Birmingham City issued Eiran Cashin exit warning as 'shock' Derby County view given | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit has given his verdict on Eiran Cashin's struggles at Birmingham City

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Former Derby County defender Eiran Cashin is struggling for game time since going out on loan to Birmingham City this summer.

The centre-back made the move to Brighton last January, but has been unable to break into Fabian Hurzeler’s first team plans.

This led to him going out on loan back to the Championship with the newly-promoted Birmingham, where he has played four times in the league.

However, only one of those appearances has come as a start, in their 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, as he struggles for a place in Chris Davies’ side.

Cashin earned a reputation as a very exciting player during his time with the Rams, where he worked his way up to become club captain before his move to Brighton earlier this year.

Eiran Cashin playing time surprise

When asked if he’s surprised by Cashin’s struggles, FLW’s Derby fan pundit Shaun Woodward claimed that he is shocked by his lack of success with Birmingham in particular.

He highlighted the 23-year-old’s quality on the ball as an asset that should make him a useful player to any Championship side, even with the competition for game time he faces at St. Andrew’s.

“I am surprised at how much Eiran Cashin has struggled since he left Derby,” Woodward told Football League World.

“He was so good for us, he was an absolute man mountain, he read the game brilliantly.

“He was one of our best ball-players, he started all of our attacks.

“Some of his cross-field passing was exceptional, and I really thought he would push on and establish himself at Brighton.

“And when obviously he wasn’t in their plans this season, I could see why he went to Birmingham — as much as it annoys me that he didn’t potentially come back to us — I can see why he’d go to another club that’s on the up.

“But he’s not been able to establish himself there, which is a shock because I did think he was good enough to be in most Championship sides, albeit Birmingham have got a very good squad.”

Woodward believes that Cashin just needs a run of games in the team to truly show what he’s capable of, and that he’s too good to stay on the bench all season: “But, by all accounts, when he has played he hasn’t covered himself in glory and he has been a bit rusty.

“The problem with Cashin is he’s not the tallest, he’s not the quickest, so he needs game time, he needs to be able to show over a period of games what he’s good at.

“And when he’s settled in the side, he really is such a talented player, he can read the game really well, he’s strong and he’s great on the ball.

“But if he’s not really had much of an opportunity to show what he’s good at, then I can see why in a few maybe 15 or 20 minute cameos he could look a little bit rusty.

“So, I think you need to be patient with him, or Brighton need to call him at Christmas from his loan spell and get him into another Championship club, because he’s far too good to be sat on someone’s bench all season.”

Birmingham have the likes of Christoph Klarer, Jack Robinson and Phil Neumann to choose from to play at centre-back, while usually only utilising two in the middle of their defence.

The Blues are currently 16th in the Championship table, and have conceded 11 goals from their opening nine games.

Eiran Cashin needs game time or another loan move in January

If Cashin doesn’t earn his way into the Birmingham starting lineup on a consistent basis between now and the turn of the year, then Brighton will surely look to loan him elsewhere.

The defender looked like one of the brightest young stars in the Championship in that first half of last season at Derby.

However, his lack of game time in the last 10 months has hurt his development, and he needs to be playing more regularly in order to improve.