Doyle               7          Held on to two shots and caught his crosses.

Spector            8          Good game defensively and helped Redmond attack the right.

Davies             8          Captain for the night and looked the part

Ibanez              8          Never broke sweat

Murphy           8          likes European football

Redmond         9*        Must improve his corners

Gomis              8          Tackled passed and ran his legs off

Fahey               8          A good game with a few inventive passes

Beausejour      7          Good first half, came strong late on

Zigic                7          Hold up play is excellent but will he ever score again?

Rooney            7          Good finish but little else

Subs

N’daw              7          Good impact. In the side Monday?

Mutch              6          Stretched his legs for ten minutes

Burke               5          Relieved a cramped up Redmond for 5 minutes

49 years ago this month this then 11 year old witnessed a cold December evening when Bertie Auld headed into a Railway End net to record a meaningless 1-0 win against Espanyol of Spain. Having lost the first leg 5-2, the icy conditions and freezing temperatures were not enough to bridge the gap.

Adam Rooney’s header was remarkably similar in that he headed into the railway end from a superb cross from Nathan Redmond. Sadly Blues were relying on the honesty of two other teams in the group to send them through. Honesty as Blues will surely testify is sadly lacking in this and any country’s footballers. The night in 1962 ended up with 9 a side as Bertie K-O’ed two Spaniards with his sweet right hook and a Jimmy Harris head butt accounted for another. No simulation required as three Spanish hit the icy floor as cold as mutton.

Two stands at the railway end have come and gone since that night and Nathan Redmond’s grand ma was still in her pram. Nathan will without doubt make it big time. Hopefully he’s with Blues and in a European Theatre again  before too long. Thinking of those who have played with the tree lions on their breast pocket, Young, Lennon, Milner and Walcott all have pace and ability to beat a man yet hardly ever deliver a decent cross from either side yet alone both. Redmond, after a couple of miss hits tortured the Maribor defender’s and had Blues front men committed themselves more, there would have been a avalanche of goals.

Sadly Nathan’s future will not be tracked by this old fart’s pen any longer. The end of this European road signals the end of my Blog. It’s been great and I thank the Bluesnet guys for their support over the years and for all you readers. The ones who have slagged me off are particularly welcome to take over the reins and will have me as an avid reader.

Frankly I am tired of the Second division garbage that we have to endure at the moment. The European trail was different. That was where we should be. It’s where we should be with a Premiership quality team and a Premiership quality manager with a premiership budget. At the moment we have the prospect of only one of these.

Anyway, a Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all us Bluenoses.

By Alan Watton

Myhill        7     made one Save before being let down by the defence

Carr        7    As always he’s our best player

Davies        4    Sending off crucial but no blame on him for loss

Caldwell    8    Never put a foot wrong

Murphy        9*    we can sell Ridgewell now

Burke        4    Old Club never gave him a kick.

Spector        7    Kept a grip on the midfield

Fahey        8    Good game made some telling passes

Beausejour    4    Getting worse each game

King        5    Ineffective

Zigic        4    Liability

Subs

Wood        6    Improved things slightly

Ibanez        5    First touch gave them a goal

By Alan Watton

The reason my reports are getting shorter and shorter is that Blues are giving me less and less to write about. After Wednesday’s neutered showing Blues managed this time to have no effective attempts on goal. The only attempt on target was a Zigic loopy header that my missus could have stopped with her hand bag.

This was garbage. Plenty of possession and solid defensively yet the end product was zero. Blues were unlucky in that they lost Davies when a misplaced pass flew to Millar who was hauled down by Blues best defender. Unlucky that Ibanez’s first touch as sub, hit Millar, who had a tap in from 6 yards. But when these little bad breaks occur and you still have not removed the goose egg from the score board then that’s incompetence.

Chris Hughton’s only plus over Alex McLeish at the moment is that he actually wants to manage Blues.

