The former Celtic assistant coach believes Leonard is a player who ‘never gets the credit he deserves’.
As Birmingham City midfielder, Marc Leonard finalises his Hearts loan deal, Blues boss Chris Davies glowing comments on the midfielder have resurfaced.
Leonard has been loaned in amid Hearts’ ongoing injury issues, with Cammy Devlin out for up to eight weeks. The 24-year old played for Hearts in his teenage years as a product of the Riccarton Academy, but left for Brighton in 2018. After two loan spells at Northampton Town, Leonard moved to Birmingham City in the summer of 2024 and has 50 EFL Championship appearances to his name since his St Andrew’s switch.
As he now makes his Tynecastle return, Derek McInnes could make him available selection as early as Sunday, for Hearts’ top of the table clash with Celtic in the Capital. The Hearts move will give the midfielder some much-needed game-time, something which couldn’t be guaranteed at St Andrew’s. Although despite him slowly losing his place in the Blues starting XI, Davies has always been a huge fan of Leonard’s humility and desire on the pitch.
Leonard a ‘reliable’ central figure
Hearts’ new boy was an integral part of Birmingham’s promotion push last season, featuring 35 times as they broke the all-time record EFL League One points tally. However, with the financial backing of key men like NFL legend Tom Brady, The Blues made several big name additions which has forced some of the existing players, including Leonard, out of the team. The Scot has found himself slipping down the selection pecking order, behind Wolves loanee Tommy Doyle, South Korea International Paik Seung-ho and former Celtic man Tomoki Iwata.
Davies admires the resilience of Leonard, who has never moaned or despite his lack of minutes. Following a 4-1 win over Norwich two months ago, after a dominant performance from the midfielder, Davies told the Blues Youtube Channel: “Marc has been excellent. He is one of those players like Paik (Seung-ho) who doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
“He’s a very good player, team player, disciplined player. He will do his job for the team whatever the conditions, whatever the venue. He’s played a lot of football for me in time I’ve been here in the 18 months. Maybe not as much as he would have liked. He’s always when called upon been really reliable. I’m really pleased for him that he’s delivered that kind of performance today.”
‘He reads the game very well’
While his reliability and work ethic has been identified as his main strengths, the natural talent and technical ability of Hearts’ new man must also not be understated. Davies believes the role of the deep-lying playmaker is tailor made for Leonard, who has an eye for a pass as well as a tackle.
Regarding the Scot’s technical ability, he told Birmingham Live: “He’s got real quality but he’s got very good players in the team as well. When he has come on in games, he has come on in a bit of a higher role even though his best position is probably a bit deeper.
“But he reads the game really well, he rarely gives the ball away and he makes good decisions. He knows what this league is all about and he competes well. I said to them inside that I thought every sub improved us and that’s a good sign.”
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