Wolves 1, Birmingham City 0: Birmingham Mail big match verdict
Dec 13 2010 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail
NOT since the battle of Tora Bora where the combined strengths of the United States and Allied forces allowed Osama bin Laden to sneak off into the hills of Pakistan has the world witnessed such a disappearing act.
It just happened to be the very day that Nathan Blake and Alex Rae combined to at last pierce Blues’ hearts in a league meeting between the two Midland giants.
Nine years and ten league meetings later, a patched-up Wolves side destroyed Blues with such finesse that you had to pinch yourself and rub your eyes to try and take it all in.
There was no sneaking off into the mountains. The only sheepish withdrawal of any note came from ten outfield footballers in blue and a couple of thousand bluenoses at full-time with their tails firmly between their legs.
Back in December 2001 Blues were a poor, mid-table Championship team whilst big-spending Wolves were trying to keep pace with mid-season pace-setters Burnley and Man City.
It was no great shock.
But this was. Not just the victory, but in the emphatic nature of the one-sided contest.
Blues had taken valiant points off Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs – and beaten Villa en-route to a League Cup semi-final.
But they didn’t turn up.
Alex McLeish suggested they did so after an hour. But it was more like 87 minutes.
For Wolves, the gap on fourth-bottom Fulham closed to a single point with Blues precariously positioned just two points above the bottom three.
The euphoria of the Carling Cup win quickly subsided. Where once there was ecstasy now there is tension, frustration and probably a dose of fear.
On this evidence it’s going to be a long, dark cold winter. Alan Pardew’s fired-up Newcastle won’t make life any easier.
Contrast that with Wolves who couldn’t find ten fit players, couldn’t buy a clean sheet, couldn’t stop the gaffes and were hopelessly adrift in the bottom three.
Not any longer.
A first clean sheet of the season – Wayne Hennessey will not have had an easier afternoon playing against a Birmingham cub scout 11 – has them cock-a-hoop heading to the Black Country derby with realistic ambitions of dragging the Baggies into the mire.
