It's a good few years since I’d visited St. Andrew’s so I made an early start and got myself a nice parking spot close to the ground in amongst "The Noses" and walked amongst them up the hill towards the ground enjoying the party atmosphere that was still evident following their much deserved Carling Cup victory against Arsenal the week before.
I was hoping that the celebrations of the previous six days had taken their toll on everyone concerned at Birmingham City and a couple of hours later it was clear that they had.
I've always noticed a sort of symmetry between Albion and Blues as clubs and fans and St. Andrew’s itself is one of my favourite away grounds; I’ve always said I’d have followed Blues if Albion had not won my heart, and it was good to watch a derby match without the vitriol and rubbish witnessed against Wolves recently.
Team selection
No major surprises here with Hodgson going with the starting line-up from a solid display against Stoke, apart from the enforced change of Dorrans following his injury in training with Morrison taking his place.
From my point of view I expected Dorrans to be a big loss as he seemed to be returning to form and, added to that I’m not Morrison's biggest fan, and up to yesterday I thought he'd had a poor season so far.
Meite quite rightfully kept his place after a terrific display at Stoke but I was a tad disappointed that Roy was sticking with Fortune after his display in midweek, but hey ho, what do I know?
First half
A bit of a non event in truth with neither side creating a great deal but Albion looked solid again with Olsson and Meite excellent in the centre and the unsung Reid having a terrific game at right back and Shorey looking composed at left back.
If only RDM had woken up earlier in the season to the fact that Shorey and Reid are the two best full backs at the club, proper Premier League defenders who know the job and do the job without "bells and whistles" and over committing themselves. Reid in particular never breaks sweat purely because his positioning is generally so good that he's already where the ball is going to be arriving, and in my opinion he's a cool customer and a class act.
The defence was ably aided by a committed midfield in which Scharner worked hard closing down the Blues’ defenders high up the pitch and Mulumbu was superb in mopping up in front of our defenders with Thomas working harder than I’ve ever previously noticed.
Passing was fluent and incisive from defence and around midfield but once again we lacked an “out ball" due to Fortune's lack of movement and pace, although in fairness he worked their defenders hard.
A halftime stalemate with Albion edging it in terms of possession and quality of passing. Blues were still at a party somewhere.
Second half
Wow, what a difference.
Odemwingie on as substitute for Fortune and straight away it pays dividends as Pete harries the opposing central defenders, including the hapless Curtis Davies, and the ball bobbles through to the onrushing "mini Kaka " and Mulumbu smashes a smart to poke into the roof of Ben Foster's net.........cue the mayhem in the old Railway End and the chant of "You've won your cup and you're going down" from the ecstatic travelling 3,000 Baggies fans.
Then the old Achilles heel with Albion's defending re-appears whilst our players also disappear into party mode and a lack of closing down in midfield allows a decent ball to be played in behind Shorey and a smart ball across the face of goal that was difficult for Meite and Olsson to defend brings an equalizer.
Would it be time for the “brown trousers and bicycle clips" as my dear old Dad used to say?
In all honesty the answer is no. Albion simply returned to their previous tempo and game plan and continued to pass Blues off the park with movement causing the hosts plenty of trouble and Brunt, Thomas and Morrison becoming an increasing threat, whilst Scharner and Mulumbu continued the unsexy work by closing down Blues’ passing angles and snapping into challenges.
After a couple of skirmishes in the Albion box the Baggies come flooding forward and a neat pass to Morrison on the edge of the box is beautifully manipulated as he leaves "glass foot" Davies stranded by shifting the ball onto his left foot before crashing a superb shot high past Foster into the roof of the net.
I was close enough to hear the ball slap into the net and it was one of those class strikes where the keeper is still groping in mid air as the ball has actually already buried itself in his onion bag! We used to refer to it as "a dive for the manager " in that the keeper knows he has no chance of reaching the shot but he still has to dive just to make it look like he was close for his manager's sake!
After this goal there were no silly mistakes by the players with concentration maintained and a high work ethic also continued.
Nice to also see a sharpness of thought as well when Morrison read the fact that Blues were asleep at a corner and he came short to collect and deliver a fine cross which Scharner converted with help from Foster..............game over to be honest.
Jara came on for Thomas in a shrewd move by Hodgson as it added defensive grit to the wide position and Tamas appeared in place of Morrison as we closed up shop.
In conclusion
In simplistic terms this was what I’d call a “proper" Premier League performance by The Baggies. We were professional, commited, clinical in the main and we looked like a side that knew what it was doing.
There's no doubt that Hodgson has had an immediate effect and that the guy knows how to set up a team to compete at this level.
Albion are now in with more of a chance in matches because the amount of goals they are conceding has reduced by over 50% per game since he took charge and be keeping games tight for long periods we are causing the opposition to have to worry more rather than giving teams at least a goal start.
The formation is more solid and pragmatic but we still retain our passing ability and flair for when the correct moment appears to spring out of defence.
Great praise should go to Reid, Shorey and Meite for the way they have become a cohesive unit so quickly but praise also to all of the team who have taken on Roy's teachings so quickly.
Praise too for Scharner because although he gave away three poor bits of possession his work rate, closing down of space and opposition players and his commitment to the Albion cause are vital components.
A word too for Morrison who played so well that Dorrans wasn't really missed.
It is important to understand that we are far from out of the relegation woods at this time.
We have one of the worst run ins to the end of season with a very tough run of games in the next four matches and I still think we'll need a "miracle result " at home to either Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea, like Wolves have been getting if we are to gain the points required.
All in all though a great day out and a very encouraging effort.
Well done to the Albion fans at Blues and at Stoke who were terrific by the way.