Birmingham City gearing up to take on Championship next season

National World - LocalTV

With League One promotion secured, Birmingham City now face the unforgiving intensity of Championship football — a level where pressure mounts quickly, quality is higher, and mistakes are punished.  Every fixture brings higher stakes, and Blues must be ready to adapt fast.

Transcript

00:00Now with League One promotion secured,

00:05Birmingham City now face the unforgiving intensity of championship football.

00:10A level where pressure mounts quickly, quality is higher and mistakes are now punished.

00:15Every fixture brings higher stakes and Blues must be ready to adapt fast.

00:19I spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World for the latest and the message is clear.

00:24Birmingham must grow quickly or risk being left behind.

00:27The championship demands more consistency, stronger depth and sharper tactical awareness.

00:33Winning tight matches, handling relentless scheduling and competing with bigger squads are all part of the step up.

00:40Birmingham have built a solid momentum in League One,

00:42but survival, let alone success at the next level, will require more.

00:47Recruitment will be key.

00:48A few smart signings, especially in midfield and defence, could make the difference with the right planning.

00:54Birmingham cannot only hold their own, but push higher up the table.

00:59The challenge is now a huge one, but so is the opportunity.

01:06And looking at Birmingham City now, obviously, since we last caught up, they have won the lead.

01:12They have confirmed their place in the championship.

01:14Let's just take a little review in terms of their season.

01:17I mean, such an impressive rise.

01:19As we mentioned, obviously, Chris Davies wasn't an out-and-out manager before this season.

01:23He's been unbelievable.

01:24And, you know, yes, they've been competing at a lower level.

01:27Yes, we sort of predicted that this would be the outcome.

01:29But they have still had to go and achieve this feat, you know, over 90 points.

01:34A fantastic season for Blues and their fan base as well.

01:38So what have you sort of made of this refreshing season in League One for Birmingham City?

01:43I think it's been a blessing in disguise being relegated down to League One, in all honesty.

01:48That sounds strange to say.

01:49Any relegation should be absolutely heart-wrenching.

01:52It should be devastating for a football club.

01:54But the way they've picked themselves back up again, the way that Chris Davies has come in for his first managerial job,

01:59the way that they've reinvented the squad.

02:02Yes, they've spent a lot of money, unprecedented amounts.

02:04You would expect them to go straight back up.

02:06But it still takes that cohesion.

02:08It still takes a manager to bring everyone together and to stay motivated as well.

02:12There's a lot of characters that have dropped down divisions to be in this position who've been convinced by the project.

02:17And they've decided that they want to stick on with it.

02:19They want to train hard every single day.

02:22That's something I've been speaking to Davies about recently is how do you keep that motivation high

02:26when you know that you're going to win the title, you know you're going to go up,

02:29you know you're going to Wembley, etc.

02:31And it's just said that he wants everyone to work hard every day.

02:34Otherwise, they're not going to be part of his future plans.

02:36And I think the players have really bought into that.

02:38Rotation as well has played a key part.

02:40Even someone like Christian Bielek, the club captain, who last season and the start of this looks so, so important.

02:46He's hardly been able to get a game because there's just so many players in that squad capable of playing in this level

02:50and then up into the championship as well.

02:52It's been seriously impressive.

02:54It's unfortunate they couldn't add that silverware at Wembley, being beaten by Peterborough United.

02:58It's certainly devastating, but having that day out as well, nearly 50,000 Blues fans.

03:03It's just great for the morale and hopefully they can have many days like that in the future.

03:07Yeah, Tom Wagner was quite vocal in terms of saying this Blues side won't let fans down again.

03:15And he can't have overstated the disappointment of the Wembley trip, obviously not going to plan on the pitch.

03:21You know, you've got to look at the bigger picture in terms of competing in higher stakes games.

03:26They're going to have to go and compete, you know, when it matters most in the championship next season.

03:31Their ambitions are not going to be to settle in the championship.

03:34There's no bones about it.

03:35You know, we've learned enough about the ownership, the project now,

03:39but to realise that that's going to be the goal is to really compete towards the top six.

03:44You know, we've seen multiple times with the likes of West Brom how close the playoff race is.

03:49Do you feel Birmingham have enough? Do you feel they can really compete and look ahead to sort of going up

03:56and really making sure that they're making great sort of steps towards progress in the championship next season?

04:03Yeah, I don't think that people can be expecting them to be promoted straight away.

04:06I don't think that's realistic that the championship is so, so competitive.

04:10We've seen that, especially this season, the likes of Coventry City being in amongst the relegation contenders.

04:15And then Frank Lampard comes in. Within a few months, they're suddenly playoff contenders, promotion contenders.

04:20Anything can happen and Blues can't be naive.

04:22Even they saw it when they were sixth under John Eustace.

04:26He goes, Wayne Rooney comes in and then they drop away and they are relegated.

04:30It's the whole documentary in America.

04:32All the big names coming over, David Beckham and Tom Brady and Ryan Reynolds and co.

04:37They dealt with that fine.

04:38So I think once they get to the championship, it won't be a walk in the park,

04:42but I think they'll be able to deal with it just fine.

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