Birmingham City boss Steve Cotterill copped plenty of stick for playing Southampton loanee Sam Gallagher out wide against Brentford.
Steve Cotterill is only four games into his managerial career at Birmingham City but the critics are already out in force.
Harry Redknapp’s successor has won just one game in charge of The Blues and, just three days after that dire Midlands derby draw with Aston Villa, Birmingham produced one of their worst displays of the season in a 2-0 home defeat to Brentford.
And soon after reports in The Sun (October 29th, page 65) stated that Sam Gallagher has been left so frustrated by his stop-start spell at St Andrews that he could cut short his loan from Southampton short, the striker was given even more reason to be unhappy.
Gallagher arrived off the bench with half an hour remaining against Brentford – but was fielded on the wing rather than his preferred centre-forward position. The 22-year-old failed to have any impact and it’s no real surprise.
Gallagher is a 6ft 3ins targetman by trade who thrives on receiving, rather than providing, pinpoint crosses from out wide. The former England Under-20 star has scored just once in ten games for Birmingham – and that tally is unlikely to improve as long as Cotterill continues playing him in an unfamiliar and unsuitable role.
Parent club Southampton, then, may have a right to feel aggrieved. There was no shortage of interest in Gallagher over the summer after the youngster netted 11 times on loan at an otherwise dismal Blackburn Rovers side last season.
Birmingham’s Midland rivals Aston Villa and Wolves were keen – but Southampton felt St Andrews was the perfect environment in which Gallagher could thrive.
Just over two months later, however, Gallagher’s ill-fated summer move looks like going from bad to worse.
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