A full-blown relegation battle is starting to look ever more on the cards, as City were hammered 6-1 at Anfield on Saturday. An equaliser from Geovanni provided only temporary joy for the 3,000 strong away following, who watched helpless as their side disintegrated in the second half, with the home side almost scoring at will.

But in truth, this really wasn’t that bad a city performance. Occasionally shambolic defending overshadowed some good attacking play, and City looked more of a threat going forward than they have for some weeks. Geo in particular looked eager for the ball, and capped a good display with a cracking volley to equalise. The real key to the game came with the third goal, scored by Torres just after half, and the third consecutive away game in which City have conceded a sloppy goal minutes after the re-start. The second goal also had a whiff of ‘seen it all before’ about it. Liam Cooper stepped up to play offside, and Ibrahima Sonko dropped back, playing the brilliant Fernando Torres on-side for simple finish. This naivety in defence needs to be eradicated, and quickly, if the Tigers are to have any chance of survival.

It has to be said that Torres was simply magnificent, and centre halves better than Sonko and debutant Cooper have been made to look foolish by the Spaniard. The front man deservedly received a standing ovation from the away end. Fortunately City’s floundering stoppers won’t have to face that calibre of striker every week.

The Tigers were never really going to get anything from this game against an in-form Liverpool side, and Phil Brown should not be overly castigated at the scoreline. The acid test comes next Saturday against Wigan, and in following very winnable matches against the likes of Fulham, Portsmouth and Burnley. If points and performances are not forthcoming from those games, then his job must at least be under severe pressure.

The major worry has to be the defence. Letting Turner go for a paltry fee was always going to be a mistake, and City’s backline was in disarray for the second away game in succession. It seemed a strange decision to give an 18-year-old his debut away to one of Europe’s best club sides. Maybe Brown hoped his young charge would be inspired to produce a Turner-esque inspired performance, maybe it was a panicky, desperate decision? In fairness to Brown, Cooper didn’t look out of his depth at Premier League level. Strong in the air and intelligent in possession, he looks to be the youth team product Tigers fans have craved for almost a decade now. The investment in youth began under Adam Pearson in 2002, and is hopefully starting to bear fruit.

In theory, the defence is the easiest thing to organise on a football pitch, and a good coach (and former right back) like Brown should relish the task of organising his troops. If he can do this, we have players who can score goals. If he doesn’t, he will out of a job before January. I still think we have the players to make a good back four. They need a run of games together, hopefully with Anthony Gardner playing the majority of the games.

The thing to cling on to for City fans is that going forward we started to carry more threat. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink had a decent influence on the game, setting up Geo’s goal with a good header. Kamel Ghlias was his usual busy self. Hopeful Jan and Kamel can begin to ignite as a partnership at home, and allied to better defending, fire City to a safe league position.

Can City avoid a relegation battle? I’d love to hear your thoughts, or feel free to ask me a question.

Cheers
TC