After a season of turmoil the atmosphere finally turned sour at St Andrew's on Saturday as optimism was replaced by a impending sense of doom.
The obituaries haven't been written on Birmingham's Premiership adventure as yet, but the prose is being prepared.
It is easy to be lulled into a comfort zone watching Birmingham, but their possession doesn't equate with the amount of chances they create.
Mikael Forssell insisted on Friday that the 'R' word hadn't been mentioned as Birmingham used survival as their mantra.
However, the hardboiled attitude of Kenny Cunningham suggested that the squad are well aware of the problems confronting them, as they undertake training this morning.
"There won't be any smiles on our faces but it is important that our bottom lips aren't dragging on the floor either," said a pragmatic Cunningham.
"We have to accept the reality of the situation. We are third from bottom and there are no excuses at this stage of the season.
"We can't point to bad luck or bad refereeing decisions. That is weak. We are here on merit and we don't deserve to be any higher but there is still the opportunity there to drag ourselves out of it and that is the harsh reality.
"There is no air of inevitability as things can change so quickly. Look at Portsmouth's situation and most people condemned them two weeks ago.
"They have put back-to-back victories together and in the space of a week they are on our coat tails, have West Brom in their sights and have developed a bit of rhythm.
"I am sure they have a lot of positive vibes around the club and things look a lot different for them.
"That could well be us in a week's time and we have to believe that. We have played Portsmouth here in the league and absolutely annihilated them.
"We were fortunate to get away with a point against West Brom but I still feel they are going to drop points between now and the end of the season.
"They spoke of a psychological blow coming here and not losing last week. But I think it was an opportunity missed from their point of view as they really should have buried us and they didn't.
With Portsmouth winning again it puts pressure on them as well, so it is tense and it will be the squad of players that copes best with that tension that will get themselves out of trouble."
Cunningham doesn't believe in fantasy and he is the ultimate realist.
He has is no way adopted a fatalist attitude, but he is prepared to concede the team need to improve markedly if they are to survive.
Nevertheless, the Republic of Ireland international wants his cohorts to concentrate on the positive aspects of their performance, as an abundance of negativity could have a debilitating affect.
He continued: "We have to pull together. There are no quick fixes and no easy solutions. It is a case of regrouping.
"No one can point a finger at any individuals after today's performance.
"I think we'd all accept collectively we have to do better. It isn't easy as confidence isn't as high as it has been on previous occasions and we are struggling to an extent - we know that.
"We will only get through it by pulling together. We have to do better individually but I think it is how we go about things collectively, which is going to be most important factor.
"You can look to your own performance and how you are going to improve, but you have to look at the team and the person next to you.
"You have to try and help your mate out next to you and if we show that attitude and spirit then hopefully it will begin to turn. We will analyse the game again and see what we can do better but it is important to look at the positive points as well. If you constantly look at the negative aspects it won't help."
