Match Day Thread Norwich City v Birmingham City

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Round 28

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Norwich City 0 - 0 Birmingham City
FT
HT 0 - 0​

Attendance 00,000
​

Date: Saturday 28th January 2017
Venue: Carrow Road
Kick-Off: 03:00PM

Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant Referees: Darren Blunden & Adam Crysell
Fourth Official: Darren Drysdale

KIO's not606 Match Preview

Tomorrow sees Norwich City welcome Birmingham City to Carrow Road in Round 28 of the Sky Bet EFL Championship season. Last time out the Canaries returned to winning ways against Wolverhampton Wanderers where goals from Steven Naismith, Jonny Howson and a penalty from Robbie Brady saw off the visitors.
Steven Naismith opened the scoring for City on 13 minutes, keeping his cool to fire home after a Jonny Howson 30 yard thunderbolt had crashed against the crossbar.

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Steven Naismith fires home to put City in front against the Wolves​

City striker Cameron Jerome came close to increasing City’s lead on 54 minutes when his right footed shot from well outside the box cannoned off the post. Two minutes later action turned to the other end with Ivo Pinto giving away a soft penalty when he pushed Wolves’ Matt Doherty in the back. Helder Costa made no mistake with the spot kick and the scores were level.
On 71 minutes City’s Wes Hoolahan wriggled his way through the visitor’s defence only to be upended by Wolves’ ‘keeper Carl Ikeme. Ikeme was subsequently shown his marching orders by referee David Coote, not for the initial foul but for appearing to push Hoolahan in the chest. The Irishman may have made a meal of the incident but there was definitely contact and Ikeme gave the referee no choice but to send him off.

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Tempers flare as Carl Ikeme receives his marching orders for his push on Wes Hoolahan​

With Wolves’ boss Paul Lambert having already made his three substitutions the visitors were reduced to ten men and Robbie Brady despatched the penalty with aplomb past stand in custodian Matt Doherty.
City continued to press forward and were rewarded with their third goal of the afternoon when man of the match Jonny Howson’s deflected shot found the back of the net in stoppage time.

While the Canaries were enjoying a much needed win in front of their own fans, City’s opponents tomorrow were playing out a dour 1-1 draw at Ewood Park against lowly Blackburn Rovers.
It was a result that left Blues’ boss Gianfranco Zola still searching for his first win at the helm, having now seen his side fail to secure all three points in all of his eight games in charge.
Birmingham had taken an early lead in this one when Lukas Jutkiewicz slotted home from the spot after David Cotterill had been fouled by Rovers’ Jason Steele.

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Lukas Jutkiewicz was on target from the spot for Blues​

Blues held the lead until 3 minutes into first half added time when a cross from Blackburn’s Derrick Williams was struck home by Danny Graham. Rovers frontman Graham should have scored on the stroke of half-time when he headed wide from eight yards but made up for his miss when he found the net for his 11th goal of the season after a fine Blackburn move three minutes later.

A second half stalemate ensued with both teams sharing the spoils at the final whistle.

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Danny Graham ensured a share of the spoils for Blackburn with his late first half strike​

Many have called into question Birmingham’s decision to replace former boss Gary Rowett with the Italian Zola as before his appointment Blues were sitting just outside the play-off places, indeed it was Rowett who oversaw the 3-0 win over Norwich at St Andrew’s earlier in the season.

In team news Norwich will again be without striker Nelson Oliveira, who serves the last of his three-match ban, Steven Whittaker’s hamstring problem will be assessed, Graham Dorrans (knee) and Louis Thompson (pelvis/Achilles) will definitely miss out.
The luckless Matt Jarvis is also unavailable having picked up a hamstring injury following his recovery from knee surgery, while Youssouf Mulumbu is still away on African Nations Cup duty with DR Congo as is Birmingham’s Jacques Maghoma.

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Nelson Oliveira still unavailable after his sending off against Rotherham​

Birmingham head coach Zola could give debuts to his new signings Cheick Keita, Emilio Nsue and Kerim Frei but Dan Scarr signed from Stourbridge is unlikely to be in contention for a start.

Forwards Clayton Donaldson (knee) and Greg Stewart (Achilles) continue their recoveries from their respective injuries.

