BirminghamWorld Q&A: Reflection on transfer windows and more

National World - LocalTV

A full version of the BirminghamWorld Q&A with Charlie Haffenden.

Transcript

00:00So Charlie, looking at Wolves and the January transfer window obviously now coming to a close,

00:05a bit of late business, a bit of business that was needed. Vitor Pereira stayed really confident throughout the window that

00:12one, Wolves were going to stay in the Premier League, which was quite a bold claim at the time he said that,

00:17but he clearly sees a bit of future at the club and that there were more names coming in.

00:22Just tell us a bit about the names that have come in and how they can bolster Wolves' squad moving forward.

00:28I mean, obviously, Agbadoo has been absolutely fantastic in Wolves' defence in their last couple of games.

00:34Yeah, Agbadoo is the main one, signing in at the start of the window from Reims in France.

00:4027-year-old Ivorian centre-back for Ivory Coast International, and you can just see in the last four matches,

00:46played 90 minutes in all of them, he's been the standout player, I think, in that period,

00:50other than, of course, Mateus Kounia. Agbadoo, just such a strong yet quick centre-half,

00:56strong in the air as well, and they're areas that Wolves were struggling in so much,

01:01especially from set pieces. You can already see how much of a difference he's made.

01:05But Vito Pereira did want more depth at centre-back, and he got that on deadline day.

01:09Nacer Dziga signing from Red Star Belgrade, about £10 million for him,

01:14one of the most expensive deals in Red Star history. He should be someone who can come in

01:19and provide a bit more cover at centre-back as well, potentially starting games.

01:23It waits to be seen what his plans are in the immediate future, but he's only 22.

01:27Nottingham Forest wanted to sign him as a potential replacement for Murillo,

01:30when he's bound to leave at some stage, so must have some sort of talent.

01:34And then Marcial Monezzi in central midfield can play as more of a defensive anchor,

01:39kind of in the Mario Lamina role, and I think that's the thinking there,

01:42is Lamina's going to leave for Galatasaray. It's not been confirmed just yet,

01:46but with the window still open in Turkey for another five or six days at the time of recording,

01:51until the 11th of February, he should be on his way out.

01:54And Vitor Pereira's got his man to replace him.

01:57Yeah, and obviously Vitor is confident that Wolves will be a Premier League outfit.

02:01They've got those fixtures to play, like the likes of Southampton away,

02:05they've got to go to Ipswich, they've got to host Leicester.

02:08These are huge games, and where do you sort of see Wolves' ambitions

02:13and Wolves' fortunes going in this sort of running now?

02:17Well, I think the game against Aston Villa was a real sign of intent.

02:21I know Villa had to play three days after their Champions League game against Celtic,

02:25which was exhausting for them whilst at that game at Villa Park.

02:29But still, Wolves had a job to do against a team that's flying at the other end of the table,

02:33that's heading into the last stages of the Champions League.

02:36Wolves had lost four in a row before that game at Molineux against Villa.

02:40They managed to run out two nil victors, not only getting three points, but a clean sheet.

02:44And I think that is such a solid basis to try and build on.

02:47So much confidence can be taken from that.

02:49And then the news after the game that Matthias Kuhnje has signed a new contract,

02:53I think is another huge boost for Wolves.

02:55If he'd left in this winter window, I think potentially Wolves could have faced a drop,

02:59but now they've kept their main man and they've got some reinforcements in defence,

03:02it's looking good and they should be able to beat the likes of Leicester and Ipswich.

03:06Charlie, on to Birmingham City.

03:09Now, obviously, we've discussed a few times their heavy investment,

03:12and they're clearly building for the future fortunes of the club.

03:16I mean, the owners are fully on board.

03:18The fans are really enjoying their time in Ligue 1 this season,

03:21that looks to be obviously short-lived with their ambitions to go up.

03:26Just summarise the January business and where they are standing ahead of the remainder of the season.

03:32Yeah, it wasn't the most busy window for Birmingham in the winter.

03:37That's because they got most of their business done in the summer transfer window,

03:40as we know how much money they spent completely tearing apart the Ligue 1 transfer records.

03:45It was mainly focused on free additions and those for the summer as well.

