Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies believes midfielder Marc Leonard is ‘one of the best players in the league that doesn’t play all the time.’
The 23-year-old joined the Blues in July from Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee. His signing came off the back of two impressive loan spells at Northampton Town, where Leonard helped the Cobblers achieve promotion from League Two before cementing their place in League One last season.
His time at Sixfields ended with him winning both the club’s Players’ Player of the Season and Player of the Season, prompting Birmingham to make the move as they looked to navigate a path out of the third tier at the first time of asking.
Leonard has had to be patient though. The West Midlands-based outfit splashed the cash in the summer, which saw Tomoki Iwata and Willum Willumsson also arrive in big-money moves. Iwata has since formed an unbreakable partnership in the centre of midfielder with Paik Seung-ho.
Bit-Part Role
With Birmingham recording their fifth successive win against Crawley Town last night, the former Scotland under-21 international has had to make do with a bit-part role. He hasn’t started a league game since August and has made 13 appearances from the bench.
Speaking after last night’s victory, which saw the Blues move to the top of League One, Chris Davies was full of praise for the midfielder. Via Birmingham Live, the 39-year-old said:
“Marc is probably one of the best players in the league that doesn’t play all the time.
“He’s got real quality but he’s got very good players in the team as well. When he has come on in games, he has come on in a bit of a higher role in Willum’s position, his best position is probably a bit deeper, but he reads the game really well, he rarely gives the ball away and he makes good decisions.
“He knows what this league is all about and he competes well. I said to them inside that I thought every sub improved us and that’s a good sign.”
Writer’s View
It’s a testament to Birmingham’s strength that a player with the ability of Marc Leonard cannot break into the side. That must be frustrating for the 23-year-old, but he will still have a huge role to play this season. With the games coming thick and fast over the coming weeks, he will be hoping to get an opportunity from the start. However, should the Blues earn promotion as expected, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for him.
Head of Writing
