Pep gives ace top Marc for revival of fortunes
PEP Clotet has praised a rejuvenated Marc Roberts for his start to Blues’ season. The centre-half is one of four members of the squad to have played every minute of the Championship campaign so far.
Those seven displays have seen him form a partnership with club captain Harlee Dean and represent arguably the best period of his Blues’ career.
That began in the summer of 2017 when the former Barnsley man struggled to stay in a team that was in constant change.
The change slowed last season and Dean and Michael Morrison monopolised the positions – with Roberts suffering a cruel injury when the door did open slightly in the run-up to Christmas.
As a result, he made just nine appearances last term and, according to Clotet, leaving him with ‘things to prove to himself’.
Which he has started doing. “I am very happy with all of the players but Marc Roberts, I always thought he has everything for a central defender in this league – or even higher,” Clotet said. “He has good skill with the ball, he is a dominant player in the air, he is strong, he is powerful and he is quick. All the attributes are there.
“I think he was coming from a tough season, has a lot of things to prove to himself and he is the kind of character that he wants to prove and wants to do that. I am very happy he is enjoying it and is performing well.”
Roberts has benefitted from the decision to operate with a back four, as opposed to wing-backs. Blues have gone down that route in the last couple of matches – and won them both.
Clotet explained his reasoning for the early-season switching: “This is something that was very important for us to decide, we would have decided earlier but a lot of players came later, so we wanted to keep the options open with the new players to see what they can produce.
“I really liked how we are working in games like Bristol and Stoke at home. We took exactly the same way we played against Bristol to Nottingham and we ended up having a bad game.
“But I think it was more the fact we had a bad goal against and another one too close. Our team feels more confident with that formation.”
BLUES have learned their fate for the incident in which Villa’s Jack Grealish was punched at St Andrew’s last season.
The club have been fined £42,500 and warned about future conduct at the ground following the attack on March 10.
Paul Mitchell was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison after admitting charges of assault and encroachment on to the pitch.
The Football Association yesterday announced Blues’ punishment, which does not include a points deduction, neither immediate nor suspended.
Villa won the match 1-0, with Grealish scoring the only goal of the game.