Davies needs to hand Birmingham City star £7m Stansfield treatment

Any glimmer of hope that Birmingham City could achieve the incredible feat of back-to-back promotions appears to have finally vanished.

After three consecutive defeats in the Championship, the Blues are out of the play-offs with eight points, while sixth-placed Wrexham also have a game in hand against Chris Davies’ poor form.

At one stage this season, the West Midlands giants looked to be on top form in time to make the play-offs, with an eight-game unbeaten run in the second tier between January and early February.

But all that promise has come crashing down with many of Birmingham’s senior squad performing below their usual standards in recent matches.

Davies even benched Jay Stansfield in Saturday’s 1-0 away defeat to Charlton Athletic. The 23-year-old, like his teammates, continues to struggle with ups and downs.

Why Davis left Stansfield

In League One last season, Stansfield was the man Birmingham relied on to quickly get back to the Championship.

Indeed, the former Fulham attacker led by example, scoring a massive 19 goals in the third division and helping the Blues secure the title in style.

However, this season hasn’t been as easy for the No. 28 as Birmingham’s play-offs have suffered an unfortunate blow, with his poor form coming under the spotlight recently.

From the outside looking in, Stansfield’s nine goals and six assists in 34 games in the Championship is very impressive.

However, in the Blues’ last 10 games in the second tier, the Devon-born forward has only managed one goal and one assist, which is disappointing given his troubles. His ability to change matchups in the blink of an eye seems to have disappeared from his repertoire.

Against the Addicks, Davis rolled the dice and gave Stansfield 33 minutes to try to turn around a dire 1-0 loss.

Rather than taking the game by the scruff of his neck, the 23-year-old fired just one shot into the home side’s net from a memorable 12 touches to rightfully earn him a first-team place.

As the season teeters toward a disappointing end, Davis may feel he has to let go of several other first-team players, much in the same way as Stansfield.

Another Birmingham star must undergo Stansfield treatment

Of course, the campaign isn’t over until it becomes mathematically impossible for Birmingham to make it out of the play-offs.

However, with 10 games remaining for Davies and the others in the second tier, it seems far-fetched that the Blues would upset the top six teams.

Carlos Vicente is currently worried that he will be sidelined for the next Championship game, much like Stansfield, who had a no-show performance in the away trip to Charlton, so Davies may be tempted to remove some underperformers to breathe some fresh air into his ranks.

Numbers don’t lie. Indeed, the Spaniard has scored two goals and provided one assist for the second-tier giants since leaving Alaves in January, but he never got into gear against Nathan Jones’ determined hosts, not registering a single shot on target and attempting four crosses without success.

What’s more, Vicente, who cost a good amount of money in the £7m price range as well as a lower-tier English player, did his damage by making just 34 touches on the ball and losing the ball 12 times. Even Ryan Allsop, who replaced James Beadle at the Valley, had slightly more touches at 54, so even Ryan Allsop between the sticks could manage more touches.

Vicente struggled further in the games against Boro and Millwall, failing to get a single shot in both defeats, and Patrick Roberts could be a replacement in the wing that Davies is considering for the rest of the month’s key fixtures.

Davis has already made it clear in his past few team selections that he isn’t afraid to drop a flashy contract if the team doesn’t perform, and Vicente will likely be the next high-profile man to feel his Stansfield-like ire.