Stumbling to a 1-1 draw versus Northampton Town last time out, Birmingham City will be raring to go when travelling to Shrewsbury Town up next in League One action after the international break.
As a direct consequence of that unsatisfactory point versus the Cobblers, Wycombe Wanderers now currently find themselves at the top of the division over Chris Davies’ Blues, having impressively won their last six league clashes.
Still, Davies will believe in his troops that they can return back to the summit very soon, having got some top performances out of his star-studded camp this campaign.
Birmingham's best performers this season
Of course, it did massively help matters for Davies that he was given a lot of cash in the summer to splash out on a new-look squad after a crushing relegation.
Any manager at the level would love to have the likes of Jay Stansfield leading the line, with the ex-Fulham forward helping himself to an impressive goal return of five strikes from eight league games, which included the opening goal versus Northampton last match.
Alongside Stansfield, fellow summer recruit Willum Thór Willumsson has lit up League One with his electric attacking displays, after joining as a bumper buy from Eredivisie outfit Go Ahead Eagles.
The Icelandic ace actually has more goal contributions in the league than the much-talked-about Stansfield, with a sublime four goals and four assists from eight games to date.
Away from the firepower at Davies’ disposal, the defenders picked week in week out have also been resolute when needed for the title favourites, with Christoph Klarer winning an astounding 6.8 duels per game this season in League One.
Unfortunately, Birmingham haven’t always struck gold in the transfer department like this, with one recent flop costing the club a sizeable amount of money, only to then never score a single goal donning a Blues strip.
Sam Cosgrove's time at Birmingham
It was an almighty gamble on the end of the then Championship club to swoop in for Sam Cosgrove, who cost £2m to pick up from Aberdeen after a goal-laden couple of seasons in Scotland.
The towering 6 foot 4 forward would bow out from his time at Pittodrie with 47 strikes from 103 clashes, with Cosgrove then hopeful he could make a name for himself in the English game at St. Andrew’s.
Yet, from the get-go in his new surroundings, the deal would feel like a rash waste of money, with Cosgrove not starting a league clash for the Blues until the start of May after joining mid-way through the 2020/21 campaign.
Even after such a shaky introduction, he was openly praised for being an “excellent” player in training by ex-Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer who had replaced Aitor Karanka – the man who purchased Cosgrove. Sadly, the ex-Aberdeen star continued to look out of his depth despite some glowing words of encouragement.
Games played
14
Games started
2
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Looking at the table above, it’s very clear that the £2m forked out on Cosgrove’s services could have been better spent elsewhere, but the tall attacker wouldn’t necessarily be given a whole load of chances to impress, with just two league starts coming his way across his entire cursed stay at the Blues.
Still, it goes without saying that the move was a big waste of time and money, with the 27-year-old’s wage also burning a hole in Birmingham’s back pocket, considering Cosgrove was on a hefty £10.7k weekly wage and an annual salary of £560k. For context, that’s even more than the aforementioned Stansfield is reportedly earning in the Midlands, with the red-hot striker taking home £10k-per-week.
He has since repaired his damaged reputation in the EFL by helping himself to seven goals and six assists on the books at Barnsley, but he would end up draining Birmingham dry of around £2.5m in total by the time of his release last year.
Cosgrove will have a chance to get one over on his former club when the Tykes face off against Birmingham next month, but the Blues have more pressing concerns at hand over reuniting with their ex-striker in trying to immediately return to the league above.
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