He has excited us in the past and must do again. Chris Calderwood’s entry into the picture has coincided with the inept performance of the last week. With the lack of cash at Blues, surely that money could have been spent more wisely?

By Alan Watton

Myhill                    7              No chance with the goal and a fine save late on to keep us in it.

Spector                  7              Good game but was surely holding an injury at the end.

Davies                   7              Not as assured as usual but played well

Caldwell               8              Captain for the night and played the part.

Murphy                 7              Excels on the European stage

Burke                    9*           Showed his qualities but should have netted the penalty rebound.

N’daw                   7              Hard work throughout, faded late on.

Fahey                    7              Up and down the pitch all night

Beausejour         4              Another disappointing effort

Elliot                      7              Very good first half but later withdrawn

Zigic                       7              Penalty miss but played well to link up play

Sub

King                       5              No input

Wood                    5              No input

Redmond            5              Couple of nice touches but did little of note

By Alan Watton

Those who read this who enjoy on criticizing the content will be having a field day. Saturday I was lauding the delicate skills of Nicola Zigic and he goes and misses a penalty. A penalty that ends Blues realistic chances in making further Europa League progress. In my defence I was bemused as most in attendance when I saw the Serb pick up the ball and place it on the spot.  Prey tell me when did he ever score a goal from that distance? When did he ever actually have a shot at goal from that distance?  Ziggy’s total yardage in scoring would hardly get him to the eighteen yard line.

So the weak effort was saved and incredibly Chris Burke reached the rebound well before any home player came into view. Amazingly he tried to find Zigic again instead of firing the ball in the net!

Blues were denied an earlier penalty and Emerton was lucky to stay on when producing two cardable offences. The winning goal from former Newcastle player Vianna was so fluky it was surely never going to be Blues night.

The toil that they put in was helped when Maribor went 3-0 up against Bruges. Just when Blues were tiring and needing inspiration the Belgians had turned the game on its head winning 4-3. Blues simply had not enough ability to breakdown a pretty sound top level side. They did make a fist of things for an hour but the terrible deciding goal sapped their will.

Only a Braga win in Bruges and a Blues win will see Blues progress. Sometimes fairy tales can come true but for our rivals not to play out a draw would be insanity. I have seen nothing in the Braga side particularly that suggest they are the slightest bit do-lally.

Blues are crossing national boundaries again on Sunday with bigger fish to fry. We can hope that Cardiff’s  reaching the Carling Cup semi-final with an excellent chance of reaching the final will distract them.

By Alan Watton

Myhill        7     Twice beaten from two shots but solid show.

Carr        7    Great attacking play, error led to second goal.

Davies        8    Another immaculate display

Caldwell    7    Little quick forwards unsettled him

Murphy        7    Good show, pace missing on occasions

Burke        9*    Lit up the gloomy Fylde coast with impish skills

Spector        7    Hard work throughout, solid show

Fahey        7    Better in the ’ratter’ role, good game.

Beausejour    4    Rather than disappear in the second half he didn’t keep us waiting.

Elliot        7    Made the first goal and is better in the middle

King        7    Bad miss , good goal, caused problems all day

Sub

Zigic        7    Superb goal but the heading is weak

Wood        5    Brave of the manager to try and win the game but Chris had no chance.

By Alan Watton

My headline does not imply that Nikola Zigic is in anyway unintelligent. To speak more than one language takes intellect and to play football in a foreign language is even harder. Believe me I’ve tried it and it ain’t easy. It took six months for last year’s Blues team to work out that the ball played into feet or on the chest was where Ziggy liked to operate. Those that say that he looks clumsy don’t see enough of him. His touch and passing is excellent. This was all summed up in a 100 seconds that fully demonstrated my point. With the final whistle approaching Keith Fahey sent over the exact ball a 6 foot 9 inch striker should relish. High and to the far post which only he could possibly reach, the kind Jose Dominguez delivered and Kevin Francis used to bury. Ziggy sadly missed the target and it looked as though Blues would go home pointless. Just as the Blackpool fans were starting their ‘donkey chants’ Ziggy ghosted through the Blackpool back line, a la Martin Peters, killed the ball mid stride and tucked the ball away, in a way Jimmy Greaves would have been proud.

