The Keep Right On Podcast have their say on Birmingham City’s eight out-of-contract players
Birmingham City are currently mulling over those pressing contract decisions that dominate every football club at this time of year.
Relegation can change the way people view these decisions and that was certainly the case on the latest episode of the Keep Right On Podcast. Alex Dicken (AD) and Brian Dick (BD) have altered their opinions following Blues’ relegation to League One.
The released and retained list will be finalised in the coming days before it is released to the public. Blues have eight senior players out of contract at the end of June.
Check out what the Keep Right On Podcast would do if they had the power to make the decisions. Here’s who they would keep and release..
John Ruddy
AD: “There’s been a few errors, I think he was culpable for a goal in the defeat to Blackburn Rovers in November – a lot of things were going wrong at that time – but I don’t think his performances have been as bad as some people will let on. I think there has been a little drop off between Ruddy’s first season and second season at Blues but not a significant drop off.
“Blues have asked their goalkeeper to play slightly differently this season. John Eustace simplified Ruddy’s game, whereas from the moment Wayne Rooney came in there was an emphasis on playing out from the back and I don’t necessarily think Ruddy is suited to that.
“When Gary Rowett came in towards the end of the season, his performances improved and he kept four clean sheets in eight games and was commanding on set pieces. I don’t think he had a bad season.”
BD: “I would agree with that. Unfortunately, the defence in front of him let him down on quite a number of occasions. When leadership was lacking I felt Ruddy was trying to plug the holes and he was certainly saying the right things publicly, and I presume he wasn’t sitting on his hands in private meetings either.
“The question is whether to offer him something. All of these things depend on whether players want to stay and they depend on both parties reaching the right number. We’re looking at a 37-year-old goalkeeper. I think the key to this is the Blues manager for next season. If it is Tony Mowbray, I think he’s going to want to look at a goalkeeper who is more confident with the ball at his feet, someone that can help Blues build from the back.
“You have got to have a succession at some point and this feels to me like a decent juncture to break. While I wouldn’t be wholly against retaining John Ruddy, I think potentially it would be a no from me on the basis that this is the rebuild. If it is to be possession-based football in League One and they have the opportunity to have that philosophical reset, I do think it needs to start from the back. I would say no but I would also want to see the balance of the squad in terms of age and leadership as well.”
AD: “I think I’m in the same camp. If John Ruddy was to be handed a new deal and signed it, I would be comfortable with it. I can’t speak highly enough of his leadership skills. In a season where few players have wanted to speak to the press after the bad games, Ruddy has been one of the players who has.
“I’d be comfortable with him staying but the reason I would lean towards letting him go is because, if Blues are going to transition to this more expansive, passing style of football that the owners are convinced is going to not only get them out of League One, and into the Premier League eventually, then now is the time to let Ruddy go and go down a different route with a younger goalkeeper who can be the club’s goalkeeper for the next four or five years. We don’t know if Ruddy will retire this year, next year or in two years, I think there’s chance to look at the long-term for Blues now.”
Neil Etheridge
AD: “I’ve only seen him play three or four times this season. I don’t think he did anything wrong in those league games against West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday. We know he’s a capable goalkeeper in the Championship and he would be in League One, but he’s another who is ageing and not the best with his feet. I would let Etheridge go and finish his career somewhere else.”
BD: “I’m not sure Neil Etheridge would want to spend the remaining years of his career being back-up somewhere. He’s 34 now, I’m sure he would want to go and play first team football. That one seems much more logical. Let’s say Blues do keep Ruddy, you want them to have a younger goalkeeper as well. It’s absolutely critical that they go and get somebody.
“I want the number one to be a permanent goalkeeper, not a loan goalkeeper. Blues need to find their forever goalkeeper for a good few years now. There are some good ones down in the lower leagues. Hopefully they can get their scouting network out and come back with a couple.”
Marc Roberts
AD: “He has played 196 games for Blues and he’s been available an awful lot, but in the last two seasons there has been a decline in the number of games per season. He played 25 league games last year, 14 this year plus two cup games, and he’s had three separate calf injuries this year. He bravely played through one of those calf injuries in March when Blues had a shortage of centre-backs. He’s entering the twilight of his career and probably has one more contract in him, I’m just not sure that should be at Blues. I think he will be an asset to a League One club.
“If the club is going for a more progressive playing style, then they are going to need centre-backs who play that way as well. If the club is hopefully going to win promotion you want centre-backs, like Ipswich have had, who can do well in League One playing that style and then transfer it into the Championship. I don’t think you’re building for the long-term if you keep Marc Roberts in your team.”
BD: “For me it comes back to the best ability being availability. He’s had three periods out on the sidelines this season and there were two last season as well. He missed two months quite early on in John Eustace’s full season. You need combinations in central defence that are going to be consistent.
“That’s not to say that Marc Roberts hasn’t got many attributes that would fit well in League One, or indeed the Championship. I think they missed his aerial presence for most of the season. I’m absolutely not one of Marc Roberts’ critics, I think he’s done a good job for the club. When his big contract came to an end he took a more team-friendly contract to stay around and I respect him for that. Unfortunately for Robbo, the injuries are starting to pile up a little bit and for me it’s time for both to move on.”
Gary Gardner
AD: “He barely played last season and hasn’t played much football in the last two seasons. He suffered with big injury problems in 22/23 and I remember being out in Spain for pre-season, and he was doing a lot of work on his own away from the group. He didn’t play in pre-season. The key point is that he was available for the vast majority of last season if not all of it. He was in the squad 40-plus times in all competitions.
BD: “We made reference at the top to relegation maybe changing some of our perceptions about what might happen and Gary Gardner is case in point. The season before last was really blighted by injuries, he managed 10 games, and he hasn’t played many games this season but he was in 41 Championship squads which suggests to me that he’s put the fitness issues behind him. I’m verging on yes, whereas I wasn’t two weeks ago, on the basis that the fitness seems to be better and Blues are going to be having some fairly physical matches.
“I don’t want to go too badge-kissy but the fact that he is Blues, and has an affinity for the club, I think that matters to a degree. That’s not me saying get any Blues fan in and give them a shirt, a set of boots and a contract. It’s just another string to Gardner’s bow. So yes, I would give him a deal.”
AD: “Gary Rowett praised Gary Gardner in the final few weeks of the season and said what a great character he is to have around the place. Before the Coventry game, Gardner was getting the players up for the game.We’ve spoken about losing John Ruddy, I don’t think we can completely strip the squad of leaders and good characters. He could be a useful player to have in League One. I don’t think he’ll be a starting midfielder, somebody who plays 40 games, but he could be somebody for certain games and somebody to close out games. Now the club is in League One I am in favour of giving Gary Gardner a year.”
Ivan Sunjic
BD: “I have thought for many months that it’s time for Sunjic to move on. He hasn’t justified the fee. The fee is not his fault. He has been one of the better players under Rowett and brought some of what was needed. But if new Blues are going to be about ball retention, Sunjic isn’t that for me and I would be really surprised if he sees his future in League One. This is not a difficult one for me.”
AD: “Sunjic is an example of a very poor transfer from the old regime. I know a lot of fans would agree that now is the time to move him on, but you could never fault his commitment or his effort. Even in the final four games of the season, he obviously knew his future didn’t lie at Blues, and yet he gave his absolute all and you could see what scoring against Coventry meant to him.”
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