Birmingham City will surely complete transfer as Newcastle United handed warning
Birmingham City proved they are League One’s comeback kings by overcoming a half-time deficit to record a 2-1 victory over Rotherham United.
Jay Stansfield netted a brace in the second half, including an 81st minute penalty, to cancel out Sam Nombe’s opener for Rotherham. Blues extended their lead at the top of League One to four points courtesy of Wycombe’s failure to beat lowly Cambridge United.
Blues take on Stevenage in the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday before hosting Newcastle United in a huge FA Cup tie next weekend. Here are our talking points from Blues’ win over Rotherham…
READ MORE: Taylor Gardner-Hickman reveals his Birmingham City wish and what Steve Evans told him
READ MORE: Steve Evans claims he warned EFL in furious rant after Birmingham City defeat
Comebackability in spades
Blues have now collected 20 points from losing positions this season after coming from behind to record victory for the sixth time. That statistic is the best in League One.
It would have been a huge injustice had Blues not got three points against the Millers having played reasonably well in the first half without scoring and thrown the kitchen sink at it in the second.
Steve Evans didn’t agree with the award of a penalty against his captain Hakeem Odoffin but the fact of the matter is that Odoffin was fortunate not to concede a hat-trick of spot-kicks. His tangles with Keshi Anderson and Christoph Klarer could quite easily have forced referee Farai Hallam to point to the spot.
The man for the occasion
Speaking at his press conference on Thursday, Chris Davies said he has ‘taken the shine off’ Stansfield to protect him at times this season – there was no taking the shine of Blues’ talisman on Saturday.
Stansfield ended a five-game goal drought with a brace to reel League One’s top scorer Richard Kone in. Blues’ number 28 now has 14 in League One and 16 in all competitions.
He has become the scorer of important goals for Blues this season, whenever they have been desperate, Stansfield has invariably delivered. The double at Barnsley, the winner at Crawley and now two goals to turn the tide against Rotherham.
“They say that there are certain goals that are almost worth more in football and the goals he scored today, like the Barnsley game, they were worth a lot,” commented Davies. “They were big moments on the football pitch and he had them.”
Sign him up!
We aren’t expecting a blockbuster end to the transfer window. Let’s face it, nothing was going to top Blues’ deadline day in August when Stansfield, Tomoki Iwata and Scott Wright were announced in a gripping 24 hours.
But wouldn’t it be nice if Blues wrapped up the signing of Taylor Gardner-Hickman before the window shuts on Monday? If ever a player had earned a permanent deal, Gardner-Hickman has this season.
Blues don’t have to do it now, they have until the summer and timing is important when it comes to Profit and Sustainability. It might be better for Blues to have the transfer on next year’s balance sheet.
But there shouldn’t be any doubt over whether Blues exercise their option to buy Gardner-Hickman. He has been excellent and shown improvement week on week.
St Andrew’s lifted it
The juggernaut that is Birmingham City is steamrolling its way through League One to such an extent that it is an enormous surprise when they don’t win. That is now 17 games unbeaten.
With such expectation, it can sometimes take something away from the atmosphere inside the stadium. That has been the case on occasions this season.
However, when St Andrew’s needed to lift it as Blues chased the game against Rotherham, it responded in the only way it knows how. The volume was turned up a notch in the second half and Blues fed off the energy pouring down from the stands.
If we needed a reminder that St Andrew’s still enjoys being an underdog from time to time, the electric atmosphere in the second half provided it. Newcastle United have been warned.