03:49So Phil Newman, a centre-back who plays for Hanover in a second tier of German football,

03:54he was looked at by a host of Bundesliga clubs.

03:57Quite quick yet tall centre-back.

03:59He'll be joining up with Blues in the summer after signing a pre-contract agreement.

04:03Grant Hanley came in from Norwich City.

04:06He was the Canaries' captain.

04:08He wasn't really getting that much game time in the championship this season,

04:11but he's played so many games in the EFL throughout his career.

04:14He's got Premier League experience as well.

04:16He just bolsters the squad depth for Blues.

04:18Out the back, it's been confirmed Taylor Gardner-Hickman will sign permanently from Bristol City in the summer.

04:24Not happening just yet, but Birmingham World's understanding is it's £1.5 million,

04:29which I think is a bargain for a player who can play in so many different positions.

04:34And then on deadline day, they signed a South Korean international, a left-back.

04:38He's played seven times in the World Cup qualifiers recently.

04:41Should have some decent experience, a left-back.

04:44Obviously, Leigh Buchanan's season-ending injury was a big blow to Blues,

04:48but they've now got the necessary depth in that position.

04:51Yeah, and Blues is running, obviously flying near the top of the table.

04:56How important is it that they just keep plodding on?

04:58And they could even go near their rivals Wolves' League One points record.

05:04Yeah, it's a shame that they lost those games earlier in the season against Charlton Shrewsbury

05:08because they could have potentially been unbeaten this year.

05:11But that doesn't really matter.

05:13The main goal was getting promoted back to the championship,

05:15and it looks like they'll do that in style.

05:17They should win the league title, and I don't see any way that they don't.

05:2118 matches unbeaten is just simply incredible.

05:24Going on to the semi-finals of the Virtue Trophy, playing Newcastle in the FA Cup

05:28is always an exciting prospect.

05:31It's just such a fantastic time at St Andrews,

05:33and the buzz around the place, sellouts most week, home and away.

05:37Chris Davies, the Birmingham manager, will be delighted with how things are going.

05:43Charlie, looking at West Bromwich Albion and obviously Tony Mowbray coming into the side again,

05:48it's been a bit of a difficult start for him, obviously.

05:51But we've mentioned how close the race is for championship promotion at the very top.

05:56It's a slippery slide.

05:58If you go a few games without a win, for example,

06:01he's sort of seen both of those sides of it since coming back to West Brom.

06:06What's the situation following the window?

06:09Are they in a decent position now to push on until the end of the season?

06:14I think they are.

06:16They need to reinforce an attack, and it looks as if they might not do that.

06:20But then they did on transfer deadline day and the day before that.

06:23Will Lancashire coming in from Tottenham Hotspur on loan for the rest of the season.

06:27He'd scored in the Europa League earlier this campaign.

06:30He's been breaking through under Andr Postakoglou,

06:32sort of can get in behind, also decent in the air.

06:35He should play a fair amount of games before the end of the campaign.

06:38And then on deadline day, right at the end, went down to the wire,

06:42and actually until the next morning, Adam Armstrong from Southampton.

06:46He was one of the Saints star players last season

06:49when they were promoted from the championship.

06:51He scored two against West Brom in the championship playoff semifinal.

06:56He's someone that haunted Albion in the past,

06:58but he's worked with Tony Mowbray at Blackburn.

07:00Mowbray played a massive part in getting him through the door.

07:03It was only very late on in deadline day that Armstrong became available,

07:06but he's a proven goal scorer,

07:08someone who should be able to lead the line for the baggies.

07:10Josh Major being injured is a big blow.

07:12Daryl Dekay is not quite back to fitness just yet.

07:15It should take him a while.

07:16So having Armstrong there, a proven player,

07:19he's got the experience, should be a huge boost.

07:22Yeah, and just on West Brom's consistency,

07:25it's sort of been at times this season, win, loss, win, loss.

07:28Obviously, the managerial change.

07:31But if you look at any app now,

07:33it's only one scroll until you're at the very bottom of the fixtures.

07:37It's that close.

07:38How important is it that they build a bit more consistency

07:41in terms of results and can take that into the final few days of the season?

07:45Yeah, as you mentioned, the win, loss situation.

07:48I think baggies fans would have been fairly happy with that

07:52when they were drawing every single week.

