Circus act is party pooper
Zigic has taken his time in adapting to the English game following his move from Valencia last summer. But the Serbia international has clearly saved his best form for when he plays West Ham and proved the difference once again with his second-half goal.
Zigic tore West Ham apart when he appeared as a substitute during the Carling Cup semi-final 10 days ago and played a major role in helping his side come from one goal down to win the tie 3-1 and book their place in the final at Wembley.
You would have thought the West Ham defence would have learned from that experience, but they were all over the place once again and Zigic made them pay with another superb display.
It was an extra special moment for the towering forward who was taunted by the home fans throughout the game.
West Ham supporters were trying to raise their own spirits by singing ‘does the circus know your here?’ towards Zigic who stands at 6ft 7ins.
The taunts came back to haunt them as Zigic clearly had a point to prove and he silenced the home supporters with another vintage display.
The significance of the victory was even more special for Birmingham who not only moved clear of the bottom three, but gave them some much needed breathing space as they moved three points ahead of West Ham in the table.
The defeat made it a miserable birthday for Grant who was hoping to celebrate his 56th birthday in style, but was left fuming at his side’s inability to cope with Zigic.
It was only a few weeks ago that Grant’s position was being called into question with Martin O’Neill looking the strong favourite to replace him.
The Israeli coach looked to have put that speculation to bed with a convincing win over Blackpool last week.
The arrivals of strikers Robbie Keane and Demba Ba in the January transfer window gave the east London club a major boost and Grant was hoping they would have enough quality to move well clear of danger.
But just when it seemed West Ham had taken a big step forward, they took two steps back and speculation will surely start once again over Grant’s long-term future at Upton Park.
The West Ham manager must have known it was not going to be his day when James Tomkins picked up a calf injury in the warm-up and had to be replaced by Matthew Upson, who had only just recovered from tendonitis.
Upson looked shaky throughout the opening 45 minutes — especially as he tried to deal with the aerial threat of Zigic and then was hobbling towards the end of the first half.
The PA announcer at half-time said a draw was no good for either side and the fans clearly knew the importance of seeing their side pick up a victory.
But it was Birmingham who looked the most likely to get the first goal and Zigic could have opened the scoring earlier on 51 minutes when he was picked out in the box by David Bentley, but his header fell just wide of the post.
The deadlock was finally broken on 65 minutes and it was a moment for Mark Noble to forget.
The West Ham midfielder gave away a needless free-kick when he brought down Bentley just outside the area.
West Ham were made to pay as substitute Sebastian Larsson curled his free-kick into the box and Zigic rose above Wayne Bridge to head the ball into the corner of the net.
Birmingham may only have brought around 400 fans to east London but they knew the significance of the goal and celebrated accordingly.
Grant tried everything to help his side get back on level terms and brought on new signing Ba late in the game.
Ba almost made a dream start to his career at West Ham on 77 minutes.
With his first touch the Senegal striker fired a fierce shot which came back off the post. Manuel da Costa also came close to grabbing a late equaliser on 88 minutes but his header flew inches past the post. Despite those scares, Birmingham held on and Grant was left to spend the rest of his birthday cursing Zigic and this latest defeat which leaves his side facing an uphill struggle to retain their Premier League status.
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