HUGHTON: NO SHAME

Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton has said that there is certainly no shame in losing to a club of the stature of Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Birmingham City did not manage to get into the quarter-final stage after they were knocked out by Chelsea in the fifth round.

Chris Hughton, however, was extremely proud of his players, who had worked extremely hard to bring Chelsea to the state of an FA Cup replay at the St Andrews. Chelsea were probably helped by the fact that they had sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas and had appointed Roberto di Matteo. The new manager syndrome worked in favour of Chelsea, as goals from Mata and Raul Meireles helped them to a 2-0 win.

Birmingham City were extremely confident of getting a result going into the match. They also looked like they would be a match for their Premier league opponents in every department of the pitch. Chelsea were coming into the match on a very poor run of form, which had seen manager Andre Villas-Boas lose this job. Andre Villas-Boas was sacked after the 1-0 defeat against West Brom during the weekend. Hence, Chelsea were not coming into the match with great confidence, but the arrival of a new manager did its trick.

“When you consider the amount of games we’ve had, the quality we’re up against, we just needed to stay in the game longer in the second-half. And then you hope to get to the stage where they become a little bit anxious. And what you’re able to do then is finish strong, which we did. “We had the opportunity with Jordon Mutch late on. But if that’s at 1-0, you are right back in it,” said Blues manager Chris Hughton. Birmingham City will focus their attention on the Championship.

KING BANNED FROM DRIVING

English First Division club side Birmingham City Football Club striker Marlon King has been banned from driving indefinitely after he was caught speeding at 130 miles per hour in his Mercedes.

The 31 year old former Leeds United striker was caught by cops as he was speeding along the Midlands Highway at double the speed limit permissible for that region.

The temperamental striker was disqualified for 56 days after he was found guilty of speeding charges and not only that, he has also been fined £ 1,600 in the case at the Hinckley Magistrates Court.

Although King did not show up for the trial, the judge at the Hinckley Magistrates Court passed the verdict in his absence and the player will be officially notified once the paperwork is done.

The offence that took place on the morning of 5th August, 2011 sees the Birmingham City Football Club striker driving his Mercedes at speeds varying between 103 and 130 miles per hour for a 4 mile stretch along the M69 Motorway, situated in Huncote in the heart of Leicestershire.

This is, however, not the first time that Marlon King has found himself in trouble with the law and he has as many as 14 convictions excluding this recent one already in his name. After his switch to St. Andrew’s at the start of the season, many people believed that a fresh start will help him get straight a little bit but that has not happened, yet. Thankfully he HAS managed to do the right things on the field, helping Birmingham to rise up the table, and become a top tip of some of the best football betting websites.

King has been somewhat of a journeyman striker throughout his career, having played for big name clubs such as Leeds United, Hull City, Watford and Nottingham Forest before making the move to Birmingham City Football Club at the start of the season. Although he has not the best of seasons with The Blues, a change of lifestyle could still help him prolong his career.