Window of opportunity for Gianfranco Zola

The transfer window is often seen as an unwelcome distraction for football managers – a time to fight off predators. Ask the likes of Dean Smith and Paul Heckingbottom, managers of Brentford and Barnsley respectively, and they’ll tell you that their squad is stripped to the bare bones as their star assets are picked off by bigger clubs.

Previous managers of Birmingham City have felt the same way. Lee Clark could do very little to steer off interest in his young starlets who were rounded up like cattle and sold on the cheap to raise a much needed injection of cash. Gary Rowett lost Demarai Gray to Leicester City in January of last season and, as a result, his Blues team started to slowly decline.

Gianfranco Zola may see the January car boot sale in a different light though. Taking into consideration the style of play he wants to pass off on to his players and the negative results that he’s been overseeing in his short reign so far, the Italian couldn’t wait for the window to open.

Slowly but surely, it seems that Zola has started to reshape the squad to fit the vision of where he sees Blues heading. A cocktail of raw potential, proven quality and industry have given Birmingham City a new look.

Season on season, Blues fans have been crying out for a full back with an attacking mind who isn’t a bodge job when it comes to defending. In Emilio Nsue and Chieck Keita, we now have two. The middle of the park was in desperate need of an experienced, calm head. Craig Gardner offers that in abundance. A wide man unafraid of taking a player on? Kerim Frei could be exactly that.

Two loanees, Jerome Sinclair and Krystian Bielik, may be unproven, but they present the manager with added options at opposite ends of the pitch. Lukas Jutkiewicz, Blues’ elven goal top scorer, was tied down with a permanent deal. He has been an ever present lately and represents good value for  £1million.

The exit door was left open too. Jonathan Spector found himself pastures new in his native America, Paul Caddis mutually agreed to end his contract for the good of his career and David Cotterill joined Bristol City on a temporary basis. Viv Solomon-Otabor and Reece Brown also waved farewell for time being and Alex Jones was farmed out permanently.

All in all, the window hasn’t been one of regret for Zola and Birmingham City. The new look squad have taken to their marks and the fans will be hoping they can build on the Fulham victory, their first in eleven attempts.

The biggest positive of the window for Zola, though, is the array of options now open for him. Whether he opts for three at the back, five in the middle or two up top – wing backs, a diamond or a three pronged attack – Zola is now able to mix it up a bit.