"Mr Consistent" - Birmingham City 2024 summer signing "underrated" at St Andrew's | OneFootball

We asked our Birmingham City fan pundit who their most underrated player is and why

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...

Alex Cochrane has been dubbed Birmingham City's most underrated player following his summer switch from Scottish side Hearts.

The left-back has started and played the full 90 minutes in every single one of Birmingham's 14 League One games this season, showing just how important a player he's become for Chris Davies' side, and his signing has proven to be an excellent piece of business so far.

The 24-year-old signed a four-year deal at St Andrew's, and it looks as if the Brighton & Hove Albion academy graduate will become a hugely important for Blues in the coming seasons.

It's hard for a left-back to really stand out as a key player, but our Birmingham City fan pundit believes that Cochrane has shown his importance in the early months of the season and has quickly become Mr Consistent, but perhaps going under the radar amongst supporters.

Alex Cochrane deemed Birmingham City's most underrated player

We asked our Birmingham City fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, who is the most underrated player at the club, and while he feels that Cochrane is the most underrated of the current crop, one of their summer departures also didn't get the credit that they deserved.

Speaking to Football League World, Mike said: "I think in the current side it would probably be someone like Alex Cochrane who has gone under the radar by just being Mr Consistent.

“There’s a lot of players who are getting the plaudits like Iwata, Park, Willumsson and Stansfield, but he is Mr Consistent, and he’s just set a really high bar, and he’s achieving it week in, week out.

“It’s difficult to do anything spectacular at left-back, but he’s just been really really solid, and I definitely think that he’s underrated."

However, Mike also believes that Jordan James, who departed St Andrew's for French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais in the summer, didn't get the credit he deserved, with the Welsh youngster splitting opinion at St Andrew's.

Mike said: "In recent years the one that jumps out for me is probably Jordan James. The reason I say that is there were really mixed opinions amongst the fan base about James, about what he brought to the team and whether we should keep hold of him and what his transfer value was.

“I really felt that towards the end of last year you could really see the player that he was going to become. He was a really strong number eight all round for me, so I’d say Jordan James.”

Alex Cochrane has proven to be an excellent signing for Birmingham City

Given their impressive summer transfer business, Cochrane's arrival probably went somewhat under the radar, but the fact he's played every minute in League One this season shows just how important he is to Birmingham City.

A four-year deal for the 24-year-old looks like excellent business, and if Blues don't make their way up through the leagues in the coming seasons, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he was on the radar of clubs in higher divisions.

As Mike alluded to, it's hard for a left-back to really stand out, but Cochrane is solid in defence and can get forward too, and it's easy to see why he's one of the first names on Davies' teamsheet.

Birmingham have pulled off an excellent signing in Cochrane, and he certainly looks like someone who could play an important role for them in the coming seasons, regardless of what division they're in.