Birmingham City’s ambitions ahead of Championship season under Chris Davies

National World - LocalTV

As Birmingham City prepare for life back in the Championship, excitement is building over what Chris Davies’ side can achieve. We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of BirminghamWorld to explore expectations following their impressive League One title win.

Transcript

00:00Now, as Birmingham City prepare for life back in the Championship,

00:08excitement is building over what Chris Davies' side can achieve.

00:12We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World to explore expectations

00:16following their impressive League One title win.

00:19Blues' success this season has been built on solid foundations

00:23with a strong core of players stepping up during crucial moments.

00:27Their dominant League One form has raised hopes that they won't just be able

00:31to survive in the Championship but compete near the top.

00:35With the right summer additions and momentum behind them,

00:37Birmingham could be well-placed to challenge further up the table

00:40in what promises to be a wide-open division next campaign.

00:47And looking at Birmingham City now, obviously, since we last caught up,

00:52they have won the lead, they have confirmed their place in the Championship.

00:55Let's just take a little review in terms of their season.

00:58I mean, such an impressive rise.

01:00We mentioned, obviously, Chris Davies wasn't an out-and-out manager

01:03before this season.

01:04He's been unbelievable.

01:05And, you know, yes, they've been competing at a lower level.

01:08Yes, we sort of predicted that this would be the outcome.

01:10But they have still had to go and achieve this feat, you know,

01:15over 90 points.

01:16A fantastic season for Blues and their fan base as well.

01:19So what have you sort of made of this refreshing season

01:22in League One for Birmingham City?

01:24I think it's been a blessing in disguise being relegated down to League One,

01:28in all honesty.

01:29That sounds strange to say.

01:30Any relegation should be absolutely heart-wrenching.

01:33It should be devastating for a football club.

01:35But the way they've picked themselves back up again,

01:37the way that Chris Davies has come in for his first managerial job,

01:40the way that they've reinvented the squad.

01:43Yes, they've spent a lot of money, unprecedented amounts.

01:46You would expect them to go straight back up.

01:47But it still takes that cohesion.

01:49It still takes a manager to bring everyone together and to stay motivated as well.

01:53There's a lot of characters that have dropped down divisions to be in this position

01:57who've been convinced by the project.

01:59And they've decided that they want to stick on with it.

02:01They want to train hard every single day.

02:03That's something I've been speaking to Davies about recently,

02:06is how do you keep that motivation high when you know that you're going to win the title?

02:09You know you're going to go up.

02:10You know you're going to Wembley, etc.

02:12And he's just said that he wants everyone to work hard every day.

02:15Otherwise, they're not going to be part of his future plans.

02:17And I think the players have really bought into that.

02:19Rotation as well has played a key part.

02:21Even someone like Christian Bielek, the club captain,

02:24who last season and the start of this looks so, so important.

02:27He's hardly been able to get a game because there's just so many players in that squad

02:30capable of playing in this level and then up into the championship as well.

02:34It's been seriously impressive.

02:35It's unfortunate they couldn't add that silverware at Wembley,

02:38being beaten by Peterborough United.

02:39It's certainly devastating, but having that day out as well,

02:43nearly 50,000 Blues fans, it's just great for the morale.

02:46And hopefully they can have many days like that in the future.

02:48Yeah, Tom Wagner was quite vocal in terms of saying this Blues side won't let fans down again.

02:56And he can't have overstated the disappointment of the Wembley trip,

03:00obviously not going to plan on the pitch.

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

03:07They're going to have to go and compete when it matters most in the championship next season.

03:12Their ambitions are not going to be to settle in the championship.

03:15There's no bones about it.

03:17We've learned enough about the ownership, the project now,

03:21but to realise that that's going to be the goal is to really compete towards the top six.

03:25You know, we've seen multiple times with the likes of West Brom how close the playoff race is.

03:31Do you feel Birmingham have enough?

03:32Do you feel they can really compete and look ahead to sort of going up

03:37and really making sure that they're making great sort of steps towards progress in the championship next season?

03:43Yeah, I don't think that people can be expecting to be promoted straight away.

03:47I don't think that's realistic that the championship is so, so competitive.

03:51We've seen that especially this season, the likes of Coventry City being in and amongst the relegation contenders.

03:56And then Frank Lampard comes in within a few months.

03:58They're suddenly playoff contenders, promotion contenders.

04:01Anything can happen and Blues can't be naive.

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

04:06He goes, Wayne Rooney comes in and then they drop away and they are relegated.

04:11It's one of the most unpredictable divisions in the world, let alone just in England.

04:15So they can't take anything for granted.

04:17They've got to work hard.

04:18I think the concern is of Wembley.

04:21Can they deal with these big occasions?

04:22Are they able to compete when the pressure is on them?

04:25I think it was a one-off maybe.

04:27Maybe the pressure did get to them slightly.

04:29They just weren't quite at the races.

04:30But the whole documentary in America, all the big names coming over,

04:34David 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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