Birmingham City player has had "really bad rap" from fans - future Liverpool transfer should be "genuinely" encouraged | OneFootball

FLW’s Birmingham City fan pundit has commented on the start Lewis Koumas has made at St Andrew’s.

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…

Despite the excitement of a potential Championship promotion push, Birmingham City’s expectations have been dampened by a poor run of results in recent weeks.

After being heavily backed by American owner Tom Wagner and hype emerging about setting their sights on a return to the Premier League, Blues have found out about how tough the second-tier is to get out of, with the team struggling in moments with an increase of quality from opposition sides.

Birmingham lifted the League One title resoundingly after recording 111 points and tasting just three defeats all season, but Chris Davies’ men have already lost as many from their opening nine second-tier outings this term, highlighting how difficult the step-up in class has been.

It’s been a tough run of form for Blues fans to watch over the last few weeks, with a convincing 3-0 loss at Coventry City and draws to Sheffield Wednesday and Wrexham ensuring the club have only won one out of their last six Championship games.

There has been expected change at the club over the summer transfer window though, with 14 new players coming in to help deal with the step-up to Championship life.

Five of those were loanees, including Lewis Koumas, who linked up on loan from Liverpool after impressing at Stoke City last campaign.

But so far in his opening six league outings, he has failed to record an attacking contribution, drawing criticism from some sections of supporters about his lack of impact.

The final third has been a problem for Blues so far this season, with a lack of goals contributing to a run of inconsistent form that has seen them slip into mid-table.

With this in mind, FLW’s Birmingham City fan pundit has commented on the start to Blues life Lewis Koumas has made and whether there will be an upturn in form for him.

Lewis Koumas backed to thrive in a Birmingham City shirt

Speaking to Football League World, Birmingham City fan pundit Jason Moore has been impressed by the early showings of Lewis Koumas, believing he is a promising player but just needs to cut out some rash streaks.

Jason said: “You know what, he’s had a really, really bad rap from other Blues fans. A lot of them have been slating him, but I think whenever he’s played he’s shown tonnes of energy, wants to take a man on, but you can just tell he’s still quite young and rash.

“Whenever I’ve seen lineups come in, and I’ve seen Koumas starting, I haven’t been upset by it. I really like him because he works his socks off, he’s just got to learn not to be so rash and work on his in-game management.

“I’m more than happy with him starting, and I think he’s been pretty good. I just don’t think it helps we’re currently on a streak where we’ve won one game in seven, but when I’ve watched him, I think he’s been pretty good, he just needs to cut out that rashness.

“He gave away the free kick at Sheffield Wednesday when he didn’t need to do that, things like that, but as a winger, he’s happy to take his man on, normally beats his man, maybe he needs to work on his end product, but I think he’s going to be a real player, and from what I’ve seen already I’d be happy for us to get him permanently, genuinely.”

Lewis Koumas can succeed at Birmingham City

When Lewis Koumas signed on the dotted line for Birmingham City, there was an expectation that the Welshman would be able to add an extra dimension to the Blues attack, using his electric speed, trickery and willingness to lead transitions and drive at opposition defenders.

This hasn’t been the case though, with Koumas unable to generate much upwards momentum after having a mix of starts and appearances from the bench.

It was always going to be tricky with the competition in the ranks, with the Liverpool loanee competing for places alongside Demarai Gray, Kyogo Furuhashi, Jay Stansfield and Keshi Anderson.

But the output simply has to improve, and he has to do this by settling into games quickly when he steps onto the pitch and be able to show that he can be one of the main men to lead this Blues team to success.

If this can happen, and he stamps out the rashness that our fan pundit Jason alluded to, then he has every chance of becoming a valued player in the squad and contributing to something special in the West Midlands.

So far, it hasn’t been able to click, but an increase in trust from Chris Davies could help the loanee thrive and show to the supporters why the club recruited him in the first place.