Birmingham City exit for 'liability' defender debated after Dael Fry arrival | OneFootball

The signing of Dael Fry at Birmingham City could have knock-on effects for Jack Robinson.

Birmingham City underwhelmed last season but strengthening their squad this summer should lead to them naturally drifting towards sustaining themselves as promotion challengers.

Having broken the all-time EFL points tally in their League One title-winning campaign under the management of Chris Davies, the big spending Blues returned to the Championship with a lot of ambition last season.

They again embarked upon a very busy summer transfer window that saw another transformation of the squad that was expected to see them challenge for the top six and the play-off places at least.

Inconsistency and an inability to adapt their style of football to a higher level saw them eventually succumb to a tenth placed finish, which was fairly flattering due to a strong run towards the end of the campaign whereby they collected 11 points from their final five matches.

As they get set for another tilt at promotion, aided by the expansion of the play-off places to eight teams, Birmingham will again be expected to challenge, especially with further depth in their squad, which should lead to an experienced defender in Jack Robinson now falling down the pecking order at St Andrew’s.

Dael Fry will push Jack Robinson down the pecking order at Birmingham

Jack Robinson joined Birmingham for an undisclosed fee from recent play-off finalists Sheffield United on the final day of the transfer window last summer and he struggled for form for the second city outfit.

Now, following the arrival of Dael Fry on a free transfer form this year’s play-off finalists Middlesbrough, there is an expectation Robinson will fall down the pecking order but to avoid as busy a summer window as previously, FLW’s Birmingham Fan Pundit Jason Moore would not be against keeping Robinson, despite his struggles.

With regards to Robinson departing, Jason says he would ‘hope so’ but that may not be what happens and that may not be what is best.

Jason explains: “To be honest, he was more of a liability than what he was worth last season.

“Overall, no I don’t think they will.

“I think he will be quite aware of what his place in the squad is. He’s got to be more than aware that he’s going to be fourth-choice centre-back.

“To be honest, you’d probably expect him to be a good pro. We’ll ignore what he did last year against Hull, with his silly red card.

“You expect him to be a good pro, set a good example and, to be honest, as much as he was a liability and I’d like to see him out of the door if you could; for the sake of not having a transfer window where you’re getting rid of 12 and bringing in 12 again, I don’t actually mind him staying.

“Purely just as a squad player, someone for the dressing room – I’m not going to be too upset by it.

“I don’t see Blues getting rid of him. He’ll just be there as a squad player. Hopefully as fourth-choice and coming on whenever we need to see out a game.

“I’d be very surprised if he’s any higher in the pecking order than that.”

Birmingham should aim for depth for the Championship

Having gained promotion back to the Championship in impressive fashion, Birmingham set about trying to build a squad with experienced players that had succeeded at the level before with Robinson arriving alongside the likes of Demarai Gray, Tommy Doyle, Eiran Cahsin and Bright Osayi-Samuel.

As well as that, they appeared keen on raising their ‘floor’ away from some of the players that had played in League One with the signings of Kyogo Furuhashi, Marvin Ducksch and then winter additions such as August Priske and Carlos Vicente: either big money signings or big names to ensure their ‘floor’ would remain high enough that a relegation battle would be unimaginable and any blip of form could moved on from to challenge for promotion.

Issues arose from the fact the squad did become bloated but with no real sense of hierarchy within the squad in terms of quality; all players of a similar level or at least on the back of similar standing careers, leading to a lack of cohesion and identity for large parts.

Fry perhaps straddles both categories of being someone who can further again ‘raise the floor’ but also being someone who doesn’t necessarily standout as one of the absolute best centre-backs in the division, something he has threatened to be on occasion during his time at ‘Boro.

He is a coup of the level to mean he is now a clear out and out starter for Birmingham, though, helping them to move on from their much of a muchness in that position previously.

Robinson, someone that does appear to be on the decline in his career, was an excellent squad player at United who, perhaps more by accident than design, ended up being key for The Blades on occasion.

He can now fall into that role at Birmingham