Siriki Dembele Reacts To Critics And Tony Mowbray Admonition As Threat.
Birmingham City slumped to another away defeat at the hands of Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Jordan James’ goal on the stroke of half-time had Blues level going into the final 10 minutes but Ipswich struck twice via substitutes Jeremy Sarmiento and Omari Hutchinson. Ipswich had earlier taken the lead through Conor Chaplin.
Blues have struggled away from St Andrew’s all season and the 3-1 reverse at Portman Road is the 12th time they have lost on their travels in the Championship. The first game without Tony Mowbray on the touchline didn’t go to plan.
Here are our talking points after Blues’ defeat to the Tractor Boys…
We have watched Blues reap the rewards of Mowbray’s substitutions and in-game management in recent weeks. Juninho Bacuna played a decisive role in Blues’ wins over Blackburn and Sunderland after stepping off the bench.
Blues were on the other side of a substitutions masterclass at Portman Road. Sarmiento and Hutchinson scored the decisive goals after being brought on by Kieran McKenna.
Marcus Harness scored a brace at St Andrew’s to deny Blues three points back in November after being introduced as a substitute.
The triple change interim Blues boss Mark Venus – who wasn’t in contact with Mowbray – made in the 64th minute didn’t have the desired effect. In fact, it did the opposite.
Ivan Sunjic took over in midfield and was left isolated and exposed while those in front of him chased a goal. Bacuna and Siriki Dembele rarely threatened to make an impact inside Ipswich’s box after a brief flurry of tricks and dribbles shortly after their introduction.
If Dembele isn’t going to influence the game in an attacking sense, he has to be diligent defensively – and he wasn’t. The winger allowed Axel Tuanzebe to run away from him and into the space to cross for Sarmiento’s winning goal.
Dembele has already been warned by Mowbray that he must work tirelessly to hold down a place in Blues’ starting XI. The fact the Ivorian has been on the bench for three successive games suggests he hasn’t satisfied the manager or interim Venus.
Dembele said I would react to all these as from my manager and fans as mere threat rather admonition.