Blues had their deserved point from a match that was an absolute credit to the division. In a force 10 gale on a tiny, uneven and slippery pitch with rain lashing down both sides treated the crowd to 90+ minutes of nonstop entertainment. There were bad misses from both sides. Marlon King was guilty of not converting a Burke cross which was heavenly in its form and construction. King, from six yards out met the header sweetly but hit the keeper and the ball spun over.
King made up moments later when he latched onto a sweet pass from Elliot and ran clear to net confidently.
Blackpool replied within two minutes when Blues were opened up and Crainey side footed home.
They took the lead on the hour when Eardley tried a speculator from 25 yards. With the gale behind him, the ball flew into the net giving Myhill no chance.

Blues lost their way then and Barry Ferguson began to pull the strings picking out passes and probing at the Blues back four. Zigic replaced Beausejour on 80 minutes and it was he that retrieved Blues a deserved point.

This was a good start to Blues 10 day around Europe tour, three countries, three coasts and 4 games. If Blues return home undefeated then Blues will be set up for a 2012 to remember.

By Alan Watton

Myhill                    7              Had a solid show again and will take some shifting.

Carr                        9*           Great attacking play, and our best defender.

Davies                   8              Another immaculate display

Caldwell               8              Quietly gets on with the job

Murphy                                7              Goal creator again

Burke                    8              back to his impish best

Spector                                7              Busy all through and with improved passing

Fahey                    6              Just keep it simple and don’t over-elaborate!!

Beausejour         7              Great first half, good goal, again disappeared after the break

Zigic                       8              Hold up play and vision was good but squandered chances

King                       6              Not bad but that miss. Shocking

Sub

Redmond            7              Lively and his pass to Murphy for the goal was excellent.

Wood                    6              brought some energy to the party but too late to impress.

By Alan Watton

Blues seemed destined to rewrite the script for Saturday’s draw with Peterborough. Having taken the lead against struggling Burnley even the equaliser followed another ludicrous foul by Beausejour. The Chilean simply blocked an opponent but at least Blues conceded a corner from the free kick this time. The clearance from the corner fell to Bartley on the edge of the box and his drive ricocheted off several legs and back sides before finding the net.

Blues were better than Saturday because the endless possession this time was turned into goal chances. Zigic added calmness to the front line and it was he who set up Burke in the 2^nd minute and he looked to have scored as he chipped the ball over the onrushing keeper only to see it hit the bar. Beausejour latched onto the rebound and from an acute angle netted.

Blues attacks were wave like and Zigic should have stretched Blues lead but headed wide from Beausejour’s corner. The giant Serb looked back to his most effective and having dispossessed a defender slipped and inch perfect pass to king who, with the goal gaping and from eight yards missed the target.

The second half saw Blues concede that unnecessary equaliser and began to lose their way again. Fans were fearing the worst and Chris Hughton seemed slow to change matters. Redmond replaced Beausejour who it seems can only be effective for a half and then with the minutes ticking away Wood replaced King.

Redmond certainly livened proceedings and with a minute of injury time played a superb move down the left with Murphy. The cross from Murphy picked out Burke in the centre of the goal and he netted with ease. A much relieved sparse crowd were happy to hear the final whistle.

The points lifted Blues up to eighth and serious playoff contenders. Blues face 3 away league games at Blackpool, Cardiff and Hull with a trip to Braga sandwiched between. Success in these fixtures will authenticate those credentials. The League must take delight I making life for Blues fans as difficult as possible and it would be nice if a ‘snoop’ could be cocked in their direction.

By Alan Watton