meaning at times he was sitting deep and not in the box where I would like to see him.
Luton had their fair share of corners, which Blues dealt with well. Best chance for them was a cross from the wing back, but their powerful striker headed over. This was a real let off for Blues, as he should have done much better.
Nothing really to get the fans up for the game and so much head tennis in the middle was going on. Honestly a very, very dull first half.
Terrible balls into the box from Blues, never cleared the first man and so easily dealt with by Luton.
Overall, I have to say an awful half to watch, no entertainment value for the fans in the ground or anyone watching.
HT 0-0
Second half
Luton came out flying and took the lead on the 47th minute. Cross into the box and the big striker, Morris, heads in. Questions asked as no defender was near him.
Blues couldn’t deal with Luton, they could have doubled their lead within a few minutes.
It didn’t get any better for Blues and we really struggled until Eustace made some changes. Chang, Roberts and Bacuna all on for Hannibal, Hall and Gardner. Another switch in formation, which happens most games, saw us go to a 5-3-2 with Colin and Longelo as wing backs.
I will throw in a little stat here, Blues have picked up just 1 point from a possible 21 when going behind at home. An awful stat really and shows how poor our home form has been.
It did get a little better from blues as Hogan hit the crossbar from a great Chong cross. A goal mouth scramble from a Bacuna freekick could have fallen to anyone, but Luton cleared. Honestly, that’s about the best it got for Blues.
We gave away so many cheap fouls. I will add the ref was awful and gave Luton a lot (can’t blame him for the poor performance though).
Blues looked out of ideas and miles off it again, even with 7 minutes added.
FT 1-0 to Luton
Verdict
Another pathetic performance, the team is so low on confidence. We don’t create anything and must be a dream to play against at the moment. Luton didn’t get out of first gear and still won.
Again, we never really laid a glove on Luton who were comfortable.
How long does Eustace have? It’s the same old every season. Maybe the players need to take a look at themselves.
Dreadful watch and you can see that by the crowds' low morale. I can’t blame them really, this isn’t football.
Saving grace was the bottom 3 teams all lost, but how long can we keep going like this?
Player ratings out of 10
Ruddy - 4
Colin - 4
Dean - 5
Long - 5
Longelo - 2
Gardner - 3
Hannibal - 3
Chong - 3
Hall - 2
Jutkiewicz - 4
Hogan - 4
Subs
Etheridge - N/A
Friend - N/A
Roberts - 3
Graham - N/A
James - N/A
Chang - 3
Bacuna - 3
See the highlights from the game and reactions from our team below:
Credit: Birmingham City Football Club
Credit: Birmingham City Football Club
Credit: Birmingham City Football Club
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