Fan Preview: Everton vs Birmingham City – FA Cup

Blues travel to the Toffees for what is undoubtedly the most competitive tie of round four. Incredibly the draw was made by Ex Villa player Paul Elliot and Baggies ‘Comic’ Frank Skinner. While they pulled out home ties for their own teams Blues have to return to Merseyside to play the Everton where Blues have not won in over fifty years.  From the fans point of view as the mainstream TV companies continue to treat us as though we don’t exist and we can enjoy a 3.00pm Saturday kick off.  Even that was only confirmed when Liverpool crashed out to Championship strugglers Reading.

Having been to Goodison less than a month ago and etched out a creditable draw, this game is a tough tough draw. No-one could have failed to be impressed with Moyes’s men when they took apart the Galacticos of Manchester City last week. The outstanding player in that match was the giant Italian Marouane Fellaini who is not only a good player but his giant physique causes contact with the opposition, some of which is dubious to say the least.

He gives away more free kick than anyone else and seems to stay clear of bookings. I would hesitate to accuse him of deliberately elbowing players but because of his size he seems to find his arms and sometimes legs in places where significant damage to opponents is the consequence.

His height should not cause Blues too much of a problem at set pieces as we have the armoury to combat that threat. Blues can rest assured that the ball will be aimed towards him as often is possible and Blues will have to be 100% solid to deal with it.

Even with a fourteen match unbeaten run behind them and a side that has been virtually unchanged for a dozen games, Blues have a big task ahead of them. There are no omens at all which point to a Blues win. Blues have never won there in the cup and have only one home win in 1921. For Blues to get through the most likely route will be via a replay. That is something that Blues could do without.

The manager is still putting out the ‘we are concentrating on staying in the Premiership’ vibes and trying to keep the lid on expectation. The fact that we may stay up with 36 points means that is all but guaranteed. The FA cup is about repaying the fans. If a team wins the league then the astronomical amount of money that the clubs get doesn’t go in the supporters pockets.  The FA cup would take us into Europe after winning six games, five if the winners were already qualified for the Champion’s League.

So can Blues get past this tie and go on to win this Cup? All we can say about this tie and the competition as a whole is: – we are due!

By Alan Watton

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