Birmingham 4 - 1 Blackburn Rovers

Birmingham 4-1 B'burn: Too little too late for Blues

Updated: May 11, 2008, 5:17 PM UK

Birmingham fans turned on chairman David Gold and co-owner David Sullivan as their side's relegation from the Barclays Premier League was confirmed despite substitute Cameron Jerome's late double in a 4-1 win against Blackburn.

• Gold to consider position

Chants of 'the board must go' were aimed towards the directors' box once it became clear there was going to be no last day of the season Houdini act for Alex McLeish's side.

David Murphy's first-half goal was cancelled out by Rovers midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen before substitute Jerome struck twice. Fabrice Muamba added a fourth in injury-time.

Birmingham have paid the price for a season of turmoil which was undermined by the protracted and ultimately failed takeover bid by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung in December.

That resulted in Steve Bruce quitting as manager, after he could get no assurances about his future, and heading for Wigan who he has kept in the top flight.

McLeish inherited a young and inexperienced squad and knew he faced an uphill task to keep Blues up despite winning 3-2 at Tottenham in his opening game.

City were unable to convert their good home form into victories with eight of the 12 matches at St Andrews under McLeish ending in draws while away they failed to win in five months after the triumph at White Hart Lane.

A lack of a killer touch in front of goal, a shortage of creativity in midfield and being unable to keep a clean sheet during 2008 contributed significantly to their downfall.

But fans have become disillusioned at what they perceive as a lack of investment in the squad by Sullivan and Gold.

Birmingham suffered a pre-match setback when striker James McFadden aggravated his knee problem and was replaced by Mauro Zarate who could have put them ahead after only three minutes.

The on-loan Argentinian played a one-two with Olivier Kapo and found himself with only Brad Friedel to beat but he sliced his shot across the face of goal when he should have at least hit the target.

McLeish's side made a lively start but an error by midfielder Fabrice Muamba almost handed Rovers the lead a couple of minutes later.

His sideways pass was seized upon by Morten Gamst Pedersen who burst forward before releasing Roque Santa Cruz but his low drive was blocked by Maik Taylor.

Birmingham skipper Damien Johnson became the first player to be yellow carded in the 26th minute when he sliced down Roberts in full flight during a quick Rovers counter attack.

Kapo should have done better when he got on the end of a right-wing cross from Larsson and directed his header well wide.

But in the 31st minute David Murphy gave Birmingham hope with his first goal since his £1.5 million move from Hibernian in January.

Zarate took a quick free-kick and left-back Murphy was allowed to run forward to the edge of the box almost unopposed and his low shot looked to be covered by Friedel.

But he inexplicably allowed the ball to go underneath his body and into the corner of the net.

Kapo could have doubled City's lead three minutes later when he raced on to a pass from Mikael Forssell but his low drive hit the left leg of Friedel who partially atoned for his blunder.

Larsson was yellow carded for protesting after referee Howard Webb had awarded a corner rather than a throw-in.

Stephen Kelly came to Birmingham's rescue when he cleared off the line from Brett Emerton after the midfielder had skipped past Taylor who had coming racing of his line.

Blackburn started the second half on the offensive and Taylor did well to save at the feet of Roberts after good play by Stephen Warnock.

But after 49 minutes Pedersen brought Rovers back on level terms.

Johnson was dispossessed by Vogel and released Roberts who had two fierce drives blocked by Taylor but the ball broke across the face of goal to Pedersen who made no mistake.

Birmingham needed a positive response and Kapo showed good skill to create a yard of space for himself and flashed a fierce drive across the face of goal.

Blues substitute Jerome was guilty of a glaring miss from close range when he shot over with the goal at his mercy from a Murphy cross.

But the England Under-21 international made amends in the 73rd minute when he converted a centre from Larsson and then coolly slotted the ball past Friedel for his second.

Muamba headed in an injury-time cross from Medhi Nafti for the fourth but the it matter little as results elsewhere saw the Blues drop into the Coca-Cola Championship.

Gold to consider position

David Gold is to consider his position as Birmingham chairman as the fans turned on the club's board of directors following their relegation from the Barclays Premier League.

Gold was visibly shaken by the abuse he received from a section of supporters, once it became clear the 4-1 victory over Blackburn at St Andrews would be in vain.

And the 70-year-old also admitted concern over the safety of co-owner David Sullivan's two young sons, David Jr and Jack.

Gold said: 'I'm a bit stressed by the reaction of the fans. I can understand the disappointment of relegation. We have been there on a number of occasions, going back to relegation from the old third division.

'But never in my time at the club have I seen that sort of abuse from fans. You could see the hate in the eyes of the people sat in front of us. It was a venomous verbal attack.

'It was as unpleasant as it has been during my 15 years with the club.

'For a moment we also felt that David Sullivan's two sons were in danger and we had to get them out of the way.

'I'm very disappointed. What I have to ask is, is it hundreds of fans, thousands of fans or the majority?

'If it is the majority I will be left with no alternative but to resign as chairman.

'I feel absolutely dreadful but myself and the board will be fully committed to Birmingham City until any possible change comes about.'

Blues manager Alex McLeish spoke of his pride at the way his team finished the campaign, but accepted the outcome had been settled over 38 games.

He said: 'I'm very proud of the players' response today. They produced an outstanding performance. All they could do was win but results did not go for us elsewhere.

'We have missed out by one point. The players have punched above their weight many times this season, and they did it again today. We've only lost one of 13 home games since I've been here but we haven't won enough of them and that has cost us.

'Also there have been teams like Wigan and Bolton, who were underachieving, but new managers, Steve Bruce and Gary Megson, have got them going.

'People ask if I could have kept us up had I been here for the whole season? But that is just conjecture.

'I now aim to bring in some more players. I've now got the chance to put my own stamp on the club.'

Rovers boss Mark Hughes was left to lament lost opportunities as his side missed out on a place in Europe.

Aston Villa only drawing 2-2 at West Ham meant Rovers could have gained entry via the Intertoto Cup.

He said: 'We had an opportunity to get the job done today and we didn't, that's the galling thing.

'We are disappointed with that situation because we haven't taken the opportunity that presented itself.

'Obviously we needed to win the game, a draw really wasn't good enough so we had to throw on attack-minded players and when you do that sometimes you can get a little bit ragged and a little bit in-disciplined and as a consequence you can get exposed which happened in the end.

'Over all the season has been very good and we'll look to build on it next year.'