Birmingham City haven’t been able to give Eiran Cashin the opportunities Brighton would have wanted
Birmingham City defender Eiran Cashin
Birmingham City leaned on Brighton heavily during the summer window and the results have been mixed.
James Beadle has established himself as Blues’ first choice goalkeeper with a string of good performances and there are no question marks over his future heading into the January transfer window.
Brighton will be less satisfied with the progress of Eiran Cashin and will be asking themselves whether their £9million asset is better off moving elsewhere in January.
The answer to that question is probably yes. Even those who coveted Cashin in Blues’ recruitment department would struggle to make a case for Brighton not recalling the defender and redistributing him.
On paper it looked like a solid piece of business. Cashin caught the eye in the Championship for Derby County and the fact Brighton – a club that rarely gets transfers wrong – were willing to part with so much money for him is a good look.
However, in the words of Chris Davies, Cashin ‘just hasn’t really got going’ and it’s difficult to see where his next chance will come at Blues.
Davies commented: “He played against Sheffield (United) in the cup and did really well, he’s found himself a bit-part player. He had an opportunity to play and then came out of the team and just hasn’t really got going.
“What I would say with Cashin is his training mentality is outstanding. For a player that’s been quite peripheral this season he’s as good as you can get on the training pitch and for a loan player that’s really impressive, because normally they can feel detached from the process. I’ve been really impressed with his attitude.
“And Cashin is another one, he didn’t play for six months before he came and was probably lacking rhythm.
“I’ve spoken to Brighton regularly and I’ve spoken to Cashin regularly, and we’ll see how that all positions itself by January.”
Eiran Cashin (left) and Phil Neumann (right) are Chris Davies’ choices to replace Jack Robinson in Birmingham City’s line-up
The ‘opportunity’ Davies is alluding to is the start he awarded Cashin against Sheffield Wednesday at the end of September.
A calamitous display saw Cashin give Wednesday two goals and Blues were spared a defeat against the bottom-of-the-table Owls by Demarai Gray’s 99th minute equaliser.
At the time of writing, there is still a glimmer of hope for Cashin. Blues skipper Christoph Klarer will serve a one-match ban if he is booked against Southampton today.
That would give Davies a choice between Cashin and Jack Robinson to partner Phil Neumann at Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday. You have to feel that Robinson, despite his misdemeanours, would be the favourite in that scenario.
And if Cashin is the fourth choice centre-back then it surely makes the loan pointless.
At 24, Cashin needs to play, and his return to Brighton would free up a loan spot for Blues if they want to go down that route again.
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