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Emilio Nsue could make his debut for Blues​

Alex Neil’s Match Preview

Alex Neil previews tomorrow's game
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Alex Neil on Robbie Brady:
​

“There is a lot of speculation around Robbie. Hence the reason why we are looking at left-backs,” said Neil, speaking at Colney. “We are tying to recruit left-backs. We let Martin (Olsson) go but we have another guy who can play left-back still here. We also have cover in terms of Steven Whittaker. It is not a case we have bodies that can’t operate on that side. Robbie Brady trained this morning. He is in the squad for Saturday. At the moment nothing is going to happen in or out before the weekend. It might change. We are at a crunch time in the window when things can literally happen.

“Listen, we have been speaking to players and trying to attract players in the left-back position. We all know the speculation surrounding Robbie so we are obviously doing our work to make that position stronger. Zeegelaar and Dijks are players we have had an interest in. In terms of them both being here and having talks that is not entirely accurate. We have spoken to Mitchell Dijks, yes. We had spoken to Zeegelaar before but he hadn’t been here. It looks like those two (deals) are dead.”

“I don’t accept that we are ‘little Norwich’ and we are trying to attract these big, huge players,” he said. “We have taken players from bigger clubs than they are at. Simple as that. Nelson Oliveira came from Benfica, Timm Klose from Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga."

“What happens with players as much as clubs is players enter negotiations at times knowing they have something else in mind or another club in mind. They are not always as upfront or honest as they might seem. If you are a player and you have three clubs interested you would speak to all three and hope your preferred one lands. It is not necessarily the case they are desperate to come to you just because you have entered into negotiations. That happens on occasion.

“Equally if we are looking for a left-back are we going to take both? No. What you do is spread your net and we try to take them to an end point. There will be plenty no-one hears about because either we or a player don’t want it to happen. That is the way football works. If you go for one player only and don’t get him then you are in bother. Players are the same."

“I have a list of left-backs as long as my arm. I am not saying they are top of my target list because things are always happening. They are the two who have made public comments. That is the only difference. That doesn’t change. What happens is agents get a bit naughty at times and put things out in the press to show their client is in demand.”

Gianfranco Zola’s Match Preview

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Zola says he's considering starting all three of his recent signings Cheick Keita, Emilio Nsue and Kerim Frei​

"I expect nothing less than a very tough match because it’s not only an away game, but it’s also against one of the best squads in the league. From them I’m expecting a lot of quality and for them to create dangerous situations. But I think we are picking up and hopefully we will cause them some problems to so I expect a good game tomorrow."

"There are no new fitness issues, (Clayton) Donaldson and (Greg) Stewart are still injured, but Stewart should be fit next week."

"I believe they (the new signings) are integrated to the point they could be selected."

"A couple of them will be playing, three of them actually."

"They are looking good and I am looking forward to seeing them play tomorrow."

Current Form (Last 6 Competitive Fixtures – Most Recent First)

Norwich City

WLWDLL

Birmingham City

DDLDLL

NORWICH HOME

Norwich have won 55%, drawn 15% and lost 30% of their last 20 home games.

In their last 20 home games against teams positioned in the top half of the table, Norwich have won 4, drawn 5 and lost 11 of these matches.

In their last 20 home games against teams positioned below them in the table, Norwich have won 15, drawn 2 and lost 3 of these matches.

BIRMINGHAM AWAY

Birmingham have won 20%, drawn 45% and lost 35% of their last 20 away games.

In their last 20 away games against teams positioned in the top half of the table, Birmingham have won 4, drawn 8 and lost 8 of these matches.

In their last 20 away games against teams positioned above them in the table, Birmingham have won 2, drawn 8 and lost 10 of these matches.

TEAM STATISTICS www.kickoff.co.uk

Match History

There have been 64 competitive meetings between these two sides, the first being a League Cup tie at Carrow Road on 25th September 1963 which the Canaries won 2-0. Over the years honours have been extremely even here with the Blues having won 22, City winning 20 and a total of 22 stalemates. Birmingham’s best winning margin in this fixture is 4-0 a feat they have achieved three times. The first was at St Andrew’s on 4th March 1972 in League Division Two (2nd tier), the second on 20th February 1981, also at St Andrew’s in League Division One (top tier) and the third again at the home of the Blues on 8th December 2001 in League Division One (2nd tier).
The Canaries’ biggest victory over Birmingham was on 15th April 1970 at Carrow Road in League Division Two (2nd tier) when they thumped their visitors by 6 goals to nil.
This is also the highest aggregate score between the two however both sides have shared 6 goals on four other occasions. On New Year’s Eve 1966 in League Division Two (2nd tier) at Carrow Road the game finished 3-3, almost a year later in the same competition and venue on 31st October 1967 Norwich secured a 4-2 victory, Norwich won a League Division One (top tier) home tie 5-1 on 8th September 1982 and Carrow Road also saw 6 goals shared equally on 4th March 1998 in League Division One (2nd tier).

