As I understand it Bird is predominantly a left-sided centre-half, and is therefore playing slightly out-of-position at left-back. Considering (i) his age, (ii) the fact that he is out-of-position, and (iii) he's come into a side which has been playing together all season and where he doesn't know any of the other players, I think Bird has played very well. I'd go so far as to say that, if I'd been awarding man-of-the-match on Saturday, he would have been amongst my top two or three candidates. His long throws are a useful weapon, and in my opinion he looks up earlier and distributes the ball better than Cullingworth.