31-cap international may regret swapping QPR for Birmingham City amid early pecking order signs: Opinion
09/23/2024 07:48 AM
Birmingham City recruited extensively in the summer transfer window, almost entirely revamping the squad at St. Andrew’s.
Birmingham City spent freely in the summer transfer window in a bid to build a side capable of storming back to the Championship at the first time of asking.
It was a level of spending never seen before in League One, and it means the title is the expectation for rookie manager Chris Davies. They’ve started well too, winning five and drawing one of their opening six games to sit 2nd with a game in hand on leaders Wrexham, who the Blues beat last week.
The striker position was one of real focus for City after their goalscoring problems last season. In fact, long-serving cult hero Lukas Jutkiewicz is the only striker from the 2023/24 campaign still on the books.
First, Birmingham City signed last year’s League One golden boot winner Alfie May from Charlton Athletic. Then, Lyndon Dykes arrived from QPR, while the Blues were still trying to get a statement deal done for former loan star Jay Stansfield.
The latter ended up joining at the 11th hour of the window. It gives Davies a seriously strong stable of strikers to pick from, but with Stansfield signing and May already on the books, the decision of Scotland international Dykes to head to Birmingham City may be one he regrets.
Game time to be limited?
Be it May, Stansfield, Dykes or Jutkiewicz, Davies has four fantastic strikers he can start at the top of the pitch. You can’t help but feel the pecking order is fairly clear though.
Stansfield will be started in just about every game you would think given the huge outlay for his services. May is next in command and with the Blues’ former Fulham youngster starting as more of a second forward, it has been May who has been favoured up top.
Dykes started against Rotherham United with Stansfield in behind but May came on off the bench. Jutkiewicz is the fourth choice and could find minutes hard to come by.
Former QPR man Dykes may get starts here and there alongside regular outings off the bench. However, as a 31-cap Scotland international with 35 goals and 11 assists to his name in the Championship, you can’t help but feel the Birmingham City could arguably find more game time at a higher level given the strength of the options at St. Andrew’s.
Fighting for a start
There’s no doubting that 28-year-old Dykes will be battling hard for the starting berth under Davies. He’s easily good enough to hold down the role too, but is he better than May or Stansfield? That remains to be seen.
Dykes was a solid Championship striker and found regular starts there, so you can’t help but feel a little like a supporting role in League One with Birmingham City is a bit of a waste of his abilities.
He’s sure to chip in with valuable goals and his physicality will be of great use, but he could have found more action at a higher level with QPR or another Championship side. Or, perhaps outside of England at a similar level overseas.
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