Birmingham City 1; Manchester United 2: Steve Bruce told a story about Alex Ferguson before this match that Manchester United supporters should cherish.
"We were at a do in London a couple of weeks ago," said Birmingham's manager. "I came down for breakfast in the morning and his wife, Cathy, was sitting there alone. It's typical of the man that he'd got the 6 a.m. flight back to Manchester to be in for training."
Of all the allegations Ferguson has faced this season, half-heartedness is not one that sticks. At 62, with a pacemaker recently fitted to regulate his heartbeat, 17-hour working days are still par for the course for the United manager and, even if he claims (unconvincingly) that he has mellowed with age, there is evidence too that he is still capable of using fear as a motivational tool.
Gary Neville revealed that a good old-fashioned half-time rant had precipitated United's second-half recovery in a match that saw the worst and the best of the soon-to-be-deposed champions. Ferguson forcibly made his point that he would not tolerate a repeat of the lacklustre first 45 minutes, and his players responded with sporadic bursts of the incisive attacking football that could trouble the most accomplished defence, triumphing through headed goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha.
Ferguson is entitled to be gratified that the snake-lick of his tongue can still have such a decisive influence, although any sense of self-satisfaction must have been tempered by United's earlier deficiencies, particularly the frequency with which his goalkeepers are making mistakes.
There were shades of Peter Schmeichel about the way Roy Carroll remonstrated with his defenders after Martin Grainger's free-kick had given Birmingham a deserved first-half lead.
Carroll must have charged 30 yards off his line to blame his team-mates, though that is where the comparisons with Schmeichel end. Carroll got both hands to Grainger's shot, so should reasonably have been expected to do much better than allowing it to flick off his fingertips and in off the post.
As goalkeeping mistakes go, Carroll's was particularly badly timed bearing in mind he is trying to keep his place for the FA Cup final. Considering the way Ferguson ditched Jim Leighton for the 1990 final replay, the United manager would presumably not have many qualms about omitting Carroll from his side to face Millwall if he believes Tim Howard is a more risk-free choice.
Ferguson clearly has much to ponder over the next few weeks, although Howard's state of mind is not entirely clear after, rightly or wrongly, becoming a scapegoat in the aftermath of the Champions League exit. Having been hailed by Ferguson as the club's most impressive player four months into the season, Howard has not played since being culpable for the goal that saw Ferguson's hopes of returning the European Cup to Old Trafford end for another season, and the American is said to be drained by his first season in English football.
On a brighter note, United's management must have been delighted by the immediate impact Ronaldo had on the match when he replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, not just by scoring within five minutes but with his capacity to worry defenders. At times Birmingham delegated three players to mark the Portuguese winger, so freeing up space for Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes to exploit.
Giggs did little but argue with the referee Dermot Gallagher for the opening half, but he became increasingly influential as the game wore on. His crosses for both goals were delivered with such accuracy, one with his right foot, that it would have been impudent for Ronaldo and Saha not to score. On this form, reports of Ferguson wanting to offload him this summer must surely be wide of the mark.
Likewise, John O'Shea has rediscovered his poise at left-back, even if Damien Johnson caused him problems with his willingness to run with the ball throughout a first half dictated by the vastly under-rated Robbie Savage.
Bruce thought his players merited a draw because of their efforts in that period, with Savage curling a shot against the bar and several other chances being wasted. But such was the imbalance of talent after the interval there was little sense of injustice, and a demoralising weekend for Birmingham was compounded by injuries to Grainger and Stan Lazaridis that will keep them out for the rest of the season.
Guardian Service
