Pep: Gimenez will seize his chance to be a Blues favourite
PEP CLOTET has backed new signing Alvaro Gimenez to make his own name as a Birmingham City hero after his goalscoring debut.
The 1.5 million euros signing from Almeira marked his first start for Blues with a composed 77th-minute lob over the goalkeeper that secured a 2-0 victory over Barnsley on Tuesday at St Andrew’s.
It capped off a swashbuckling display upfront by the Spaniard alongside Lukas Jutkiewicz, who also scored.
Clotet stressed fans shouldn’t view Gimenez as ‘the new Che Adams’, replacing the top scorer who left St Andrew’s for Southampton in a reported £15 million deal in the summer. Instead he has his own merits, as he showed on Tuesday.
“The quality of the finish was very good, that ball from Steve [Seddon] was superb,” said head coach Clotet.
“When it comes to Alvaro he has big boots to fill because at the end of the day the fact you are Jutkiewicz’s partner means you are compared with Che [Adams], so it’s not easy.
“But I think they partnered very well. Alvaro scored a brilliant goal and I think he put in a big effort and understood completely what British football is and he embraced it.”
The boss added: “Che had been brilliant for this club. Birmingham has given Che the opportunity to play in the Premier League, he has earned that opportunity.
“I am not looking for Alvaro to be Che, I just want him to be Alvaro. The only thing I want from him is to partner with Jukey and understand how Jukey plays and to use Jukey to establish his own football.
“I am not comparing because at the end of the day they are two different players and the important thing is that Birmingham gives the opportunity to Alvaro to put his footprint in our football.”
The chances of him doing that will be enhanced by the positive start to his Blues career and they will look to follow up their first home win of the season against the Tykes when they visit Swansea City on Sunday lunchtime.
“Absolutely, the goal will give him a lot of confidence,” Clotet continued.
“I just hope he forgets it completely. He can celebrate it tonight, take confidence then gets back into the race again from the beginning and works hard again for the games to come.
“I agree it will give him massive confidence, especially for strikers - they always need a goal.
“I was very happy today
because the strikers scored the goals, the midfielders did their job and the defenders did their job.
“The fact two strikers scored is massive for our team.”
Clotet says the performance and three points against Barnsley was reward for how the squad has come together.
“I am very happy for Alvaro and I am very happy for the team because of where we came from.
“Our pre-season has not been the easiest but the team always held together and a lot of the players we managed to bring in came late.
“The fact Alvaro came late and Ivan [Sunjic] and [Jefferson] Montero - they are just learning how every plays, how the opposition is, what the Championship is about, the aggression and that sacrifice for the team. They are values I feel very happy to have around.”