Birmingham City must keep up momentum from League One to perform in the second tier

National World - LocalTV

Birmingham City are entering a defining summer, focused not only on strengthening their squad but also on meeting the demands of life back in the Championship. Following their promotion from League One, the Blues are intent on boosting their squad quality, bringing fresh ambition and momentum to St Andrew’s.

Transcript

00:00Birmingham City are entering a defining summer focused not only on strengthening their squad

00:08but also on meeting the demands of life back in the championship.

00:13Following their promotion from League One, the Blues are intent on boosting their squad quality

00:19bringing fresh ambition and momentum to St Andrews.

00:23With the new season fast approaching, the club faces the task of blending season recruits

00:29with a strategic approach aimed at signing long-term stability.

00:34Having secured the call last season with promotion, the emphasis now shifts to carefully chosen signing players

00:40who can improve the squad's overall standard while preserving the strong team spirit that powered their success.

00:47We caught up with Charlie Haffenden from Birmingham World for his perspective on Birmingham's transfer strategy,

00:54which positions could see reinforcements and how the club's leadership plans

00:58to back the manager's ambitions while maintaining a focus on sustainable growth.

01:06Charlie, on Birmingham City, obviously we mentioned the summer window was going to be big

01:12and you obviously put out yourself that you weren't expecting it to be so big

01:16but the owners came and confirmed that they are going to go big again.

01:19This is an incredible era for Birmingham City.

01:22I mean, it started last season and they sort of built up and it could have even started

01:27when they got relegated and the positivity around that relegation was remarkable to see

01:32but they are now back up to the second tier.

01:34They've now got a job to do again.

01:37Loads of transfer rumours in and out.

01:39I mean, these are big rumours as well.

01:41Big players, lots of experience that could happily drop down to the likes of Birmingham City

01:46and then there's also Wrexham as well.

01:48You know, why wouldn't a player want to come and join these teams at the moment?

01:51Because the only way is seemingly up.

01:54The momentum is really with those clubs, isn't it?

01:56You've got those who've been in the Championship for a long time

01:59and you would normally consider to have a better chance of finishing in the playoffs

02:03but it's a weird anomaly in the case of both Wrexham and Birmingham.

02:08They're going to be immediately pushing for the playoffs, I think.

02:10But then what happens to the likes of West Brom and Middlesbrough and Coventry

02:14who've been on the fringes or just about inside for so many years now,

02:17it's going to be really exciting to see.

02:20And as you say, there's probably going to be a lot of investment

02:22from Birmingham's side yet again.

02:24There's been a lot of focus on trying to bring in free agents to start with.

02:27Of course, contracts expiring on June 30th

02:30means that the first part of the transfer window

02:32is probably more focused on those free transfers.

02:35But once we head into July and August,

02:38once we've had a few fixtures at the start of the season as well,

02:40a few areas of the squad, a few gaps might be a bit clearer

02:45and then Chris Davis will look to improve in those positions.

02:47But I think there's some fantastic names being linked to the club.

02:51One that I quite like to see happen and makes a lot of sense

02:55is Tommy Doyle from Wolves.

02:57Been linked to a potential loan move or a permanent move.

03:01Permanent would probably be a bit too expensive at this stage.

03:04But of course, not really fitting into Vito Pereira's plans at Molyneux.

03:07He could shift into that Birmingham midfield,

03:10competing with the likes of Iwata and Pike Sung-ho.

03:13It's been such an amazing partnership, Iwata and Pike.

03:16But if you have someone like a Doyle,

03:17who's maybe a little bit more creative,

03:19a bit better with his longer passing,

03:20it could give Birmingham a bit of a different dimension.

03:22But he's just one of many, many players

03:25that have been linked to the football club so far.

03:26And the fans are rightfully getting excited

03:28because a few years ago,

03:30they'd be spending a million tops maybe on a top signing

03:33and hardly that.

03:34And quite often they were flops.

03:36So, and spending way too much wages on players

03:38that didn't quite deserve them.

03:39Now, yeah, the wages are high.

03:41The transfer fees are going to be high as well.

03:43But it seems like there's a lot more kind of thought

03:45behind every transfer

03:46and they should start into Davies' plans pretty well.

03:49So that's going to be important once again.

03:51Also, I think the tactical versatility from Davies.

03:54Quite a lot last year,

03:55we saw that Birmingham were up against a low block

03:58because teams just accepted

03:59that they were definitely the underdogs.

04:01They just sat deep

04:02and it was quite difficult to break down.

04:04Birmingham got a bit frustrated at times,

04:06but then Davies would be a bit more flexible about it.

04:08Might use his wing backs,

04:09push them a bit higher up

04:10or push a centre-half up a bit,

04:12like Christophe Clara to really push defences.

04:15I think we'll see a bit more of that again.

04:17Of course, the quality of opposition

04:18will be tougher next season

04:20and maybe teams will come at Birmingham a bit more.

04:22And that could actually suit Blues quite well

04:25because when teams come at them,

04:26of course, they'll be spacing behind.

04:28The pace of Jay Stansfield,

04:29potentially Kwame Poku coming on from Peterborough as well,

04:32could be really good for them to have.

04:34And yeah, I think it'd be really positive.

04:36Chris Davies, he's definitely a clever character.

04:39He showed that last season

04:40and I'm quite excited to see

04:41how he'll do in the Championship.

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