101 league games ago...

... Birmingham City had just come off back-to-back victories against Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers, and were sitting pretty in fifth spot in the Premiership. We were level on points with Newcastle in fourth with 42 points from 27 league games.

In the following 100 league games we have won just 26 and drawn 30. We have scored 98 league goals and conceded 132. It adds up to 108 points from 100 games.

So when Steve Bruce says "We are in a results business, we all know that, and ours haven't been too clever recently. But if we get a couple of good results then get a couple of bad results six weeks down the line, are we going to have the same old nonsense we've just been through?" then he's clearly forgetting that our bad run isn't exactly a blip.

Bruce also endeared himself with the following comments about those who went to Derby: "There were 2,500 of them here today and they saw a side that went out and had a go. These aren't the people who go on internet sites or radio shows. These are the ones who pay their money and support the team."

Now he's spot on if he's referring to me, because that's all I am. But there are many season-ticket holders who posted on the message boards, and a large number of those go to away games too. My opinion is largely based on theirs, along with newspaper reports and so on. As a historian, I've learned that primary evidence is often overrated, unless you get a lot of it. When a large number of fans make the same criticisms of the way the team plays, there's something in it.

Bruce is now lashing out at those who have given him more loyalty than at any other football. No other set of supporters would have let him get away with the mediocre run that resulted in our relegation last season. He needs to wake up and understand that this isn't a blip, and that we have every right to question his position when confronted with an appalling record like that which followed the day we rose back up to fifth in the Premiership with just 11 league games to go...