Birmingham City begin their second consecutive Championship season with a trip to Sheffield United, and manager Chris Davies believes the lessons learned from last year's near-miss will prove invaluable. Four of the club's six summer signings bring Championship experience, a deliberate strategy after Davies admitted that a lack of second-tier know-how contributed to their failure to mount a genuine play-off challenge last term.
A Tougher League, But a Wiser Blues
The Championship is widely considered stronger this season, with West Ham, Wolves, and Burnley relegated from the Premier League. Middlesbrough have spent heavily after losing the play-off final, Southampton remain strong, and Norwich are fancied under Philippe Clement. Davies acknowledged the raised bar but pointed to his own team's growth: “It’s widely accepted that it’s a stronger league with what’s come down, and what's come up actually, and some of the spending and investment. It’s now created this exciting, unpredictable product again, which is the Championship.”
He added: “Even if those three hadn’t come down, I would still say it’s incredibly difficult with the volume of games. I was talking to the Barcelona manager before we played them and talking through the 46 games, 24-team league, and I think it’s accepted around the world that it’s a really tough league. The bar is raised a little bit this year but we’re a year into it, in terms of the level. It bodes well for some of our players and I’m looking forward to it. There’s always a little bit of an unknown but I certainly think we can make an impact.”
Feet on the Ground After Record-Breaking Promotion
This time last year, Blues were riding high after winning League One with 111 points. They signed 12 players, including big names like Kyogo Furuhashi and Marvin Ducksch, and all talked of reaching the Premier League. This summer, there has been no such talk. Owners Knighthead have the Premier League in their sights, but Davies and captain Christoph Klarer have kept the squad grounded.
Klarer said: “If you want to say certain things people are going to measure you. If you say, ‘We need to get promoted to the Premier League’ people are going to measure you by that. People are going to talk regardless. We’re pretty clear as a group that we want to improve on last year, that’s not purely results – obviously that’s what people are going to see on the outside – we need to make sure our processes and the way we do things improve. If we can improve in all the things we want to improve then the result is going to be better than last year and that’s what we aspire to do.”
Klarer's Leadership and the Tom Brady Influence
Klarer is the undisputed leader of the dressing room, often the first to speak up when Davies asks for player opinions. He emphasized trust and collective problem-solving: “There’s a lot of trust that I have in the changing room. That doesn’t mean there’s always harmony. It’s important that there are different personalities, different opinions, and when problems arise, we solve them together. I’ve been fortunate enough to be the captain for 12 months, it’s been incredible, and I will do everything to make this team successful. I have trust in my teammates and the manager as people, not just as players. They’ve got character traits that I like so I will do anything to see our team succeed.”
Klarer, like Davies, takes leadership seriously and is always willing to listen to the best, so it was no surprise he quoted seven-time Super Bowl winner and Blues investor Tom Brady: “It’s important that I drive the standards. The way we train is really important. Tom Brady was quite big on that, he said: ‘If Monday to Friday is comfortable then Saturday is going to be challenging’.”
Away-Day Fix and a Settled Squad
Blues don’t need to be much better this time to reach the play-offs, now that the end-of-season lottery extends to eighth position. They were five points short of eighth last term, and their away form was the primary culprit: only three teams earned fewer points on the road, while only top two Coventry and Ipswich earned more at home. Davies tweaked the style towards the end of last season, getting the ball forward more quickly and becoming more physical to reduce risk away from St Andrew's.
He was encouraged by last weekend's 1-0 win at Swansea City, where Blues soaked up early pressure before scoring from a set-piece. Davies said: “It was a decent template for us away from home against a team that I predict will be really good this year. If you look back at last season and those last three away games – Ipswich, Hull, Portsmouth – and the way we set up and approached it, we’ve tried to adapt to become more effective and Swansea was a good example of it.”
There is a quiet confidence that Blues have found the right blend. January signings Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente, and August Priske have adapted to English football and start as key players. Klarer added: “It’s a lot more settled. We have seen what works in the Championship and what we need to improve on. I’m relaxed in a sense because we’ve got a good group of players and we’ve got a manager that we really trust. I’m well aware of what we’re going to come up against but from what I’ve seen in pre-season and how things have been I take a lot of confidence from that.” The proof will be in the performances, but Blues' continuity and experience could be their greatest strength this season.
