Pep: Bajrami benefit from tough debut
PEP Clotet believes a bruising baptism of fire can only be good in the long-term for rookie defender Geraldo Bajrami.
Bajrami made his Championship debut against league leaders and top scorers West Brom in a pulsating local derby at St Andrew’s on Saturday.
If facing the likes of Matheus Pereira, Grady Diangana and Hal Robson-Kanu wasn’t enough, Geraldo also had to contend with former England international Charlie Austin, who stepped off the bench to bag a brace that turned the match.
As introductions go, it could hardly have been any tougher for Bajrami, but Clotet reckons the experience he gained will prove invaluable further down the line.
“It was very difficult this game because of the level of the opposition,” Blues’ head coach said.
“We knew it was not going to be easy for him. When you make a debut you can never choose when, though it was positive it was at home.
“I think despite it being his first game and so difficult he showed that – as every other player – he has things to improve, but Geraldo slowly got better during the game.
“You want him to be always perfect and very good, but as a first game for the club – in a derby and a tough game – the situation cannot get more difficult.
“Taking everything into account I need to be pleased and positive for him. He is an important player for this club, he is a player that has to give us a lot of happiness in the future.
“For him, this was his first day.” While it may have been only Bajrami’s second senior appearance, the sense of occasion, and the local rivalry at play, was not lost on the 20-year-old.
Born in Birmingham to Albanian parents, Bajrami has a close affinity with Blues having joined at Under-14 level and, according to Clotet, knew exactly what it meant to fans to try to get a result against the Baggies.
“Geraldo is a player who feels the club a lot,” Clotet said.
“He would have understood perfectly the derby.
“It was a difficult situation for us as a team because we had Marc Roberts and Jake Clarke-Salter injured so we had to reshape the back-line.
“Wes played the two games before so we needed to be fresh and we thought Geraldo is the next one.”
Captain Harlee Dean, who grabbed his first goal of the season in the 3-2 defeat to Albion, helped to guide Bajrami through the game. And Dean was just as complimentary about his latest centre-back partner as the manager.
“G came in and learned quickly that you can’t dwell on it in this league,” Dean said.
“He had a couple of touches too many at the start, but from then on I coached him through it and I think he did really well.
“He’s a good player, a good pro, a nice kid and he’ll have a good career in the game.”