Birmingham City star has been 'so disappointing' - Bluenoses thought he was 'going to be the man' | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has named the most disappointing player in the squad this season

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 have had a mixed return to the Championship so far under Chris Davies.

The Blues gained promotion from League One last season with a record 111 points, and have their sights set on gaining a place back in the Premier League.

However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Midlands outfit, who are among the clubs in the mix for a play-off place.

But their away form has proven costly, and they will need an uptick in form in order to close the gap to the sides currently occupying a top six position.

The raft of signings made in the summer have only had a mixed impact on the squad, with some excelling but with some failing to perform to the standard expected of them.

Bright Osayi-Samuel disappointment for Birmingham

When asked which one player has been most disappointing for the team, besides the obvious Kyogo Furuhashi, FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit Jason Moore named Bright Osayi-Samuel, who arrived as a free agent from Fenerbahce in the summer.

He believes the defender’s performances haven’t been good enough, suggesting his focus may have been on AFCON, and he is hopeful that an improvement will be made with him back at the club now.

“First one that comes to mind is Bright Samuel,” Moore told Football League World.

“He has been so disappointing.

“He started really, really well against Ipswich and bar that game I don’t recall him having a fantastic game for us.

“He’s been really disappointing, especially when he was brought in and everyone was like ‘that’s going to be the man at right-back, and he’s going to be taking Laird’s spot’.

“He lost his shirt to Laird, and that shows how poor he’s been because he couldn’t even get that shirt back, Iwata’s in there.

“Granted, he’s been consistent, but you’re playing a centre-mid at right-back because that’s how poor he’s been.

“I think he’s half under-performed because he knew he was going to be playing for Nigeria instead of Ola Aina from Forest was injured.

“But, yeah, he’s been disappointing.

“Hopefully he comes back and performs, but I’ve been massively disappointed with Bright.”

Osayi-Samuel signed in the summer as a free agent after impressing with his form in Turkey.

The full-back previously played in English football with QPR, where he earned his stripes as a Championship calibre player across four campaigns.

At his best, he contributed five goals and nine assists for the Hoops during 2019/20, with the team coming 13th in the table.

However, he has struggled to replicate that level of attacking threat under Davies as a right-back, having previously played in a more advanced position.

Bright Osayi-Samuel has a lot to prove at Birmingham

Osayi-Samuel’s disappointing form prior to AFCON was not what was expected from him after his few years away in Turkey.

He looks a much worse player now than he did during his time at QPR, and there are obvious question marks about his place in the Birmingham squad now.

If he cannot find an improvement in his form, then it could prove a short stay at St. Andrew’s, as the Blues will not want to keep someone who is under-performing.

The saving grace for the Championship team is that he was signed as a free agent, so the financial outlay on this deal was relatively small compared to some of their other recent business.