Blues 1 Southampton 0 - analysis

The second-placed Championship team completed one of its more satisfying weeks at the office with the 1-0 defeat of Southampton, a second successive home victory which gave an upwards tweak to the pressure dial on Reading's promotion engine.

And Blues were full value for their victory – as they had been against another dangerous Championship outfit, Bristol City, three days earlier – which came via a well-taken Keith Fahey goal just before half-time.

Second in the table, four points clear of Reading, keeping up the chase of Mick McCarthy's team – everything's bright and buzzing, then?

Far from it. It is difficult to imagine there is anywhere in the Football League at the moment where the position of the team sits in direct opposition to the mood around the club.

And while Molineux observers have been puzzled by some of the bickering and premature panicking that has attached itself like an anchor to the ankles of McCarthy's side, it's nothing compared to the sense of implosion building up around their neighbours and closest immediate rivals.

The disillusionment among the fan base has never been more obvious since the days of Ken Wheldon more than 20 years ago. Only 16,000 for this vital match, a comment on the level of entertainment they have had this season but also their lack of conviction about the merits and intentions of the St Andrew's leadership.

Last year's Carson Yeung farce shattered the flimsy surface of the current board''s appetite for continuing to try to re-launch Birmingham City as an established Premier League power.

Blues fans know Messrs Sullivan, Gold and Gold don't really want to be at the club, as was further indicated at last week's AGM when the key board figures were nowhere to be seen. That left the equally unconvincing managing director, Karren Brady, to face what experienced witnesses of Blues affairs described as the "most hostile AGM of this era."

On the night, Brady did a support job for the manager Alex McLeish – who has far from convinced fans he is the man for the task – but she then opened up a new can of worms in her tabloid newspaper column on Saturday with barbs about the size of the squad and the open-to-interpretation remark: "We are in Phil Scolari territory. Our team is much inferior to the sum of talent at our disposal."

That is bound to rattle McLeish's authority and make his task rousing supporters even more difficult – as well as leave the former Scotland national manager wondering if he made the wisest job choice when he launched this bid to prove himself in England.

McLeish evaded the potential for a clash with Brady which at least proved he has got more PR sense than his immediate senior officer.

"I'm here to talk these lads up," he said. "It's my job to give these fellas confidence and boost their morale. I'm here to talk about the game."

But Blues are in a state of stale apathy with the discernible lack of excitement about this promotion challenge traced to the supporters' deep mistrust of what the board will do to give the team a chance of staying in the division.

And yet beyond this region, Championship-watchers still regard the St Andrew's team as the real powerhouse in the battle for a Premier League place because of the expanse of the squad Ms Brady is bickering about.

And it has been put to the test with an injury-depleted strikeforce among a host of problems McLeish has had to negotiate.

But for all the grumbles about the style of play – and in fairness the ploughed field of a pitch showing the signs of yet more under investment from above does not help them – and uneven results, Blues are still there, doggedly hanging on to Wolves' coat-tails.

That they got through this latest test of their credentials from a Saints team showing a revival which had brought them three straight wins was due much to the efforts of Cameron Jerome.

He finished his day's work with cramp but that was understandable having constantly carried the fight to Southampton.

It was Jerome's splendid work which set up Fahey's goal by which time he had seen one partner, Marcus Bent, fall victim of the forwards' injury curse. He was replaced by the unpredictable Carlos Costly who is as raw as they come but brought the save of the match out of Kelvin Davis in the second half.

For all his chief officer's moaning about the squad numbers, McLeish can feel well pleased that Stephen Carr turned up on his doortstep. Carr, having had six months out of the game, has embarked on a Sinatra-like return to the stage to fill the problem right-back spot.

And it is a worrying comment on the gap between this level and the Premier League that the former Newcastle and Spurs man can find it all so easy after such comparatively short preparation.

By Martin Swain.