Birmingham City are licking their wounds from the 3-1 defeat to Ipswich Town and looking forward to another blockbuster clash with Premier League chasing Southampton on Saturday.
The Blues are going through a challenging stretch of games without their manager, Tony Mowbray, who has stepped away temporarily to receive medical attention after receiving a diagnosis. Blues need to get points soon after suffering a crushing defeat at Portman Road in order to stay out of the relegation battle.
The question of whether the Blues are really fighting for relegation was covered by Alex Dicken (AD) and Brian Dick (BD) in their most recent episode of Keep Right On. Other subjects discussed included Ashley Cole’s situation, the center-back dilemma facing interim manager Mark Venus, and the reason Lee Buchanan isn’t starting games.
AD: “After a month without football, you could see there was a little bit of rustiness, but I don’t think Sanderson played poorly against Ipswich.” Sanderson is better on the right side of the ball, and I also find that he is never as good when he plays on the left. There, he always seems more at ease.
“At this point, I would remain with Bielik and Marc Roberts’ partnership if Bielik is healthy enough for Southampton and Mark Venus indicated there may be a chance. Roberts has played well lately; in the first half against Ipswich, I thought he played a strong defensive game to keep the score down. Five minutes in, Kieffer Moore was the target of a pretty good tackle that was practically goal-saving. Long term, Sanderson and Bielik should replace Roberts and Bielik. Prior to an injury ending their partnership, Sanderson had demonstrated his skill as a very excellent defender at this level.
BD: “As I sit here contemplating which two of the three I would choose, it occurs to me that Roberts would be the one and that it would be one of the other two. Although I realise I’m coming across as Marc Roberts’ ardent supporter, I thought he played well on Saturday. Everyone will point to Kieffer Moore’s flick-on for the third goal, but that is the center-back’s curse: you can play 89 minutes of heroic defence, lose one duel and one goal, and then it will appear like you had a poor game. Kieffer Moore is an awkward customer due of his outhouse-like build, but Roberts handled him rather effectively.
“Yes, Roberts, if it were a coin toss between Bielik and Sanderson, I would simply choose Sanderson due to the captaincy factor. As an all-around defender, I’m not sure about Bielik because he has been beaten for goals at the front post. You lose a little bit without Bielik and gain a little bit in defence with Sanderson.
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