Opinion: Will Grounds Be A Miss Against Villa?

Jonathan Grounds has had one of those seasons whereby he can be compared to ‘Marmite.’ Fans have either raved about him or have been really unimpressed by his performances and there seems to be no middle groud; pardon the pun. But often people just say their opinion and move on because at the end of the day, the left back position is not seen as the most crucial part when we have had the likes of the strikers to moan about for the past couple of seasons.

But it has become an issue this week due to the fact that he is suspended for one of the biggest games on the footballing calendar; the second city derby between the best team in Birmingham and Aston Villa. As a fan, it will be one of those games that if we win, it will be the talk of every Bluenose for the next few weeks and will put a smile on our face no matter what kind of day we are having in that time duration. Twitter will be the place to be. However, if we lose, then I’m pretty sure most of us will sulk right up until Christmas and maybe even beyond. So the significance of this game cannot in anyway be underestimated. Therefore we will need our best team out and therefore we will need our full strength squad out.

Now many people say that Grounds isn’t in the starting 11 if we are basing it purely on who the better players are rather than on the understanding of players and everything else that is taken into account on a matchday. Due to this, it doesn’t concern some fans that he is bad; in fact it is a positive as it means it forces Rowett into making a change. To me, I have written in the past that he looks tired and that he has the ability to switch off quite a lot. Despite this, I am in the camp of people who are disappointed that Grounds is suspended.

The defensive line is crucial in order to keep a clean sheet. Yes, we need our best defenders but we really do need defenders that have the understanding with each other to avoid hesitation and keep it stable at the back. Especially considering Villa have found some scoring boots as of late… Yes, this is in comparison to their disastrous season last year. But consistency is key at the back and therefore Grounds will be a big miss in this regard.

Having Wiggins in the squad, I believe is a good thing but not necessarily because he is good. I think that Grounds had become lazy last year as his place had been guaranteed because there was no back up left back and therefore he didn’t have to compete for his place in the starting 11. This year, he really has had to and I think it has improved his performances considerably.