Birmingham and Blackpool pushed through Premier League trapdoor

Carling Cup winners Birmingham slumped out of the Barclays Premier League yesterday and were joined by Blackpool who went down in a blaze of glory at Old Trafford.

On a dramatic final day in which the situation changed over and over again, Blues’ 2-1 defeat at Tottenham condemned them to Championship football next season, when they will also play in the Europa League.

Blackpool led 2-1 at Old Trafford before being overwhelmed by champions Manchester United in the latter stages to slip to a 4-2 defeat.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It meant Wolves stayed up, despite losing 3-2 at home to Blackburn, while Wigan’s 1-0 win at Stoke was more than enough.

Blues looked safe at half-time at White Hart Lane, but when Roman Pavlyuchenko put Tottenham ahead with a sweet curling effort four minutes after the break, they slipped provisionally into the drop zone.

Craig Gardner levelled from 25 yards 11 minutes from time, but then Wolves mounted a comeback at Molineux, meaning the Blues needed a winner and it would not come, with Pavlyuchenko putting the final nail in their coffin in stoppage time.

At Old Trafford, things looked bleak for Blackpool when Park Ji-sung put United ahead after 21 minutes following good work by Dimitar Berbatov, but Charlie Adam levelled with a trademark free-kick five minutes before the interval.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Former Huddersfield Town player Gary Taylor-Fletcher put Blackpool into an unlikely lead in the 57th minute with a cheeky flick, but Anderson swept the ball home to restore parity five minutes later and Blackpool were back in the drop zone when Ian Evatt turned Chris Smalling’s cross into his own net in the 74th minute.

It was all over when substitute Michael Owen finished neatly in the 81st minute.

It all meant Wolves, who looked out of it for much of the afternoon having gone 3-0 down against Blackburn, were safe.

Rovers’ first goal came after 22 minutes when Michel Salgado’s shot was turned in by Jason Roberts and the home crowd were silent when Brett Emerton volleyed in his second in two games seven minutes before the break.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It got worse for Wolves when Junior Hoilett cut inside and sent a low shot home on the brink of half-time, but Jamie O’Hara pulled one back from a well-worked free-kick in the 73rd minute.

And when Stephen Hunt curled in the most delicate of finishes in the 87th minute, Wolves were out of the drop zone, at the expense of Birmingham, purely on goals scored.

Pavlyuchenko’s winner at White Hart Lane confirmed Wolves’ safety.

At the Britannia, Wigan could have been dead and buried by half-time as Jon Walters had an early effort correctly ruled out for offside and Emmerson Boyce cleared Kenwyne Jones’s attempt off the line.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Hugo Rodallega headed Wigan in front in the 78th minute and that was more than enough.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish declared himself “obviously pretty gutted” after his team lost their battle against relegation.

He said: “When we got a goal I thought we’d done it but then there was the Wolves’ comeback and their (Tottenham’s) late goal.

“You’d expect them to come back – but the way it’s happened to us is devastating, losing the battle to avoid relegation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“When we got the equaliser I thought things would go for us but lady luck has avoided us today.”

Asked if news of developments elsewhere were a distraction, McLeish said: “No, you need to know the other scores to push the lads on and get another goal.”

As for the future, McLeish said: “I’ve been knocked down and I’m going to rise to it. It’s going to be a pretty horrible couple of days – or summer I suppose – but I’ve got to work to get Birmingham back to the Premier League. I’ll chat with the chairman (Carsen Yeung) in midweek and see where we go from there

“We know to get back (into the Premier League) we have to maintain the quality factor.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The players have got to fight on and rise to the next challenge. It’s not fatal. They’ve got to pick themselves up again.”

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway paid tribute to the performance his players gave at Old Trafford.

Holloway had vowed before the match they would attack United and his players were true to those words, but ultimately fell short.

“This is a special group down here and we’re very disappointed right now,” said Holloway.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“After taking the lead, we had started to believe we can do this. You saw the way we played, the chances we created, we’ve got to take those.

“But United brought on Wayne Rooney, they’re used to winning and we lost out.

“That aside, we’ve been absolutely outstanding and it’s hard to take.”

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez hailed his side’s great escape from relegation, declaring after the Latics’ 1-0 win at Stoke: “It’s like winning a trophy – that’s the way I feel.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’m extremely proud of this group of players and their achievement is phenomenal.

“We haven’t chosen the easy route and it’s a great feeling because this squad has been written off so many times in this campaign.

“We knew we had the talent but in the last two games we had to show more than that.

“We were 2-0 down against West Ham and we needed a reaction and people with real responsibility and bravery.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Again (at Stoke) we weren’t ourselves in the first half and we had to defend for our lives. I am probably prouder of that side of the two performances.

“It was clear we were getting frustrated and we had to deal with that frustration. In the second half it became a little easier and we scored a very good goal.”

Martinez went on to pay tribute to the three relegated sides – West Ham, Blackpool and Birmingham – insisting the survival margin was so small that no club deserved to go down.

“I don’t think there were any bad sides who went down,” said Martinez. “To get relegated on 39 points is harsh. It is the small margins that go with you and against you.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mick McCarthy admitted he was “shattered physically and emotionally” after Wolves secured their status despite losing 3-2 at home to Blackburn.

McCarthy said: “We were in it, then we were out of it. We were up and then we were down.

“I was getting messages every couple of minutes on bits of paper. Some had swear words on, others said happy days.

“I said all along that it would come down to May 22 and it might even be goal difference or goals scored.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I do not even know the exact outcome now. All I knew at the end of the game was that we had stayed up.”

Rovers manager Steve Kean said: “We had someone on the subs’ bench with a laptop keeping us in touch with the other scores. Every five minutes we were getting updates.

“A few minutes from the end, Mick McCarthy gave me a look to say ‘that is it we are both safe’. I knew we were both okay.”