Birmingham City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2

It is hard to see where Birmingham go after this result as St Andrew's was a bleak place haunted by the stench of relegation on Saturday evening.

Supporters ran the whole gamut of emotions from blind hope to genuine optimism to vitriolic anger to absolute apathy, as Steve Bruce's team slipped to their 17th defeat of an abject campaign.

On the basis that they couldn't play any worse than during last week's fortuitous draw against West Bromwich Albion and the knowledge that victory would lift them out of the relegation zone, supporters arrived with cautious optimism.

An energetic first half witnessed Tottenham visibly rattled by Blues' muscular approach and the portents were good for a fourth home win of 2006.

Yet within half an hour any optimism had dissipated and a large section of the crowd had resorted to frightful booing of one of their own.

Mario Melchiot was singled out for some unnecessary jeering. That was ironic, as he had produced easily his best performance for many months.

However, he marred that with a gaffe of John Prescott proportions to present Spurs with their first goal. Jermain Defoe wrestled possession from his grasp and advanced into the area before passing to Aaron Lennon, who coolly slotted past Maik Taylor.

Arriving so soon after last week's goal against Albion, for which Melchiot was also partially culpable, a large percentage of fans decided to voice their ire and his every touch was jeered for the best part of ten minutes.

To Melchiot's eternal credit he thrust his head above the parapet and endeavoured to rectify his error.

It was grossly unfair to single out the Dutch international as every single player has been responsible for the lack of chances created and a plethora of soft goals conceded this term.

And once the booing had subsided, Robbie Keane was on hand to add to Lennon's opener and induce a state of inertia amongst the crowd.

Silence and an air of resignation enveloped St Andrew's with the only pocket of noise emanating from a healthy away following that were revelling in their hosts' misery.

The outlook is as bleak and chilly as the current cold snap sweeping through the West Midlands and the lack of goals is proving to be their Achilles heel.

Steve Bruce's side were in the ascendancy for huge swathes of the first half but still looked totally incapable of scoring.

There was toil aplenty as Blues harassed Tottenham's preening midfielders off their stride and Sven Goran Eriksson, the England manager, must have wondered if he had wasted his time on a rare trip to Birmingham.

However, Birmingham's case for scoring was as convincing as Nancy Dell'Olio's make-up and Paul Robinson was untroubled.

In fact, apart from tipping over a looping Martin Taylor header from 12 yards just after the hour mark, he was virtually redundant.

His first save of any note was in injury time from Mikael Forssell, which is a damning indictment on Birmingham and a microcosm of their season as a whole.

Effort and endeavour are never in question but the ability to play at a high tempo for 90 minutes seems a bridge too far for some.

Watching Birmingham this season has been like Bill Murray's worst nightmare in the film Groundhog Day, as they have repeatedly turned in 45 minutes of energy followed by 45 minutes of purgatory.

Injuries, lack of form and a lack of confidence are just some of the factors behind Birmingham retreating into their shell when their opponents score, but it feels like one is witnessing a slow, lingering death.

Albion, or more importantly safety, are tantalisingly close being just three points in the distance, yet Blues can't quite muster the necessary qualities to bridge that gap.

A straw poll recently reckoned Birmingham's supporters would suffer relegation if the FA Cup could finally be placed in the relatively bare trophy cabinet. The quarter-final against Liverpool is thus the acid test for this current Blues squad.

However, it is unlikely that Birmingham will progress given their lack of potency, which will leave Manchester United and Chelsea on the horizon as they bid to fend off Portsmouth and chase Albion.

With only nine games remaining, time is running out for Bruce's men and with Birmingham City Council set to back the NEC proposal for a super-casino today, there is a black cloud hanging over St Andrew's that can't be shifted.

It is all going horribly wrong on and off the pitch at present and there is a feeling if impending doom.

Yet three wins out of their final nine fixtures, allied to three draws, should be enough to keep Birmingham in with the elite.

But it is hard to see where their next win is coming from unless Jiri Jarosik can return with a vengeance from his hamstring injury and provide a glut of goals. If not, the prospect of Birmingham being in the Premiership again next season is incredibly bleak.