The Double Signing That Just Hasn`t Worked For Birmingham

There was a lot of excitement when the club signed both Carl Jenkinson and Cohen Bramall on loan from Arsenal in the summer, but I think it`s fair to say that neither has worked out as we would have hoped.

The two players were at very different stages of their careers when we signed them up. While Carl wanted to kickstart his career after stalling with the Gunners, Cohen was seeking an opportunity to impress after being plucked from obscurity from non-league football.

In Bramall`s case, it was more of a gamble. Prior to joining Arsenal in January last year, he had been working part time in car factory whilst playing for Hednesford Town. He did have a lot of promise, and after getting his dream move to the Emirates, he did impress in the Under 23s and during pre-season on the club`s tour of Australia.

The fact is though that despite our first choice left back Jonathan Grounds being sidelined with a knee injury, both Steve Cotterill and Garry Monk have opted to use Maxime Colin, ostensibly a right back, in his place, which shows a lack of belief that the player can cut it in the Championship.

While the left back was pretty much a gamble that didn’t pay off, the signing of Jenkinson looked much more of a dead cert. Everyone I talked to felt it was a great achievement to get the England international in during the summer, but he has been a disappointment.

Of course, dislocating a shoulder on his debut was a massive setback. No one could criticise him for coming back and looking a bit rusty, but he has been fit for two months now, and it looks as though he won`t be getting much game time between now and end of the season following Harding`s emergence.

His only real run in the first team (starting six games out of seven) was abruptly ended with an abject first half display against Cardiff. After being substituted at half time, he was left out of the squad entirely for the Hull win, and it looks as if the manager has already seen enough of him.

It`s a damning indictment of a player who has played at a much higher level. Whether he lacks motivation, or his serious injury has affected him, we just don`t know, but he looks like he will be leaving in the summer without having made any impact at St Andrews.

Two players who many fans were keenly waiting to see performing in a Blues shirt at the start of the season have flattered to deceive, and it`s a real shame. Why has Jenkinson’s move turned sour? Let me know in the poll.