Bowyer makes it a Magnificent Seven for Blues

It is perhaps a sign of how much Lee Bowyer has matured in the last year or so, not celebrating his match-winning goal against his former club. Not only has he matured as a person, he has matured as a player- this was his sixth goal of the season, after only netting four times in 35 appearances for West Ham. This latest great performance saw Birmingham move up to eighth after extending their unbeaten run to seven games.

A sell-out crowd saw an energetic game between two sides, which Birmingham, on balance, just about deserved to win. The Blues certainly had the best of the first half, with Cameron Jerome's headed chance the best opportunity just before the break. West Ham offered little strength up front, and it is clear they miss Carlton Cole. The pair of Junior Stanislas and Franco up front were tricky, but the experience in Birmingham's midfield and defence ensured that the Hammers had few chances. The lack of a big striker for either side made it difficult for either side not to play football, and as such, provided an open game. In a similar way to how Nikolay Valuev always appears to be dominating due to his strength and height, neither side dominated throughout, as it was difficult to hold the ball up at either end. Instead, it was more of a basketball game, with both sides enduring corner after corner at various stages of the match. As the first half went on, West Ham pushed out more, and at half time, it was anyone's game.

Seven minutes into the second half, and an expert ball from Christian Benitez proved to be the deciding factor in the match. Lee Bowyer ghosted into the penalty area, as he so often does nowadays, and slotted the ball past Robert Green. (Incidentally, if you didn't know, you would have assumed that Joe Hart was England's Number 1, with his far superior handling and more composed kicking). As so often happens nowadays, Bowyer scored against his old club, and declined to celebrate.

The referee, Lee Mason, was poor. I have often thought he is weak, and this was proved again today. He simply referees according to the crowd, and his sending off of Mark Noble for two bookable offences, on first viewing, seemed very harsh. Noble and Scott Parker were West Ham's best two players, and once one of them was off the field, the threat of an equaliser went. Birmingham could have made it 2-0 with five minutes to go, but Cameron Jerome inexplicably fluffed a chance- unless his finishing improves, he will never be a Premier League striker. He has the pace and power, but much as it pains me to say it, he lacks serious composure in front of goal.

Both sets of supporters must be given credit for creating an excellent atmosphere inside St Andrews. West Ham brought the most away fans to Birmingham this season, and they don't deserve a long hard struggle this season. However, I fear they could be looking straight at relegation, with no firepower up front, and unless they find some investors, no money to spend in January.

It was a brilliant piece of irony this week, with David Sullivan, ex-Blues owner, stating his interest in buying the London club, two days before the two clubs did battle. The Blues fans sang 'Are you watching, Sullivan?' With Birmingham 8th, and West Ham 18th, I know who I'd rather own.

We? You? Who???

Recently, one of my very dear friends, admittedly not a football fan, but we can forgive him, lambasted me for referring to Birmingham City as 'we'.

'We're up to 9th now'.
'Who are?'
'We are. Birmingham City.'
'Oh right. You played, did you?'
'No, but-'
'So why the use of 'we'?'
'It's just what everybody does.'

Admittedly, in hindsight, 'it's just what everybody does' was an extremely weak argument. But, in honour of the Facebook group which has caught my eye, I have 'thought up a retort after the argument'. The above friend is extremely keen on politics, and so it would perhaps be best to use the analogy of the Prime Minister and his cabinet. If one of them messes up, it is best to (on the face of it at least) rally behind him/her and take collective responsibility. That is what it is like supporting a football team. It is far more comforting to cry as a group, rather than on one's own. If 30,000 fans troop out of a stadium demoralised, it is somehow just about bearable. If only one person is sat in a corner crying into their drink, then it will take far longer to get out of that spiral of depression. In addition, as I mentioned in a previous blog, there is no better feeling than belonging to a group of people, and 'taking over' the city, or train station, or stadium. You feel safe, confident, and even a little bit mischievous.

Imagine if we did single out one player for criticism. Do that, and we may as well bring back hanging and burning at the stake. Remember David Beckham at France '98? His sending-off in a crucial match led to, in some people's opinions, England going out of the World Cup, and back home, Beckham was victimised. I love David Beckham, and I think anyone that doubts his ability or wholesomeness should remember what he's done for football and for kids around the world. Anyway, I digress. If the same treatment was dished out to someone made of weaker stuff than Beckham every time someone made a mistake, then we'd probably have no players left! Two years ago, I could have been forgiven for wanting Liam Ridgewell to be hanged after giving away an embarrassing own goal to Aston Villa. If I'd been working at school with someone who made a similarly monumental clanger, I would probably have blamed the person. Yet with Ridgewell, the thought never crossed my mind. In football, we look for anyone to blame but our own players. The referee, the opposition, the weather. Even the manager gets stick over the players. But the players, thanks to the 'go on my son' mentality, are given a collective arm round the shoulder by thousands and thousands of people, and 'we' stick together.

I do, however, think that happiness is best had by a small number of people. It may be my own schadenfreude, but when my team had the best result of the weekend over my friends' teams, it felt extra-special. This, to me, is the attraction of supporting a lower-league team. When only a few thousand are celebrating winning, it's similar to when many people win The National Lottery. As seen in Bruce Almighty, when millions of people win, each person gets a very small amount of money. However, when only one or two people win, there are millions of pounds to be won!

Referring to your team as 'they' sounds cold and distant, like you're trying to shift the blame. Refer to your team as 'we', and you move one step closer to fulfilling every single football fan's dream, of stepping on to that hallowed turf, and having a kickabout with your heroes.