Where Birmingham City went "wrong" in the transfer window - It involves Tomoki Iwata | OneFootball

FLW's Blues Fan Pundit revealed two specific concerns that the club 'got wrong'

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…

Birmingham City made 12 new signings this summer - excluding Alfons Sampsted and Taylor Gardner-Hickman - but have been told they could have strengthened in two areas.

Ex-Celtic foward Kyogo Furuhashi and Demarai Gray were two of the more statement signings made by Chris Davies' Blues, yet they also signed the likes of Eiran Cashin and Lewis Koumas on loan from Brighton and Liverpool respectively.

Speaking to FLW, our Bluenose Fan Pundit, Jason Moore, gave Birmingham's summer business an impressive 7.5 to 8 out of 10 rating - and revealed where he thinks the club may have somehow gone a little wrong.

Birmingham City are said to be relying on Tomoki Iwata "not to get injured all season"

Moore identified two specific concerns that prevented Birmingham City from achieving - in his eyes - a perfect transfer window. "To be fair to the club, I don’t think they got a ton wrong, I think we’ve had a pretty solid window - I'll probably rate it at about 7.5, 8 (out of ten).

"I think the only thing they’ve sort of done wrong is they’re just relying on Iwata not to get injured all season - there is no one in that squad that can do what Iwata does," Moore added.

The apparent reliance on Iwata in the defensive midfield role is Blues' most glaring weakness according to Moore.

The Japanese international, who joined from Celtic for an undisclosed fee, has become integral to Chris Davies - playing as a deep-lying midfielder who screens the defence and breaks up play. "Maybe they think Leonard can potentially cover for him but I disagree and I think a lot of fans disagree that anyone in that squad can do what Iwata does," the Fan Pundit added.

Marc Leonard signed from Brighton for a reported fee of £500k last year but primarily featured as a squad player. Out of his 35 league matches in 24/25, Leonard only started 14 of them.

While Leonard does offer quality, his natural game appears better suited to replacing Paik Seung-ho's creativity rather than Iwata's more defensive role.

Another left-back would've been "ideal" for Birmingham City

Moore's second major concern centered on the left-back position, despite Birmingham signing Jack Robinson from Sheffield United on deadline day.

"I know they also brought in Jack Robinson who can play left-back, but not having a proper left-back - it's not the end of the world because Ethan Laird can go in and cover, but if you don’t want to leave yourself short, another left-back would’ve been ideal," Moore revealed.

Robinson, who signed a two-year deal, is now naturally a centre-back - but he scored both goals for Queens Park Rangers against Blues in 2017, and Sky Sports described him as a "full-back."

In Moore's view, this leaves Alex Cochrane as the obvious first-choice, with Ethan Laird providing cover despite preferring to play on the opposite side himself.

Beyond the positional concerns, Moore spoke about a broader issue with what he thinks is a lack of pace in the squad. "Not getting a centre defensive midfield cover for Iwata and then not getting a proper left-back has left us short - and you know what, to be fair, as much as I’m really happy with the Patrick Roberts signing, we are still lacking pace in this squad."

"The only real out-and-out pace we’ve got is probably Demarai Gray, and at a push Stansfield, Kyogo if he gets going, but it’s not like he needs to run past his man often does, not with the way he plays," Moore concluded.

In truth, the words from our Fan Pundit may seem somewhat strange if the reader isn't a Blues fan - given how much they've spent - but another squad overhaul will probably be expected if the club got promoted this season anyway, so Moore is perhaps just wanting them to fully stock-up on players.