Birmingham City goals with new manager Chris Davies

National World - LocalTV

A big announcement.

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00:00Charlie, on to Birmingham City now. Obviously, it's been in lingo for pretty much a year

00:06now in terms of their manager situation. It took some whirlwind. We spoke about how Rooney's

00:14time at the club didn't really seem real and it was all sort of happening with the owners

00:18and their ambition. They've shown it. But in terms of the new manager who's come in,

00:23is this a positive for Blues fans? We spoke and said they've got to get it in early and

00:28to give them as much time as possible to hope to get them straight out of League One

00:32for next season.

00:33Yeah, I think the important thing is getting that managerial situation sorted before the

00:38transfer window begins, because you've got some players in limbo. Plenty of first-teamers

00:42are leaving at the end of their contracts, but the likes of Lukasz Dziukiewicz and John

00:46Ruddy, who Blues fans will probably want to see stay at the club, they're not going to

00:50sign a new deal if they don't know who the manager is. We now do know who the manager

00:54is, Chris Davies, who's actually never been a head coach himself, but he's been an assistant

00:59at lots of top clubs. He's been the second-hand man to Brendan Rodgers over many years, started

01:05off at Swansea City. He's been at the likes of Liverpool, Celtic, Leicester City and most

01:10recently at Tottenham Hotspur as the assistant to Ange Postekoglu. He's a very intelligent

01:17tactician, I think, and he's someone who thinks that fitness is very important. He wants a

01:22high-intensity football and I think that kind of fits what Birmingham are looking for

01:26in the long term. League One, I think, is probably a bit tougher to get that whole Gagan

01:30press aspect of things and have fast attacking football because you haven't got the quality

01:34of player. But if you've got that fitness levels in there and you've got the energy,

01:39you've got the excitement, you've got an intent to play attacking football, that's what the

01:43owners want to see and that can develop over the years. So I think it's an exciting appointment.

01:47He's only 39 years of age. He's got fresh ideas. He's close to home being Welsh as well.

01:54Could that help Jordan James stick around? I'm not too sure. Maybe the Welsh aspect could.

01:59I think James would probably move on this summer with so many big clubs looking at him.

02:04But it is an exciting young appointment and I think it's one that will attract plenty

02:07of players to join Blues. Mark Leonard is one that's been spoken about, the Brighton

02:11midfielder. Having that new boss in who's got such great ideas might help them to beat

02:16the likes of Wrexham for his signature.

02:20How important is this transfer window? Obviously, we spoke about the ambition that the Blues

02:24owners show. They're going to need to carry on investing and carry on getting numbers

02:29behind them to ensure they make that promotion first time around.

02:33It's very important. Davies has already mentioned that in his first interview. The press, we've

02:38not been able to speak to him just yet. There's no unveiling press conference plan for a little

02:43while. But getting in early and making the right moves is the important thing for them.

02:48He's mentioned how he wants to make sure that they fit the identity of the football club.

02:52He's not just going to go for anybody, but he is aware that there are several key positions

02:56that need filling and he needs to get quality to get back up to the championship.

02:59I think they'll do it. I really do. He looks like a good manager. He's given a lot of hopeful

03:04speeches already in the dressing room. I think he's someone who can come in and give that

03:09energy back to the football club. Coming in so early before the transfer window has begun,

03:14I think they can sit aside and really think about things. Blues have got financial power

03:18behind them and plenty of established first teamers already. All should go to plan. It's

03:24just about getting that transfer business underway.

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