Birmingham City 2024 review and a look at their standout player

A look back across a ‘rollercoaster’ year for Blues.

Transcript

00:00sort of new era has come in. You know, it's a strange relegation situation for them because

00:05all the fans seemed the most positive I've ever seen a fan base after going down, which means

00:10they are sort of buying into this new project from the American owners and the sort of consortium

00:15that have taken them into this new era. They've changed the stadium name, they've made upgrades

00:20all around the place, they've had, you know, a few managers come in this year. Wayne Rooney's spell,

00:27as we said before, doesn't really seem real, like it actually happened. It was quite a crazy time

00:31for Blues, but they've gone down and they are looking like they're going to go straight back up.

00:37How do you sort of review 2024 because it's been a bit of a mixed bag at Birmingham City?

00:42It's been absolutely bonkers, to be honest. Wayne Rooney lasting just a couple of days at the start

00:46of the year of 2024, of course, a couple of months before that as well. A disaster management spell

00:51from them and John Newstead's going a few months earlier. You see how well he's doing at Blackburn

00:55now with limited resources in the playoff positions that Blues wish they held on to him, but that's

01:00not how it turned out. Tony Mowbray started well, but unfortunately illness stopped him from carrying

01:05on. Gary Rowett coming in as well towards the end of the season wasn't quite enough. Blues go down

01:09and, as you mentioned, a really strange atmosphere because it was it was almost relief that finally

01:15these years of championship football, battling relegation and hardly breaking or never breaking

01:20into the top half and just the relentlessness of it all has come to an end. This season, the

01:26investment in the summer has really boosted the football club, a complete overhaul of the squad.

01:30Chris Davies has come in, his first proper management job after being an assistant at a

01:34host of clubs under Brendan Rodgers. He's really impressed and just the unity at the football club,

01:40the excitement, the atmosphere at St Andrews at Nighthead Park as well and sellout crowds for the

01:45first time in such a long while. It's a great feeling and, of course, I think if they win the

01:51league title as well, that'd be great to get some silverware at the club and push on and hopefully

01:56be in a better position in the championship. But I genuinely think that if they stayed in the

02:00championship, their progress and their potential journey to the Premier League would have taken

02:04longer than it would by going down, which is a strange statement to make, but they're on track

02:09to get promoted at the first time of asking and the squad is capable of great things. So very

02:14impressed by Birmingham this year. Yeah, there have obviously been some fantastic additions.

02:18Tomoki Iwata has been fantastic. You know, obviously coming in the summer, as you look back

02:24at over 2024, who's been the best player in the blue shirt, do you think? I think Jay Stansfield

02:30sticks out winning all the individual awards last season and starting this campaign as well, but

02:35Christian Bielek actually, maybe towards the end of last year, could have been a little bit better,

02:40but it wasn't just his fault. It was the fault of the football club and the disarray this season.

02:44He's proven to be one of the best players in League One, if not the best, and I think he's

02:49definitely top of championship quality. A great leader, playing in a variety of positions.

02:53What a player Bielek has become for Birmingham.