Opinion: Vaughan To Kick On This Year?

When it was first announced that Birmingham City would try to sign James Vaughan on the initial loan spell, I was very optimistic about how he could fit into our setup. Having seen him for Huddersfield, I was aware that he wasn’t always the one finishing the chances, but he formed good partnerships and was able to link play well with the attack and midfield.

This was just what we needed. Donaldson may have been an isolated figure up top if we weren’t careful and despite all of his positive qualities, he doesn’t have the pace to beat a man purely in a sprint. However, Vaughan would compliment this. I thought that with Vaughan’s pace and Donaldson’s power then the big man could flick balls on for the little man to chase and then hopefully slot some goals well.

The first reason that this didn’t work out is because Vaughan only played mainly as a substitute in his loan spell; often coming on for the last few minutes of games. This is mainly due to Rowett preferring the one up front strategy and if Donaldson is his chosen man up front, then there is really no option to play Vaughan. Also, it hasn’t worked out because Vaughan hasn’t found his shooting boots. Several opportunities have fallen his way but he has snatched at them. The penalty miss summed up his season really.

So will it be better this year? I can’t really see how. We needed strikers last year in case Donaldson was injured but we were very bare in this department. However, even then Vaughan didn’t get many starts. This year, seemingly it is no different. Unless of course Donaldson does get injured or suspended, you would expect him to start.

For me, Vaughan is a good signing as a signing alone. If I was playing football manager, I would be very happy. But when you look at the set up we have at Birmingham City. He doesn’t fit the style of play very well. We like to use our wingers to come into the game. The likes of Cotterill and Gray when he was at the club, used to get a lot of assists and goals. This is because when we play, we like to switch it out wide and attack from there. Vaughan at Huddersfield, played a different style. They used to look for the long ball to him so that he could chase it. We don’t do that so as a signing by the club in hindsight, it may not have been the best fit.