00:00Taylor Gardner-Hickman has become a key figure in Birmingham City's pursuit of promotion,
00:08playing a pivotal role as they look to secure the League One title and return to the Championship.
00:13Known for his versatility and dynamism, Gardner-Hickman has impressed both in midfield and defence,
00:20showing his ability to influence games at both ends of the pitch. As Birmingham City
00:25aim for a swift return to the second tier, I spoke to Charlie Haffenton of Birmingham
00:30World to discuss his impact, his long-term journey and how he's navigating the challenge
00:36of helping Birmingham City return to the Championship by winning the League One title.
00:45And Charlie, looking at Birmingham City, low-knee Taylor Gardner-Hickman has been a real impact
00:52this season. He's sort of come in and made his stay likely that they are going to pick
00:58him off, obviously, on loan from Bristol City. He looks a player that has really been important
01:03to Blues this season and their campaign in terms of getting straight back up to the Championship.
01:09Obviously making the drop from the Championship to League One is always quite a bold move
01:13for any player, but it's a case of him seeing the vision, seeing the project that they've
01:17built. How impressed with him have you been and Blues fans as well? And on top of that,
01:23Chris Davis as well. He must have some real good words to say about his performances
01:28throughout this campaign.
01:30Yeah, Gardner-Hickman, known around these parts, of course, from his time at West Bromwich
01:33Albion, went to Bristol and played fairly well, but wasn't quite the star player figure
01:38he wanted to be. And then Birmingham, as they have done so much last summer, were able to
01:42convince players to take that drop down and join for the project. And although he joined
01:46on loan in January on deadline day, it was announced that he will be joining permanently
01:50in the summer.
01:51The fee was undisclosed, but it's understood to be about one and a half million pounds
01:55after add-ons, which I think is a really good fee. It's a bargain for a player who's made
01:59such an impact this season. He might not have been starting every single match. Of course,
02:04I think you've got to rotate when you've got such a strong squad. But when injuries have
02:07taken hold, his versatility has been so important. You can fill in a right back when Ethan Laird
02:13isn't fit and available, when Christian Bielik's had knocks here and there, he's been able
02:16to fill in. He's played out on the left wing recently and scored in successive matches,
02:21scoring winning goals in important matches against the likes of Wickham Wanderers who
02:24are fighting as well for promotion to the championship. And he can play midfield in
02:29a double pivot. We saw when Iwata and Paik had injury problems, Mark Leonard as well.
02:33Hickman has stood into that midfield position. I think you could probably play him anywhere
02:37on the pitch apart from in goal. He's proven he can be a clinical finisher when you need
02:42him to be. You could probably put him up front if they had so many injuries. But as
02:45is Blues depth in attack, they've had the likes of Alfie Made to step up when Stansfield's
02:50been out, when Dykes has been out. Keshia Anderson's stepping up as well. But Gardner
02:54Hickman, for me, really does stand out as someone whose versatility has been so, so
02:58important. And a long season in League One, you need to be able to be consistent and help
03:03them to become just that.
03:06Yeah, obviously only 23. As you mentioned there, such a utility player, versatile, can
03:12play sort of anywhere. How important could that sort of hold Blues in the future in terms
03:17of their championship ambitions? They're not going to want to now go straight back up and
03:22just remain in the championship again or narrowly avoid the drop. Obviously, it's not in the
03:27plans to do that. It's the plans to really challenge near the top and near the playoff
03:31places next season, you'd imagine straight away because of the investment. How important
03:35could he be to Blues' plans in terms of the future?
03:40I think it's difficult to say in terms of his level and where his potential lies. When
03:45he was at West Brom, he was 20, 21 years old. He wasn't playing too regularly. But when
03:50he did feature, I thought there were signs that maybe he could be a top championship
03:53player. Whether he can convert that to the Premier League, I'm not too sure. And of course,
03:57he has been playing in the third tier this season. Everything is going to look a lot
04:01better in that division, with all due respect. The step up to the championship is huge. You
04:06see teams go up all the time and they really struggle, even when they make good signings
04:09in the summer. I think Blues are definitely, they've definitely got the squad that's capable
04:13of competing for potentially the playoffs next year, if they can get a couple of new
04:17signings through the door.
04:18Gordon Hickman as an individual, is he good enough to start in that team? I think he probably
04:22is. And if he isn't, he can come in, as I say, when players get injured, he can play
04:26in so many different positions. He can come off the bench and make an impact as well.
04:30And his passing range has been really impressive. Right back or right wing back, he pushes so
04:35far up the field, he can put a good delivery into the box. He can switch to play if he
04:39needs to as well. I've been really impressed with what I've seen and hopefully he will
04:42be good enough to make that step up.
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