Birmingham City’s bright future ahead as they gear up for Championship return

National World - LocalTV

Birmingham City is gearing up for an exciting return to the Championship, with optimism surrounding the club’s future. Backed by fresh leadership and a renewed sense of ambition, the Blues are building a squad capable of competing at a high level.  Stability off the pitch and a clear vision for progress suggest Birmingham City is on the path to reclaiming their place among English football’s elite.

Transcript

00:00Birmingham City's players are taking an active role in shaping the club's future by investing

00:08in a new project aimed at long-term success. With the club undergoing significant changes

00:14both on and off the pitch, this initiative highlights a commitment to stability and growth.

00:20As Birmingham looks to rebuild and push for a stronger position in English football, the

00:25involvement of players in future planning could be a crucial step forward towards sustained

00:30progress.

00:31To learn more about this project and the players investing, I spoke to Charlie Haffenden of

00:36Birmingham World for the latest insights.

00:39Charlie, let's look at Birmingham City and specifically Christoph Klarer. Now he's had

00:46a fantastic season by all counts, obviously joining under this new project. He's played

00:51so many games at such a nice age for his career to come to this club with a real nice

00:57project ahead. What have you taken from his season, his first go at it? I mean, it can

01:04really build well for the future and Blues fans love him as well.

01:09He's been absolutely superb. I think one of the players of the season in this Birmingham

01:13team. You look at Jay Stansfield for his £13 million-odd fee, you think, OK, he's going

01:18to be a star player. And don't be wrong, he's scored so many goals, had so many special

01:21moments. But from a defensive standpoint, Christoph Klarer has been incredible for them.

01:26An absolute brick wall at the back, starting pretty much every game possible in all competitions

01:31this season, he's been that crucial. And when Christian Bielik has been put on the bench,

01:36the captain, someone who we thought would be a player leading Birmingham for many years

01:40to come in the championship, maybe up to the Premier League as well. When he's being benched

01:45by Klarer, you can just see how good Klarer is. When he came to Birmingham, he took a

01:49big step down. He had German top flight prospects, and then he decided he wanted to join the

01:54project. I spoke to him away at Wrexham a couple of months ago after an incredible performance

02:00there. And he said he's completely committed to it. He wants to carry on with Blues. He

02:05wants to get them to the Premier League. And that's the kind of mentality you want from

02:08one, a centre-back, but two, a leader. And I could probably see him going on to become

02:11the captain at some point. He's been that important for them.

02:14Yeah, I know, obviously, in football, we should never really assume, but let's assume Blues

02:19are going to be a championship team next season. They need these quality signings throughout.

02:24And players who've invested in the project, as well, it's just as important as quality.

02:30In terms of them moving forward, Christophe Klarer, who sort of partners him at the back

02:33for Blues, their centre-back partnership is so important. And especially in the championship,

02:39you need to make sure you are conceding minimal goals. And then suddenly you can find yourself

02:43so high up the table if you really work on defensive solidity.

02:47Yeah, it's all about having that core to the team, isn't it? And Klarer, of course, offers

02:52that. Ben Davies has been really good alongside him on loan from Rangers this season. They

02:56could potentially look to sign him permanently. But one player they've already snapped up

03:01is Phil Newman from Hanover in Bundesliga 2. I believe they're on track potentially for

03:05promotion to the Bundesliga. So another player making a step down to Birmingham for the sake

03:10of the project, but he's already agreed to join in the summer. He's not only tall, but

03:14he's also rapid as well. He's one of those players you're very sought after on FIFA,

03:19trying to get the quickest player but tallest player possible. He can offer that for Blues

03:23in the defence alongside Christophe Klarer. I think from what we've seen from clips of

03:28Newman in Germany, what we've seen so far from Klarer at Blues, I think it's a pretty

03:32promising partnership that could form next year.

03:35And finally, just on and off the pitch, I mean, it seems like a really positive situation

03:40at Birmingham City. You just touched on the sort of change since you started covering

03:44them yourself, obviously, and you know, all that managerial disarray and the relegation

03:49as well. How much has changed in just about 12 months or so?

03:54Just the complete outlook at the football club has changed. Tom Wagner coming in as

03:58the new chairman. Of course, Tom Brady as well under his wing of a minority ownership,

04:03bringing so much hype around the club, publicity as well, positive publicity. The upgrade at

04:07St Andrews at Nighthead Park, the talks of a new stadium, all these things going on in

04:11the background really help the morale of the fans. We've seen so many sellouts this season,

04:16more in League One than we did in the Championship. The away games as well, cold Wednesday and

04:21Tuesday nights away from home, hours away. They were anyway, but I think it really helps

04:26when you've got a solid ownership backing them. And of course, getting to Wembley as

04:29well for the Virtual Trophy final, what a day out that will be. And then promotion to

04:34the Championship would be good enough. Looks like they're on track for the title, another

04:37piece of silverware, and then they can really kick on and try and get to the Premier League

04:41just as Tom Wagner and co are hoping to do.

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