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Iwan Roberts celebrates his goal against Blues in the 2002 League Division One Play-Off final​

The most memorable game that has ever been played between Birmingham and Norwich was at The Millennium Stadium Cardiff on 12th May 2002, it was the League Division One (2nd tier) play-off final which the Blues eventually went on to win 4-2 on penalties after the match had finished 1-1 after extra time.

Highest Norwich City Score

Norwich City 6 Birmingham City 0

Highest Birmingham City Score

Birmingham City4 Norwich City 0
Birmingham City4 Norwich City 0
Birmingham City4 Norwich City 0

Highest Aggregate (6)

Norwich City 3 Birmingham City 3
Norwich City 4 Birmingham City 2
Norwich City 6 Birmingham City 0
Norwich City 5 Birmingham City 1
Norwich City 3 Birmingham City 3

Club Connections

Those to have played for both sides include:

Tom Adeyemi, David Bentley (Norwich loan & Birmingham Loan), Keith Bertschin, Steve Bruce, Kenny Brown, Simon Charlton, Tony Cottee (Birmingham loan & Norwich loan), Louie Donowa, Greg Downs, Kevin Drinkell (Birmingham loan), Jonathan Grounds (Norwich loan), Roger Hansbury, Leroy Lita (Norwich loan & Birmingham loan), Paul Peschisolido, Nathan Redmond and Chris Sutton.

Current City marksmen Cameron Jerome and Kyle Lafferty have also donned blue with the latter having been loaned to Birmingham by Norwich last year.

Birmingham’s Sport Scientist Dave Carolan and their Chief Scout Ewan Chester once held the same positions at Norwich.

Did You Know?​

Birmingham City were founded in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance turning professional in 1885.

They were the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors in 1888 under the name of Small Heath F.C. Ltd.

Small Heath were Champions of the inaugural Football League Second Division in 1892-93

They adopted the name Birmingham F.C. in 1905 and became known as Birmingham City F.C. in 1943

Birmingham City were the first English side to play in European club competition when they drew their opening Inter-Cities Fairs Cup group match 0-0 with Internazionale in 1956.

TEAM LINE UPS:​

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Listen to full match commentary on
BBC Radio Norfolk 95.1 / 104.4FM, 855kHz & DAB Digital Radio

With Chris Goreham

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and guest Match Summariser Greg Downs

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and don’t forget to tune in to ‘Canary Call’
post match with Greg and Rob Butler



OTBC

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Rich, you really put heart and soul into these threads, once again you have excelled. Thank you!

 

I just hope the team put heart and soul into their performance tomorrow Dave and
that the Wolves result doesn't prove to be another false dawn !

 

Bah!

 

Anyone watching Derby on BBC tonight fa cup?

 

Good to see the MDTs are back to normal with so much info.

I don't know why, but I'm 76%/25% in favour that the team will put in a performance tomorrow and scrape a narrow win!!

 

Darren Bent

 

Where's the brolly wally???
So Bent's on for his hat trick
Cracking goal from from Bryson for Derby to lead 2-1.

 

Snodders confirmed just now on radio 5 as a Hammer, £10.2m

Sorry, amid all the transfer excitement, I forgot to say thanks for another cracking MDT, KIO

 

If we sell Brady without replacing Olsson we will be shooting ourselves in the foot twice

 

I did not know Marcus Olsson was Martin's twin brother .

 

Starting to strike me that with these reported bids for Brady from Burnley, Palace etc, that his head has already been turned. How many % of his true potential will he be prepared to put in if he feels like he's being held 'captive' at a club he'd clearly rather not be at?

 

Ok, I predicted a win last week and I'm doing the same today.

City 4 Brum 0

 

Well done KIO, cracking thread again!

 

Another great match thread Maestro!

 

Simon Hooper is the ref.
Is this his 1st return to CR after his
diabolical display in our 1st prem
game last season?

 

Can we sign him then?

 

Yes

 

Will we?