Newcastle<\/a> at St James’ Park.<\/span><\/p>\nShola Ameobi scored from the spot after Liam Ridgwell had handled in the area, which the defender received a red card for.<\/span><\/p>\nSteven Taylor doubled the home side\u2019s lead, something McCleish thinks was an injustice, as he believed the Newcastle man should have been sent off.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m disappointed; we were soft at the corners. The Shola Ameobi header was a difficult one, but Ben Foster did wonders to keep it out and then we end up with a penalty against us. Steven Taylor had a free one for the second one,” McLeish told reporters.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt was a double whammy as Taylor probably should have been off the park leading his elbow in Cameron Jerome\u2019s cheekbone early in the game. We don\u2019t want to see that in the game, but unfortunately the referee didn\u2019t see it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe Birmingham boss had no arguments about the penalty decision but believes Ridgewell was wrongly sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. The Scot also felt the dismissal was one of a number of rulings that went against his side.<\/span><\/p>\nHe said: \u201cIt hit his arm, it was on the line, it wasn\u2019t going towards the goal. It was going to the side, but Kevin Nolan was probably in a good position to get on the end of it. The referee has seen the arm going towards the ball and that\u2019s a penalty, that\u2019s the rules.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIf it prevents a goal-scoring opportunity then I believe it\u2019s a sending off but I think he only gets one game ban for that, it\u2019s not violent conduct. It was going across the face of goal it wasn\u2019t actually going in when he handled it but it\u2019s a penalty. It wasn\u2019t 100 per cent that Nolan was going to score.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt was difficult for the referee to make that split second decision. But a lot of the big decisions seemed to go against us today and that was one of them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nMcLeish revealed his team are now in a fight to stay in the Premier League as suspensions and injuries have left his side bereft of quality and confidence. However, he vowed that the Bluenoses would keep going to end to secure their safety whilst praising the ability of keeper Ben Foster who made some outstanding saves to keep Birmingham in the game.<\/span><\/p>\nHe added: \u201cWe are a team that have had to battle from the very first game, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be battling to the very last. We have a horrendous catalogue of injuries, I know that a lot of teams are the same, so I\u2019m not going to use it as an excuse.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve lost a few strikers, one who was on top form when he went out injured but the players have got us to this stage since. We\u2019ve got seven points out of nine at home so they deserve an awful lot of credit. We just need to make that final push.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHe Foster is a great goalkeeper. He\u2019s saved us an awful lot of points this season. I can\u2019t emphasise enough how important that position is.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nOriginally posted here:
\nBirmingham City manager Alex McLeish rues his side’s ‘soft’ defending in defeat to Newcastle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Simon Sinclair at St James’ Park 7 May 2011 20:09:00 BPL, Newcastle United v Birmingham City,Liam Ridgwell Related Links Teams Players Alex McLeish has admitted his disappointed with his 10-mens’ “soft” defending as Birmingham lost 2-1 to Newcastle at St James’ Park. Shola Ameobi scored from the spot after Liam Ridgwell had handled in the area, which the defender received a red card for. Steven Taylor doubled the home side\u2019s lead, something McCleish thinks was an injustice, as he believed the Newcastle man should have been sent off<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":403376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-419360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\n
Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish rues his side's 'soft' defending in defeat to Newcastle - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/07\/birmingham-city-manager-alex-mcleish-rues-his-sides-soft-defending-in-defeat-to-newcastle\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish rues his side's 'soft' defending in defeat to Newcastle - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Simon Sinclair at St James' Park 7 May 2011 20:09:00 BPL, Newcastle United v Birmingham City,Liam Ridgwell Related Links Teams Players Alex McLeish has admitted his disappointed with his 10-mens' "soft" defending as Birmingham lost 2-1 to Newcastle at St James' Park. Shola Ameobi scored from the spot after Liam Ridgwell had handled in the area, which the defender received a red card for. 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![\"BPL,](\"http:\/\/u.goal.com\/130800\/130893_news.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n