Former Birmingham City man Cheikh Ndoye has revealed as to why he failed in his short-lived spell at St. Andrews.
Now 33, Ndoye was recently talking to Le Vestiaire on RMC Sport (via Sport Witness) and he said that language barriers had a role to play in his failures.
He said: “I stayed one season in the Championship, but even in December, Angers wanted to bring me back. The problem is, in England, when it goes bad, things go quickly. Redknapp made me come, and after seven games he was gone.
“Steve Cotterill took over, and at the beginning he made me play. I played, despite the losses, but then he puts me on the bench for no reason. I ask him, and he says it’s because my English isn’t good, I’m struggling to talk with teammates. I’m and out, and then he gets sacked.”
Without a club now
The former Angers man was let go by the Blues this past summer and he is currently a free agent, as no club have picked up the former Senegalese international yet.
Ndoye joined Birmingham in the summer of 2017 on a two-year deal from Angers after his contract at the French club had expired. During his stay in England, the midfielder played 42 times in all competitions for the club.
In France though, Ndoye was a well-established player. He managed to make 100 appearances in all competitions for Angers, scoring 16 times and racking up a tally of 13 assists too.
He was loaned out to his former club in the summer of 2018 and played 27 times in Ligue 1, assisting three times.
TIF Tactics
Pep Clotet’s side let go of Ndoye at the end of last season, as the player was on a two-year deal since he had signed. It was a fair decision, considering how many options the Blues have in the midfield area currently.
Ivan Sunjic and David Davis have been the most regular of the central midfield players, while Jude Bellingham and Gary Gardner have played five and four times each. Winger Fran Villalba has also played in the midfield twice this season.
Clotet has used the 4-4-2 system predominantly this season, which means that only two midfielders play together. They are usually Sunjic and David, with the others low in the pecking order. That would not have helped a player like Ndoye, who wasn’t getting any younger with every passing day either.
Indeed, looking back on his previous figures for Birmingham, it may have been difficult to make a case for him to stay as well, as he managed an average of 0.7 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 1.8 clearances in his first season, whilst he registered just 0.4 key passes in the 37 Championship appearances he made across 2017/18 (per WhoScored).