Gary Rowett has attempted to temper the disappointment of the Burton Albion defeat by backing the quality already in his squad.
‘We have got a good group,’ said Rowett. ‘Burton was not a good example of that, but people overlook the fact we have got some good players in the group as well.
Whilst Birmingham are possibly short of options, they do boost very good players within their ranks. Clayton Donaldson leads the line, a very effective Championship hitman. Behind him are two top quality wingers in Demarai Gray and David Cotterill.
Furthermore David Davis has proven himself a very hardworking engine room, complimenting the rejuvenated Andrew Shinnie ahead of him.
At the back the team have completely changed their stars, Jonathan Spector did well when asked to step in last season, Michael Morrison showed he is a class act at centre-back and the full backs equally do solid jobs consistently.
Where the reservations arise is the short supply of this quality. Behind the form players in the team are relative unknown quantities in the form of youngsters or players that do not seem to be favoured by Rowett. Given that he has now had a long hard look at all of the squad, it is unlikely players like Thomas and Novak will ever be starters.
It is central midfield and the striker position that seem to be causing the most of concern among the fans on the internet. Whilst bringing in 3 players for those positions (ST, CAM & CDM) seems unlikely, Rowett had this to say.
‘listen, you can rest assured we are working very, very hard to get players in – as we did last year.
‘To sign some of the players we did probably took 30, 40 approaches to different players. That’s just the nature of the beast, the nature of the game in the Championship.’
Birmingham City are still operating on smaller budgets, which may have been a key reason in the club seemingly missing out on Fabbrini. This has not put the manager off though, he remains resilient in attempting to sign players.
If we want quality coming in, over quantity, then we must wait patiently for the right set of circumstances to arrive, enabling all parties to get what they want.
One player does look very likely to be completed in the coming days as Maikel Kieftenbeld has traveled to Birmingham to discuss contractual terms. His club Groningen confirmed the news on their site yesterday.
Source – bcfc.com
