Blues News

Does this man deserve his chance to play in the first team again? Or should he wait? – Opinion

|

Are we missing something here?

With Birmingham doing so well in the league so far this season (eighth as I currently write this, despite some poor results), it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are still some aspects of the squad that haven’t necessarily been used to their full potential. One of those instances comes from young defender Jake Clarke-Salter.

Having joined on loan in the summer, he’s only made one appearance so far, in the Carabao Cup game against Portsmouth, and that lack of game time is something that is frustrating him right now. Speaking to The Independent, he said:

“I need to play as many games as possible at a high and consistent level now. That’s my major aim this season. I need to show I have the physicality to play in the Premier League. If I can do that, who knows what the future holds. My main objective is to be a Premier League player.”

Just a quick word about those comments, although I get where he’s coming from I’m just not comfortable with some of the phrases he used. It sounds as if he’s got his eyes set on next season and the rest of his career rather than wanting to do well this season.

I said when he was first announced that I thought this was a good signing for the Blues and I stand by that claim even if he hasn’t been given the minutes that he warrants so far this season. He was obviously brought in for a reason and I just think that it seems a bit of a waste for him to be sat on the bench rather than developing by getting minutes. It’s even worse with him being on loan because we’ve got a limited timeframe on him before we have to send him back. We could be in line to buy him at the end of the loan deal, but if we don’t see him play, we can’t judge if he’s worth keeping.

One other concern of mine is that we could find ourselves in a situation like Leeds are facing with Eddie Nketiah and facing a fine from Chelsea for not playing him enough. Given where Birmingham were last season, I’m pretty sure we can’t afford to be letting money like that go to waste just because a player like Clarke-Salter isn’t getting enough game time.

What about you? Do you think that Clarke-Salter should be given a chance in the first team again? Or do you think that the defence is just fine the way it is?

Share this article

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *