Perhaps safest to say nothing to Roy Keane’s face, but could it be that our esteemed leader is among the growing band of devoted readers of Pete Sixsmith’s Soapbox? Or was it just great minds thinking alike?

Well, I got the team selection right. And more important, so did Roy. He said that we have to make the Stadium of Light a “Snarling Place” and he picked a side that was able to do this.

We got into Birmingham’s face right from the start, and we stayed there. They were never allowed to settle and the two centre halves were roughed by Kenwyne in the first half and then by Kenwyne and our latest Swedish recruit in the second. Prica replaced Yorke, allowing Whitehead to move into the middle and Deano and Miller dominated the centre of midfield.

Birmingham were poor but we made them look poor. It wasn’t entertaining football but it is much better than losing 3-0 and going three games without a goal. Billy Smart would not have stood for results like these.

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