The Future For Koby Arthur

I am often proud of the wonderful club in which I am so lucky to support. One of the main reasons for that, I have found, is how well we manage to incorporate young players into the first team without wasting them or letting them get complacent.

As a regular follower of youth football, I have noticed many wonderful things about the set up that we have through the ranks at Birmingham City. Beale and Spooner, the two main academy coaches, could take over from Rowett and you wouldn’t notice a difference. This is because all 3 coaches will try and play in the same style as each other with the same philosophy. Therefore, the transition between age groups and the first team should be a lot easier. It won’t be about adapting to a particular style of play that will make a player progress, instead it will depend on their attitude and their physicality.

This brings me nicely onto Koby Arthur. Physically, I don’t think many of us would want to meet him in a dark alley. He is very strong and looks to have broadened into a very well built young man. This means that he should have the physicality to play at a high level as he can cope with the demands of the modern game. Also for such a strong man, he does have very good fitness. I often get amazed at how well he covers the ground due to his laboured running style, but it is perfect because it works.

So why has Arthur not progressed? Firstly, and this is the kinder option, I think it may be due to injuries. During his time, he has had small, niggles that he has been unable to shake off completely, all at pivotal points. After he made a few cup appearances, it would have been ideal to kick on and really truly and cement a place in the first team. However, he www unable to do this as he tweaked his hamstring amongst other muscular injuries that seem to keep reoccurring. He has just started playing again for the development squad after a long time out with injury so I’m hoping he can kick on.

Despite this, there is always that question about his attitude. I feel the same way about Reece Brown as I do with Arthur. Both have the skill to be great players but quite often have become complacent and just coast around in games. To me, a player will stand out in the youth leagues not necessarily because they’re the best, but because they work hard for the team. Solomon-Otabor did this and now he has his first team break through. I believe Harding will be the same.

But if a player doesn’t have that drive to succeed for his team mates, then they will fall to perform in games where it is vital to work together. It also means that less effort will be put in at training so performance is often hindered due to a bad attitude. I hope Arthur can sort this out and get back to his peak fitness so then we can see what he really can do.