After their team’s incredible start to League One existence, Birmingham City supporters were ecstatic, but following their most recent league match, they were slightly knocked back down. Matt Godden’s goal for the Addicks early in the second half proved to be the difference between the two teams, as Nathan Jones’ hosts had a major divisional scalp at full time. Chris Davies’ Blues suffered their first league loss of the season away at Charlton Athletic.
Although it’s unlikely that this loss would lead to a breakdown at St. Andrew’s, it serves as a significant wake-up call for the Birmingham manager over current team selections, since Willum Thór Willumsson’s performance in the narrow 1-0 loss was notably below his high standards.
Willumsson’s Birmingham debut
Away from the high-profile acquisitions of Jay Stansfield, to mention a few, the Iceland international was viewed as a huge coup this summer. The former Go Ahead Eagles midfielder joined the Blues after excelling in the Eredivisie, where he scored seven league goals the previous season.With two goals and two assists from nine league games thus far, including this well-executed team goal to spark a comeback against Peterborough United at the end of last month, he has demonstrated his evident class for the League One promotion contenders in spurts.
Beyond these exploits, though, Willumsson struggled against Charlton, who, like the rest of his flat teammates, may have felt that the league was getting too easy. Davies would hook off the 25-year-old after just 61 minutes of play at the Valley, with Willumsson putting up a quiet performance with just 24 accurate passes. An examination into why they suffered a shock road loss is currently underway in the West Midlands. Davies will adjust his team appropriately, but the former assistant manager of Tottenham Hotspur who is now the Blues manager will not have Jordan James available. The Blues may come to regret selling James to Rennes because, despite playing very few minutes thus far, the Welshman’s transfer value is already rising in France.
