Often Partisan

The Return of Reece Brown

Reece Brown made and scored a goal in the match between England u20 and Czech Republic u20 this weekend. He was joined on the scoresheet by his Blues team-mate Demarai Gray in a comprehensive 5-0 win at St George’s Park.

For a player with barely any appearances to his name, Reece Brown has been a large source of contention to some fans who cannot understand why he hasn’t been closer to the first team. A graceful and elegant midfielder, Brown has shown repeatedly in reserve games that he has vision and creativity in abundance and could easily play either as a holding midfielder or as a more advanced player in the #10 role.

There have been rumours about his attitude to training and I have to admit, having seen Brown play a few times for the reserves last year he was frustrating – not because he was bad but because as a spectator you instinctively knew he could be better. On the ball he’d be a maestro, spraying passes around and creating space but off it he didn’t track back, letting his runner get away from him which would cause problems defensively.

I’ve said it before that the last and hardest hurdle for any young player transitioning from the Academy and Development Squad setups is in the mind – while it’s great to make a debut there has to be continual improvement from that step to become a consistent first team performer. Dimmy Gray is a great example of this – a player who has steadily improved as he has made more appearances to go from being a player with potential to a player now valued in the 5million+ bracket.

However, this is a new season and with Brown playing as a substitute in the league cup tie against Gillingham I hope this is an indicator that he is seen to be knuckling down more in training. Brown is one of a few young players along with Viv Solomon-Otabor, Charlee Adams and possibly even Liam Truslove who I’d like to see knocking the door for the first team. The opportunity has been created for them to make the match day 18 by Rowett thinning out the first team squad as extensively as he has – now I guess it’s down to them to make it.

Of the crop of youngsters at the club, Brown is probably the one who should be most likely to succeed – the 19-year-old has already made 10 appearances in the first team after all. However, I think this is the season that should see him step up from being in the team in cup games to forcing Rowett to pick him for league games too; challenging players like Stephen Gleeson, Andy Shinnie and Jon Toral to retain their place.

Imagine how much more the club could improve if it can take one or two players up into the first team squad each season as regular performers – not just from a homegrown perspective but a financial perspective. In recent years Blues have done well – albeit almost out of necessity – in bringing through young talent and it’s something I’d like to see continue under the Rowett revolution. Hopefully Brown can be the next one off the production line.

England u20s play the Czech Republic u20s again today.

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8 Responses to “The Return of Reece Brown”

  • nicko says:

    totally agree daniel reece has talent in abundance but does tend to go missing in games
    we must keep the lad and work on him.

  • Dave Mann says:

    I agree that Reece Brown is a prospect but of this takeover takes the full 2 years then were propably loose him along with Dimmi anyway , I would not put him ahead of Gleeson or Toral & you’ve got Shinnie along with Koby Arthur so he’s got a lot of catching up to do in my opinion but if he buckles down and puts a shift in training then maybe he could push the first team but for me this season he’s a bench player at best and play him in cup games though the vile game might be to much for him but I hope he starts because it’s an opportunity for him . Kro

  • ChrisG says:

    It’disappointing that a young player with such potential is not yet a team player & not always ready to put in a real shift either in training or reserve games. He needs to realize that this is his job of employement & not out on a jolly. When you look at some of the top players around the world they work hard in training and many stay behind after training to work on certain areas of their game, i’ve heard stories about Gazza who had to be dragged off the training ground or he would of been there 24/7!!. Maybe Reece should look at these players for inspiration.

  • KC says:

    Great that the likes of Brown and Solomon are now coming in to the debate. We went years without a decent youth policy but in recent times that has all changed. There is so much pleasure in seeing home grown talent coming through as long as the club has the stature to hang on to them.

  • Andrew says:

    Can he play center back though? Seriously, we need center backs desperately! I think it might be a case of wait and see with this one. We have had a few players bedded in to the first team from our academies over the past few years, naturally you only get 1 or 2 in each age group that turn out quite well, that’s if your lucky. It will be hard for him to break through but how nice would it be to see a Birmingham lad in the middle rising up to become a real rock in the middle of the park and command games for many years to come, this guy has potential but like many youngsters fail to reproduce it.

  • andy says:

    Be great to see the likes of Dimmi and Brown in the team to face Villa

  • Faraz says:

    Definitely a player that can hopefully suceed

  • Jazzzy786 says:

    Sadly cannot see Brown making it. He has the potential but not consistent enough. VSO on the other hand has a fantastic attitude and has consistently been the best player for the ressies. He has improved the defensive side of his game and hia all round awareness. I actually think he is already a better player than Arthur.


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