Birmingham City's excitement ahead of Championship return

National World - LocalTV

Charlie Haffenden looks at Birmingham's upcoming season back in the Championship.

Transcript

00:00Charlie on Birmingham City obviously you know we mentioned the summer window was going to be big

00:06and you obviously put out yourself that you weren't expecting it to be so big but then the

00:10owners came and confirmed they are going to go big again this is an incredible era for Birmingham

00:16City I mean it started last season and they sort of built up and I mean it could have even started

00:21when they got relegated and the positivity around that relegation was remarkable to see but they are

00:27now back up to the second tier they've now got a job to do again loads of transfer rumours in and out

00:33I mean these are big rumours as well big players lots of experience that could happily drop down

00:38to the likes of Birmingham City and then there's also Wrexham as well you know why wouldn't a player

00:43want to come and join these teams at the moment because the only way is seemingly up. The momentum

00:49is really with those clubs isn't it you've got those who've been in the championship for a long

00:53time and you would normally consider to have a better chance of finishing in the playoffs but

00:57it's a weird anomaly in the case of both Wrexham and Birmingham they're going to be immediately

01:03pushing for the playoffs I think but then what happens the likes of West Brom and Middlesbrough

01:07and Coventry who've been on the fringes or just about inside for so many years now it's going to be

01:12really exciting to see and as you say there's probably going to be a lot of investment from Birmingham

01:17side yet again there's been a lot of focus on trying to bring in free agents to start with

01:21of course contracts expiring on June 30th means that the first part of the transfer window is

01:26probably more focused on those free transfers but once we head into July and August once we've had

01:32a few fixtures at the start of the season as well a few areas of the squad a few gaps might kind of

01:37got a bit clearer and then Chris Davis will look to improve in those positions but yeah I think

01:42there's a some fantastic names being linked to the club one that I quite like to see happen and makes

01:48a lot of sense is Tommy Doyle from Wolves been linked to a potential loan move or a permanent move

01:54permanent would probably be a bit too expensive at this stage but of course not really fitting into

02:00Vito Pereira's plans at Molineux could shift into that Birmingham midfield competing with the likes of

02:05Iwata and Pike Sung-ho it's been such an amazing partnership Iwata and Pike but if you have someone

02:10like a Doyle who's maybe a little bit more creative that over his longer passing it could give Birmingham a bit of a

02:16different dimension but he's just one of many many players that have been linked to the football club

02:20so far and the fans are rightfully getting excited because a few years ago and they'd be spending a

02:25million tops maybe on a top signing and hardly that and quite often they were flops so and spending way

02:31too much wages on players that didn't quite deserve them now yet the wages are high the transfer fees

02:36are going to be high as well but it seems like there's a lot more kind of thought behind every

02:40transfer and they should sort into Davies plans pretty well. Yeah and how excited for this challenge

02:45you feel the players will actually be as well because you know Jay Stansfield, Tomoki Iwata,

02:51these players who have trusted the process really sort of they could feel that this is their reward

02:56now to go and strip their stuff in the championship again and possibly turn Blues into a Premier League

03:01side you know you never know what could happen in football but it can't be long you feel if this

03:06investment continues, if these quality players continue as well I mean Stansfield, Iwata, you know

03:11these players are going to welcome some top signings as well and this side could be you know

03:16certainly an upper echelon championship side come the end of the summer.

03:21Sorry mate, my internet cut out there, I don't know if that happened.

03:23No worries mate.

03:25What's your question, I'll just then answer it.

03:27Yeah just on how they'll, Stansfield, Iwata, how they'll be feeling welcoming top talents to Blues as well

03:34and it could be a really good squad come the end of the summer.

03:39I think it's really important for those that are currently there and have trusted that project

03:42and maybe drop down divisions as well in the case of Christoph Klar, he left the Bundesliga

03:47to join Birmingham in League One, definitely a reward for them and of course seeing the bigger

03:52names come in from the Premier League, they don't want to be gazumped by them, they don't want to

03:55lose their places, it would feel totally unfair on them but having the added competition just pushes

04:00players to their limits and will give Birmingham ultimately the best chance of finishing in those

04:04play-off positions.

04:06And finally just on Blues, in terms of the championship challenges that they'll face,

04:10what are the factors that you feel that they need to get right to sort of hit the ground running,

04:15continue that incredible home form, continue that momentum with this talented squad as well

04:20and a young manager who's so ambitious as well with the club and while it can all work off

04:26the field, it is also so important that they do get things right on it.

04:30I think fitness is going to be a big one, there was a whole thing of Chris Davies wanting

04:34Birmingham to be the fittest squad in League One, I think you could argue that was definitely

04:38the case at least come the end of it, really pushing on through such a tough fixture schedule,

04:43going far in cup competition as well, it made it tricky for them, so that's going to be

04:47important once again.

04:48Also I think the tactical versatility from Davies, quite a lot last year we saw that Birmingham

04:53were up against a low block because teams just accepted that they were definitely the

04:57underdogs, they just sat deep and it was quite difficult to break down.

05:01Birmingham got a bit frustrated at times but then Davies would be a bit more flexible about

05:05it, might use his wing-backs, push them a bit higher up or push a centre-half up a bit

05:09like Christophe Clara to really push defences.

05:12I think we'll see a bit more of that again.

05:13Of course the quality of opposition will be tougher next season and maybe teams will come

05:18at Birmingham a bit more and that could actually suit Blues quite well because when teams

05:22come at them, of course they'll be spacing behind the pace of Jay Stansfield, potentially

05:27Kwame Poku coming on from Peterborough as well, could be really good for them to have and

05:31yeah, I think it'd be really positive.

05:33Chris Davies, he's definitely a clever character, he showed that last season and I'm quite excited

05:38to see how he'll do in the Championship.

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