Bruce comes out fighting after pitiful Birmingham display

STEVE BRUCE has vowed he will not surrender Birmingham’s Premiership status without a fight - but on the evidence provided at Eastlands, the old warrior will be scrapping alone.

Guts, tenacity, bravery, heart, desire. All components required for any club to have hope of emerging victorious from a dog-fight at the bottom end of the league.

Sadly for Birmingham, all components conspicuous by their absence against a Manchester City side whose commitment alone was enough to send them marching comfortably towards maximum points.

It is not easy to find words to describe how bad Birmingham actually were. Embarrassed, humiliated and sick were the ones Bruce used, going on to describe it as the worst performance he had ever been associated with in his entire managerial career.

In no way was it an exaggeration. In fact, quite possibly, it was among the top-10 most pitiful displays in Premiership history.

That the eventual margin of victory was not double what City finally achieved was nothing to do with Birmingham. And heaven help the scoreboard operators if they reproduce this shocking effort during a Christmas period which contains fixtures against Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Wigan.

Yet, from his pit of despair, Bruce emerged if not quite in defiant mood, then ready to lead the charge forward, even though he needs some reinforcements pretty badly.

“I cannot defend what happened,” he said.

“We were totally and utterly humiliated. What I witnessed made me sick to the guts and I am responsible because I am the manager and I brought most of the players to the club.

“But I will not go down without a fight and I will make sure I am associated with people who want to try and get us out of the position we are in. We have a chance in January to get some players in because we have been carrying too many but really, we need emergency surgery.”

Bruce has already been assured by Blues owner David Sullivan that his job is safe even if Birmingham’s four-season stay in the top flight comes to an end in May.

While he is thankful for the comforting words, Bruce is taking nothing for granted and knows as every week passes without significant improvement, his prospects of continued employment reduce.

Unlike Sunderland, who work hard but do not have the required ability to stay up, Birmingham’s side is laced with a deadly mix of good players who do not seem willing to break sweat for the cause.

In defence, midfield and attack, the visitors were found wanting. Out-muscled, out-thought and comprehensively outplayed.

Rarely can any side have fallen behind after 42 seconds knowing they could have conceded earlier, yet that was Birmingham’s fate.

Had Nico Vaesen not excellently saved Darius Vassell’s shot after the former Aston Villa striker had been given the freedom of the Blues box, the time of the first goal would have been 12 seconds.

As it was, City had to wait for Sun Jihai to swing over the corner for David Sommeil to lash them in front. Joey Barton made it two from the penalty spot after 15 minutes, by which time Vassell and Sibierski should also have scored.

Sibierski eventually got his goal before Bradley Wright-Phillips wrapped up the home scoring with a well-executed second-half volley.