Opinion: Has Shotton Shut The Door For Harding

This time last year, pre-season was underway and I was optimistic that the Blues’ could push for a play-off spot. This optimism was not misplaced as Birmingham City did hang in their for a while despite having a rather disappointing end to the season. However, I was wrong about a couple of things, most notable, personnel.

I usually consider myself to be a good judge when it comes to what to look out for when seeing if a player is suitable for the first team. Having watched a lot of youth football, it is quite easy to pick out those players who you think will progress into the Football League as they often stand out in the rather disappointing U21 league which most clubs have a team in. Due to this I was confident that Harding would push on and cement a place in the first team last season or even be sent out on loan but to a high achieving club in the football leagues.

For me, Harding is too good for the development squad. He has everything that you would want a defender to have in terms of his attributes. He is strong in the challenge, stronger than most attackers he has faced. He has the pace to keep up with play and his aerial ability is very good. I have seen many players that are good at this level, but fail to gel or work hard in the first team. I think this has been the case with Brown and Arthur.

But Harding doesn’t have this problem. On the pitch he works harder than anyone. Even if we are on the attack, he is making sure all areas of the pitch are covered and that his defensive unit is solid. He would be a natural captain if I were to decide upon a leader. So when he got called up last year for the friendlies, I was sure that he would do well and I wasn’t let down.

He absolutely shone in those games and looked really comfortable. No disrespect to our opponents last year, but they were not the quality that you would find in the Championship, I understand that. But it was a step up from the lower U21 league and I think he coped with this step up remarkably well. With this great start, I would have hoped that he would have been included in more match day squads for the first team. Spector, Robbo and Morrison all had spots there whilst Shotton was moved to right back. Robbo needed resting and Spector had a few niggles so there was no reason why Harding couldn’t have slotted in.

With Robbo seemingly playing less games this year, it would have been the perfect opportunity for Harding to again step up. But Shotton has been signed and Rowett prefers him as a central defender so it may block a potential Harding move which is unfortunate as I believe he can really make it at our club!