BIRMINGHAM CITY TO PLAY ARSENAL IN CARLING CUP FINAL

You never quite know in football but Arsenal will be such hot favourites to beat Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final at Wembley.There is such a gulf in class between the squads and the Blues are struggling to score goals from their strikers.But Alex McLeish,proving to be a very good manager,has created at wonderful team spirit in his club that may well keep them in the Premier League for next season.Wednesday night was a thriller.They were one nil down aqt home to West Ham at half time( 3-1 on aggregate) thanks to a Carlton Cole cracker.But as often happens these days West Ham played decent in one half and poor in the other,in this case the second.Birmingham,boyant with their niosy supporters behind them,bounced back to score three times.But once again it was mid-fielders and a defender scoring.However the huge half time substitute Nikola Zigic unsettled the West Ham defence particularly Matthew Upson and the match changed.Zigic is limited,should be much better with his size and often looks unlikely to score but made a difference in this outcome.I sat in the directors box behind two empty West Ham seats that should have been filled by two from three of owners David Sullivan,David Gold and vice-chairman Karren Brady.They did a big job for Birmingham and its a pity that they could not make last night for whatever reasons.Maybe they would say nolw they are pleased they did not attend.