One To Watch: Dwight Gayle

This week features a tricky game for the Blues’; an away trip to the North East where we will face Newcastle. Despite losing to Blackburn, they’re still flying high and looking to bounce back with a victory. They will be tough opponents and their crowd always act like a 12th man, but I’m sure our travelling Bluenoses will create an atmosphere to savour. All in all, it will be a tough game but Birmingham City are no pushovers.

Having done these one to watch articles for a couple of years now, it is safe to say that teams with one man that makes them tick are so much easier to write about. In the case of Newcastle, they have so many big names who contribute week in week out to the performance of the team and so to narrow it down to one man always proves difficult. I must also add that recently, everyone I mention in these articles, either get sent off, score an own goal or get subbed within an hour. So I guess all you can do is thank me for jinxing the opposition.

But I have to say, one man stands out for me and that is Dwight Gayle. He was always such a lively player at Crystal Palace but it seemed that his finishing sometimes was a bit off especially from longer ranges. But he seems to have flourished in Newcastle’s set up as they have play makers who can pick him out. He is a livewire who keeps going and is always on the move; the worst kind of strikers to mark for defenders.

In 16 appearances this year, he has scored 13 goals. This is no easy achievement particularly in the Championship whereby it is hard to notch up too many goals. But he takes his chances well and although he doesn’t strike the ball as cleanly as other strikers, he always seems to be able to get enough power on it to find the back of the net. A real poacher.

He also has an amazing work ethic. He will track back for his team and really put a shift in so we will have to be wary of that and try not to play it out from the back too casually. His fault is that he isn’t the best tackler though. He often dives in and tries to win the ball but most of the time he doesn’t even come close. This rattles him and then it affects his performance so hopefully this will happen.

The main way to stop Gayle is to stop the passes. Shelvey, who has had his ban overturned, as well as Ritchie have brilliant passing ranges and can put the ball on a plate for Gayle. We need to close these players down drastically and cut the supply line off before we are punished.