Many fans of Birmingham City will be wondering what has happened to Reece Brown? The academy graduate was given his debut under Lee Clark in the 2013/14 season during a 3-0 loss away at Burnley, the eventual runners-up that season. He made a further 8 appearances that season earning plaudits along the way for his technical ability and high energy with Manchester City and Patrick Vieira supposedly being big admirers. However, the England youth international has only played once for the Blues this season and spent a month on loan at Notts County where he impressed before injury cut short his stay.
It appears Brown’s progress has been halted by the club changing manager. Gary Rowett came in for Clark bringing a much calmer presence to the club with the former Burton boss picking the same 11 on numerous occasions with results being positive. Also, Clark used the academy more calling on the success of players such as Jack Butland, Nathan Redmond and Jordan Mutch being one of the few aspects of Clark’s management the fans appreciated. Since Rowett’s appointment, finances at the club have appreciated leading to the loan signings of accomplished players on higher wages such as Michael Morrison, Lloyd Dyer, Robert Tesche but more importantly Diego Fabbrini who is a player in a similar mould of Brown perhaps highlighting Rowett’s lack of faith in the player right now.
Interestingly Brown has been in fine form for the U21 development team with consistent goals in a no.10 playmaker role which raises the question; what is his best position? Under Clark he was deployed as one of two central midfielders and often played deep using his range of passing whereas Rowett has questioned whether he has the discipline to play in that role “I think off the ball is where he needs to find his identity” meaning we can only hope Brown applies himself and becomes a more reliable and trustworthy player in order to earn his place back in the squad.
The rumours around the club are that Brown has an attitude problem, with this being a frustrating season for the Dudley born midfielder after all the hype surrounding him last year, but also along with the emergence of Demarai Gray who has been a teammate of Brown since they were 11 and was initially not seen as a player with as big as potential as Brown. Gray has gone on to be the subject of a 5 million pound bid from Bournemouth, score a league hat-trick and win Football League young player of the month.
I for one have faith in Brown to make it at Blues next season (when he will be entering the final year of his contract) and hopefully be a big part of what Rowett is building. I also believe in Rowett’s man management skills to bring the best out of Brown and get him playing at a consistent level where he can continue to develop and reach the potential that seemed so big in the 2013/14 season.