07:54But now they might be begging for the draws back,

07:57better than defeats, of course.

07:58But Mowbray, it's always going to take a little while

08:00to settle under a new manager.

08:02He's definitely got the right kind of ideas.

08:04He wants to be positive.

08:05He wants to play attacking football.

08:07Sometimes it's a little bit risky

08:09and they can be beaten on the transition.

08:11We saw that against Plymouth Argyle.

08:13A shock result for them.

08:14Bottom of the league, Plymouth are, and they beat the baggies.

08:17That was an upsetting one for Fallbeam fans.

08:19But having a bit of added firepower will certainly make the difference.

08:23I think it's just the competition that's difficult.

08:25Middlesbrough, especially, are really pushing on for the championship playoff spots.

08:29And West Brom need to be at their best

08:31and potentially ride their luck at times to finish in that top six.

08:35Charlie, looking at Aston Villa and obviously the January window coming to an end,

08:40a quite incredible window for Aston Villa.

08:43We just discussed how strange but incredible it actually was for them.

08:48And if you'd have looked seven or eight years ago and said this,

08:52the likes of Rashford and Asenjo were signing for Aston Villa,

08:56I don't think many would have really believed you with the position Villa

08:59were obviously in back then as well.

09:02How do those two fit into this side?

09:04Obviously, they are stars in their own right.

09:07Asenjo, multiple Champions League winners, played at the very, very top level.

09:11He's going to have really high expectations.

09:13And then on the flip side of that, Marcus Rashford can be one of the best strikers in the world,

09:18as he proved just a couple of seasons ago around this time of the year as well,

09:23where he was scoring relentlessly for Manchester United.

09:26What sort of impact will they have on Emery's side?

09:29Will Emery stand for any antics from the likes of Rashford as well?

09:34What's the sort of situation regarding these two players?

09:37Yes, it's such an exciting time for Aston Villa supporters,

09:41signing two players who've been world beaters at their best.

09:44Asenjo, as you mentioned, he's won three Champions League titles.

09:47Having that kind of pedigree in the dressing room is a massive boost.

09:50I think Philippe Coutinho was the last signing of this kind of level,

09:54along with Rashford as well, both such huge names coming to Villa Park.

09:58I think Unai Emery will work well with Rashford.

10:01It's a bit of an unpopular opinion, perhaps,

10:03but he just works so well with those players that are on the fringes at times

10:07and need a bit more confidence to come back into things.

10:09We've seen that with Jacob Ramsey.

10:11John Duran was a difficult character to work with.

10:13Even Watkins, to an extent, has had times where his finishing has not been at his best,

10:18but Emery's worked with him and he's improved him.

10:20Just little things of how he is on the half-turn, how he gets past defenders,

10:24I think we'll see a massive difference for Rashford.

10:27Asensio, he's not been playing as much football this year for PSG.

10:30So many options in that forward line that him being at Villa should give him that necessary game time.

10:36It's just so exciting where they'll fit in.

10:38I think Rashford potentially could make his debut against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup.

10:43Ollie Watkins is out with a minor injury, so potentially gives you opportunity for him to play.

10:48Asensio will probably rotate in for the likes of Morgan Rodgers, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey.

10:56Just on that race for the top four spots, it seems at times that Villa have gotten lucky

11:01with the likes of Bournemouth playing well, Newcastle playing well again,

11:05Chelsea back to form and Fulham also creeping well and Brighton as well around them.

11:10That race for top four seems a real tough one this season.

11:14Where can you see Aston Villa ending up?

11:17I can see them definitely ending up on the fringes of the top four or potentially inside of it.

11:22I think the thing that will benefit them this year is the likelihood of fifth place being enough,

11:27the Champions League, with the co-efficiency and there being so many English teams progressing

11:31in the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League as well.

11:34It is pretty much in England's hands to get that fifth place position.

11:38Of course, if Villa go and win the Champions League, I think that's a big dream, a big ambition.

11:42One that's probably not going to happen, but that is another route in to Europe's most elite competition.

11:48Plenty of opportunities there. Even if it's Europa League, it's still a massive step in the right direction

11:53to be a consistent European outfit. It's something Unai Emery has dreamed of

11:57ever since he arrived through the door and it's becoming a reality.

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