"Underwhelming" - Claim made on Birmingham City ace Alfie May amid Jay Stansfield situation | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has given his verdict on Alfie May's current run of form

Alfie May made the switch to Birmingham City last summer following the club’s relegation to League One.

The forward was brought in to help Chris Davies’ side fight for promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt.

The 31-year-old has already contributed five goals and three assists from 15 appearances in the third tier so far this campaign.

He has started 11 times from 15 fixtures, with the team in the mix for a top two spot.

It was reported last summer by Birmingham Live that the deal to sign May from Charlton Athletic cost the Blues £750,000.

Alfie May performance claim

When asked about May’s goal-scoring record at St. Andrew’s given his pedigree at this level, FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit Mike Gibbs admitted it has been underwhelming.

However, he believes the forward is being played out of position, and that he could benefit a lot from Davies making a tactical tweak to overcome the team’s current issues.

“I’ve been a little bit underwhelmed but I think there’s definitely reasons for that,” Gibbs told Football League World.

“I think first and foremost, since Stansfield’s come in on the last day of the transfer window, he’s predominantly been played out of position.

“He’s been asked to play in the number 10 role, and he’s not a number 10, he’s a number nine.

“I think he’s probably only played as a number nine twice, maybe.

“In one of those games he got two assists, one of those games in the cup he scored.

“Yes, it’s been slightly underwhelming but had he been playing in his favoured position week-in and week-out he’d have a significant number of goals in addition to what he has done.

“It will be interesting to see what Davies does with him because obviously there’s been an element of we’ve been found out in the last couple of weeks.

“We’ve not been on the greatest run, and we’re really struggling with the low block and counter attacks, so I think he does need to mix it up.

“And maybe that will involve putting May in his favoured number nine position, playing Stansfield in a slightly different position, bringing some fresh blood in as well.”

Birmingham City’s promotion push

Birmingham are third in the League One table after 15 games played, five points behind leaders Wycombe Wanderers but with a game in hand.

Davies’ side have won just one of their last four games, sealing all three points away to Exeter City on Tuesday night.

May has now gone eight appearances in all competitions without contributing a goal, including seven in the league.

Next up for the Blues is an FA Cup second round clash away to Blackpool on 1 December.

Alfie May has been hurt by Stansfield decision

The signing of May looked like a real coup in the summer because of his great track record for consistent goals at this level.

But the signing of Stansfield has seen his importance to the team reduced, with Davies also needing to focus his efforts on the ex-Fulham striker due to the cost of bringing him to the club.

Birmingham will need a prolific goal scorer at this level to get over the line for promotion, and May has shown he can do that.