Chris Davies can’t exactly complain at the wonderful options he has at his disposal at Birmingham City at the moment, as the Blues boast a ridiculous squad for League One football.
The likes of Paik Seung-Ho and Tomoki Iwata have very much caught the eye with their performances from the holding midfield spots as of late, whilst more under-the-radar performers in defence such as Alex Cochrane have stunned the St. Andrews faithful with their ability to help out when Birmingham confidently burst forward.
Of course, Jay Stansfield has also been hogging the limelight for the third-tier giants since his permanent move back this summer, as defences quiver in fear whenever he runs through on goal.
Stansfield's form this season
He had a dream debut back playing for Birmingham permanently against Wrexham earlier this month, firing home two goals as Chris Davies’ men survived an early scare, to then comfortably beat Phil Parkinson’s Red Dragons 3-1.
The former Fulham striker then followed up this golden display against the Welsh side with a quiet – but still clinical – showing against Rotherham United last match.
Stansfield would only make 12 accurate passes in the contest, but looped an effort over the Millers goalkeeper’s head all the same, to gift his side an early lead in their eventual 2-0 victory.
The sublime 21-year-old will have the League One Golden Boot honour on his mind already, with Peterborough United his next potential victim on Saturday.
Whilst the Blues will be overjoyed by how easy their new £20m buy has made third tier life look, there’s a striker starring in the division above that they nearly got their hands on in 2022, and he is remarkably outscoring their standout number 28 this season.
The man Birmingham missed out on
It was reported at the time that the Blues – who were more concerned about being relegated from the second tier in 2022 over their now ambitious promotion aspirations – had lodged a bid for West Bromwich Albion ace Josh Maja, with Fabrizio Romano even stating on social media that a deal was ‘set’ to be wrapped up.
Unfortunately, no such move would get off the ground in the end despite rampant speculation suggesting otherwise, with the 25-year-old attacker then picked up by Birmingham’s West Midlands neighbours West Brom on a free transfer a year later, after his contract with Bordeaux had expired.
Games played
6
Goals scored
6
Assists
0
Shots per game
2.8
Scoring frequency
81 mins
Big chances missed
4
Looking at the table above, the one-time Blues target has started this season for the Baggies like a runaway train, with six goals bagged from as many appearances in the league, which betters Stansfield’s own goal total by three.
One that got away
The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast's One That Got Away series.
Constantly peppering opposition goalkeepers with 2.8 shots on average per game too, it looks unlikely that the West Brom ace’s goals will dry up soon, as Carlos Corberan keeps everything crossed that the former Sunderland youth product’s rich vein of form does continue and goes hand in hand with his side remaining perched right at the top of the division.
There will be a worry that the injury-prone attacker could fall foul to another major absence on the sidelines, however, having had his first season at West Brom be stop and start as a result of these recurring issues, but that bridge will no doubt be crossed if needed.
Away from Maja and Birmingham’s near miss in the transfer market, Davies’ side will just be glad they managed to get their hands back on Stansfield this summer, as he strives to pick up more goals this season starting with Darren Ferguson’s side on Saturday.
Their first Stansfield: Birmingham must regret ever signing £12m flop
Birmingham City must have thought this striker was going to be a deadly star at St. Andrew’s.
ByKelan SarsonSep 25, 2024