As Arsene Wenger ran out of places to point the finger of blame for his side's failure to get a desperately needed victory, he found one in his hour of need.
Of course, he couldn't blame his players for failing to kill off a tired but brilliantly-resilient Birmingham.
Too late: Arsenal keeper Almunia scrambles in vain to stop Phillips' equaliser
He couldn't blame his goalkeeper Manuel Almunia for his awfully slow reaction to Kevin Phillips' scrambled injury-time effort.
MATCH FACTS
BIRMINGHAM: (4-4-2) Hart 8; Carr 7,R Johnson 7, Dann 7, Ridgewell 6; Gardner 7, Ferguson 8, Bowyer 9, Fahey 7 (Phillips 83min); McFadden 7, (Benitez 76) Jerome 7.Booked: Ferguson, Gardner, Carr.ARSENAL: (4-5-1) Almunia 5; Sagna 6,Campbell 6, Song 7, Clichy 6; Rosicky 7, (Nasri 67, 8) Fabregas 7, Diaby 8, Denilson 6, Walcott 5; (Arshavin 67, 7) Bendtner 5.Booked: Song, Clichy.
Man of the match: Lee Bowyer.Referee: Howard Webb.
He couldn't blame Martin Taylor this time - although the Frenchman referred to that incident again in his post-match briefing before blowing up in four-letter fashion. The media were then accused of stirring up trouble.
Alex McLeish was also in the wrong. Wenger moaned about the Scot's encroachment on to the pitch in celebration of Phillips' late equaliser which earned the striker his 250th career goal. A fair point. But surely trifling.
Next up, Craig Gardner. He was painted as a baddie. His perfectly legitimate tackle on Cesc Fabregas had the unfortunate consequence of catching the Spain star on the follow-through. Never mind the fact that the England Under 21 midfielder was the victim of the worst challenge of the entire afternoon when Denilson cut him in half.
No, if Arsenal supporters want to know the real reason why their team have lost momentum in the title race, read on. It was all the fault of Birmingham's head groundsman, Mr Kelly.
Low point: Arsene Wenger shows his dejection at the end of the match
'I think the place is very hostile, but what is most important is the pitch is terrible,' said Wenger. 'You know, if we sell our game to international rights for £1.2billion next year and that means we have to offer something to people when we pretend that we have the best league in the world, the minimum we need is to take care of our pitches when you want so much money.
'When you go to a dentist you want him to have as bad instruments as possible to try to repair your teeth? No. If he is a good dentist he has good instruments.'
Make no mistake, this was Wenger's Kevin Keegan moment. The F-word rant, the deflection of criticism, the accusation that Birmingham had been overphysical, the fact the pitch was poor, McLeish's celebration, the caution count. It goes on.
Wenger had been like a coiled spring all afternoon, the awful memory of Eduardo's injury two years ago hitting him the minute he walked along the touchline. And the moment he rose from his seat in the dug-out, the home fans seized upon it. Rising from their own seats in the Tilton Road end of the ground, the sight of 5,000 Birmingham supporters waving their arms about, mocking Wenger's gestures, was genuinely amusing.
'We aren't the bad guys in this,' said Birmingham's boss McLeish, defending his side, 'I feel we are soft. If you look at the way the game went, if you look at the fouls against us, this Arsenal team can lay in a wee bit as well. We had to weather a few rough tackles. The players kept their discipline and played through it. There was nothing wrong with Craig's tackle.
'If people are following through, taking the ball then the man, the authorities are worried about the impact. If you get it cleanly then there's nothing wrong. In fairness, Arsenal have had their fair share of horrendous injuries, so maybe he's paranoid about it now.
'But this is a smokescreen. When I read Arsene's words this morning, asking for the referee to watch the tackles, I felt it was good for us. All the pressure was on them. Make no mistake, they were worried about this trip.
'As for the pitch, I'm sure he has played on worse in recent weeks. We thought it was great compared to some we have played on recently. If we had a surface like Arsenal's it would be frightening to think what we could do.'
Arsenal looked to be heading for a win when Samir Nasri, on for Tomas Rosicky, drove in a shot from 20 yards after 81 minutes.
But Phillips, himself a substitute, rescued a point for the home side in the final moments when Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia pushed his shot up in the air only for it bounce down and cross the line.
Wenger was unsure about the seriousness of Fabregas's injury. 'We have to assess that tomorrow,' he said. 'Bad tackle. One more. He got tackled at the knee.
'We tried to take him off but he said he was all right. Nasri had a groin problem, Andrey Arshavin has a knee problem from the last game. '
As for Birmingham's groundsman, he has struggled to make up the damage to the pitch caused by the winter snow. But he is certainly capable.
How do we know? He has letters from at least two top managers commending him. One is from Sir Alex Ferguson. And the other? You guessed it. Arsene Wenger.
Barcelona star Andres Iniesta's injury lifts Arsenal after Birmingham setback Birmingham City striker Phillips has no plans to retire at the end of the season BIRMINGHAM CITY FC
Wenger feels the pressure: Title race tension gets to Arsenal boss
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger lost his cool yesterday after a late goal from Birmingham striker Kevin Phillips dented his side's Premier League title hopes.
Wenger was angry over the challenge by Craig Gardner on Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas, which left the Spain midfielder with a knee injury and in doubt for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Barcelona.
Under pressure: Manager Arsene Wenger goes through the mill as Arsenal are held by Birmingham
But the Frenchman, who has questioned opponents' tactics against Arsenal, flipped when asked in his Press conference whether there had been more than one bad tackle during the 1-1 draw.
Wenger said: 'Am I suggesting there were a lot of bad tackles? Leave me alone with that, for ****'s sake. You are always looking for controversy.'
On his captain's injury, he added: 'We have to assess him tomorrow. 'It was a bad tackle, one more. He got kicked just under the knee.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1261210/Wenger-feels-pressure-Title-race-tension-gets-Arsenal-boss.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0jY43WiYK