Nigel Pearson reflected on Bristol City’s first home win since October and admitted the result was all that mattered.
But the manager was even more delighted that he could look back on a scintillating performance that tore Birmingham to shreds, particularly down the flanks.
First-half strikes from Antoine Semenyo and Nahki Wells put the Blues on the back foot before Mark Sykes netted his first two Bristol City goals to clinch a convincing win.
Troy Deeney’s 34th-minute penalty after a foul by Cameron Pring on Tahith Chong and a 76th-minute consolation from new recruit Reda Khadra could not atone for a poor Birmingham display.
Pearson said: “Above all, we needed a win today and it turned out to be a very good win.
“The result was everything. We have turned in some decent performances at home, without reward, mainly due to individual mistakes.
“We are a team who need to play on the front foot and today we set out to be really positive from the start.
“I am pleased for Mark Sykes. It’s about time he scored for us because he is a player I like and I believe he has goals in him.
“He should have been getting in similar scoring positions from right wing-back, but we played him further forward and that worked well.
“Kal Naismith did a good job masking Troy Deeney from the centre of midfield and, although the goals we conceded weren’t great again, we fully deserved to win the game.
“We could easily have scored more than four and I am delighted to have sent our fans home happy.
“Now it is on to Swansea in the FA Cup on Tuesday and we will field a strong side in an effort to build on this display.”
Blues boss John Eustace could not hide his frustration.
“It’s the most disappointed I have been since I joined the club,” he said.
“We were too passive, too soft and not good enough in or out of possession.
“We looked vulnerable from an early stage and it was a really bad performance. I thought Kevin Long was fouled by Nahki Wells for their second goal, but that is no excuse.
“The whole team were not good enough. They have been excellent as a group over the first half of the season, but we are going through a poor spell and now we need fighters.
“Bristol City wanted the game more than us today and the manner in which we conceded the goals was very disappointing.
“We have to return to being competitive as soon as possible. Reda Khadra took his goal well, which is what we brought him in for, so that was one bright spot on a bad day.
“Kevin Long will improve with games, but he is an experienced player and will not be looking for excuses.
“That sort of team performance is not what we are known for. Our transitions and first pass were not good enough to hurt Bristol City.
“We had a really good week’s training leading up to the game, albeit with one or two players joining in late because of injury.
“The attitude was excellent, but today for some reason as soon as they put us under any pressure we looked very vulnerable and we need to improve quickly.”
