Match Report 
A mixed Blues performance saw them quickly surrender the 1-0 lead given to them by Robbie Savage, and whilst they had ample chances to win it, they lived dangerously at times too.
Obviously, the big question at the start of any season, is which team is the manager going to pick? Well, with Kenny Cunningham suspended, and Stan Lazaridis having been talked up as a left-back all summer, there was no real surprise to see a 'Back Five' of Maik Taylor, Mario Melchiot, Stan Lazaridis, Matthew Upson and Martin Taylor. Most of the dilemmas in team selection appeared to revolve around the midfield. Steve Bruce opted for Muzzy Izzet and Savage in the middle, with Damien Johnson and Jesper Gronkjaer on the flanks. Interestingly though, Johnson occupied the wide left berth, with Dane Gronkjaer on the right. Emile Heskey was passed fit to accompany Mikael Forssell up front. Jamie Clapham, Julian Gray, Clinton Morrison and Stern John were the out field substitutes, with Ian Bennett surprisingly preferred to Nico Vaesen as back-up 'keeper.
The game started at quite a frenetic pace, and it was immediately apparent that Heskey was going to cause all sorts of problems with his power, pace and skill at one end, and that Yakubu Ayegbeni and Lomana LuaLua would do the same at the other end, with their trickery.
Blues took just 10 minutes to get their campaign up and running. Johnson was cynically hacked down on the edge of the Pompey box, and former Leicester team-mates and new incumbants of the Blues engine room, Izzet and Savage, eyed up Shaka Hislop's goal. It was Savage who struck the ball, and hit a good curling effort that wrong-footed Hislop, and found its way into the back of the net via the crossbar. Savage celebrated as if this was the last game of the season and the effort had just won Blues the Premiership in stoppage time - a good sign in contrast to his apparent 'non-interest' during certain games at the back end of the season. Hopefully the real Robbie Savage is back after his contract saga was finally put to bed.
Blues, being Blues, weren't likely to make anything easy for themselves, and indeed allowed Portsmouth to equalise just 6 minutes later. Steve Stone appeared to be pushed by Lazaridis when trying to get onto the end of a LuaLua cross, and referee Howard Webb duly pointed at the spot. David Unsworth, one of the best penalty takers around, emphatically hammered the ball home to make it 1-1. Quite what Unsworth's wife, who once famously didn't realise how far Birmingham was from Liverpool, makes of now having her husband playing for a club as far south as you can get, one can only guess.
The game ebbed and flowed hereafter, with Savage and Richard Hughes becoming embroiled in a petty midfield squabble that typifies both of their games. Heskey won literally every ball in the air up front, but worringly Forssell seemed unable to read this, and the majority of knock downs went unrewarded. On one occasion things did fortunately work out, and the ball arrived at Forssell's feet, but in a situation where you would have put your house on the Finn scoring, Hislop saved his shot with his feet.
Late on in the half, Blues again went close. Gronkjaer lifted a superbly weighted cross into the middle, and an excellent downward header by Heskey was saved superbly by Hislop, before Izzet blasted the rebound over the bar. Izzet had stung Hislop's palms not much earlier with a fierce drive.
At the other end, Patrick Berger played a delightful through ball to Yakubu, whose finish - like Forssell's - eluded him, and Maik Taylor saved well. Perhaps the clubs' respective leading marksmen need a few games to find their feet. At half time, it was 1-1.
Due to the stifling conditions, it was perhaps inevitable that the second half would shift down a gear in terms of pace, and this duly occured. Both teams were still creating chances, however. Maik Taylor was forced into an excellent double save to deny Unsworth's drive and then LuaLua's quick reaction. Lazaridis for Blues cut in from the left, and curled a right foot effort just wide, before Pompey almost took a bizarre lead when Maik Taylor and Martin Taylor conspired to jump into each other, leaving the ball heading goalwards, until the goalkeeping Taylor pushed it aside. Last year, the two Taylor's stupidity led to Blues' defeat here, and it was luck that prevented this from occuring again.
Gronkjaer was replaced by Gray, which was perhaps a surprise, given that the Dane had just begun to make an impact on the game, linking well with his former Chelsea colleague Melchiot down the right. Gray switched to the left, with Johnson moving to the right. Shortly following this, Blues had what appeared to be a blatant appeal for a handball turned down, when Linvoy Primus appeared to handle a Johnson cross.
It became apparent late on that both sides were content with a draw, with both sets of players understandably easing off the gas in the later stages. However, right at the death, Morrison - on for Forssell - held the ball up well in the area, swivelled, but hit a left foot effort straight at Hislop. This was virtually the last kick of the game, and both sides had to make do with a point apiece.
As far as season openers go, this was a reasonable result and performance from Blues. At times they looked dangerous - especially through the excellent Heskey. At the back though, there were too many errors, but hopefully this can be fine-tuned over the opening weeks of the season. All in all, nothing spectacular, nothing disastrous, and you can't really knock an away point.