Just three years ago, serious claims of promotion to the Premier League for Birmingham City would have been enough for some sort of social shunning.
Especially if you called them ‘Tom Brady’s Birmingham City’.
It wasn’t long ago that Blues were playing in a half-open stadium, with managers who clearly hated being there, and players who didn’t seem all that enthused either. Ownership issues have plagued the club since at the very least Carson Yeung took over, and they have nearly folded a handful of times.
If it wasn’t for the timely appearance of a teenage Jude Bellingham, the club might not have been there for Tom Brady to even make a documentary on.
Now, though, things are looking up. The club not only has one ground to be proud of, but a second being developed, owners with massive ambition and the money to match, and a team who is fulfilling those ambitions in the short term.
This season, though, is a litmus test – can their successes be continued a division above?
Birmingham City Joys without sorrows
Blues’ anthem proudly shouts about the joys and sorrows of following the boys in royal blue, but few seasons have brought as much joy without the latter emotion Blues fans have become accustomed to following in goose step. Even the most pessimistic of Blues fans found little to complain about, as Chris Davies romped to 111 points in his first ever season as a manager.
It’s easy to write it off as an easy job with the reported amount of money spent, but even if one assumes those figures are correct (many Blues sources dispute the reported figures for many of the big money signings), that doesn’t make the job any less impressive. Blues signed an entire new squad that needed to gel and gel quickly.
Some of those signings didn’t work out for whatever reason, which when combined with early season fragilities forced Davies to adapt on the fly. A horrendous loss to bottom side Shrewsbury Town could have been a season-defining one; and indeed it was, just not in the way many would expect. The young boss adapted, suturing up the gaps and seemingly never conceding again.
That’s only a mild exaggeration. Blues kept six clean sheets in the next seven, and went on to concede just four league goals in three months.
Expecting another copycat season in the Championship seems far-fetched, but Chris Davies has proven himself capable of handling what must have been an incredible amount of pressure.
Backed with money in his first ever #1 role, he was expected to win the league with no ifs or buts, with an Amazon Prime camera following him around and all the furore of Tom Brady and the media circus that surrounds Birmingham City.
Big plans, big business
Tom Wagner has made no secret of Blues’ target to achieve consecutive promotions.
To outsiders, it seems preposterous – but to Blues fans, it’s… equally daunting. These fans have learnt to expect little and dare not hope, and it’s a hard mindset to shake.
Fortunately, Wagner has put his money where his mouth is.
Despite the record-breaking season, there were problems with the Blues squad. One of the adaptations made by Davies was due to a lack of fit, trusted wide men, with only Keshi Anderson both fit and firing. Kieron Dowell was brought into help shift Blues’ 4-2-3-1 into a 3-2-4-1 in possession, or sometimes 3-3-3-1 depending on the team.
Dowell would step into either a second 10 role, or sometimes a wide midfield role in possession, with the perpetual motion machine Ethan Laird tasked to provide the output of a traditional winger while assuming his natural full-back role.
Anderson was expected to hold width on the left, with Willum Willumsson usually the chosen number 10. WW was not without his critics last season, but was praised for his relentless hard-work off the ball. Although, he will probably need to produce better than the 0.31 xG+xA he maintained per 90 last season if he wants to stay in Davies’ plans.
Birmingham City Move Hijacked by Championship Rivals
Adding to what worked
With that in mind, it is surprising that Birmingham have only signed one winger so far this summer, with the style adopted in the latter half of 2025-26 appearing to be the plan moving forward.
Ambitions for a new wide-forward have been made no secret, with plans for the likes of Kwame Poku, Oliver Antman and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi well documented over the last few months.
Right now, though, Blues have made some important additions. Another winger, as mentioned, to rotate in and out with Keshi Anderson, and there are few more experienced than Demarai Gray in this division. His return is one that shows that Blues aren’t here to waste time; Gray is in the peak years of his career, largely anticipated to hit the ground running in the Championship.
That signing is not without concern, though. Gray has been away in the Saudi League, and though he has reportedly taken a big pay cut to sign, he won’t be cheap, and there’s little recent data or footage of him in a tough, physical league.
Despite this, the former-Everton man has shown excellence in and above the level, and will immediately have the Blues faithful on side given his previous pedigree in the West Midlands.
On the other flank, Bright Osayi-Samuel will be expected to join Laird in that high winger/full-back hybrid role that both excel in. This likely spells the end for Alfons Sampsted, who can feel a little hard done by.
The Nigerian is, like Laird, a physical, flying full-back who adds much needed pace to a sometimes ponderous City attack.
Blues’ lop-sided attack seems set to continue, much to Osayi-Samuel’s delight. He himself told Birmingham Mail:
“The minute I heard there was interest from Birmingham I started watching clips of the club in League One. I could see Ethan (Laird) was bombing forward, and sometimes he was playing as a winger for 90 minutes.”
The big one, though, is Kyogo Furuhashi.
Goals goals goals
The former Celtic man was an absolute phenomenon in Scotland, and despite an ill-fated move to France dulling the excitement around him a little, this is a guy who knows how to score goals.
For the first half of last season he was averaging 1.00 xG+xA per 90, which is frankly absurd. For those who don’t know what that means, Haaland was around 0.79 in the Premier League last year.
If he’s even half as good in England – which he should be, despite a niggling shoulder injury – he could be a player who rockets Blues up the league on his own. Similarly, he comes in on the older end of the age curve. This is a team being built to win now.
Phil Neumann was widely considered one of the best central defenders in Germany’s second tier, adding a great depth of pace – there’s a theme here – to a slow backline. There are no concerns about his physicality adapting to England, stocky and standing at 6ft3″.
Championship fans will know all about Tommy Doyle, an all-action midfielder with a delicious passing range and Premier League pedigree.
Doyle was a creative spark and a force going forward for Sheffield United, but has also played in a more reserved role for Wolves.
Whether he will play more as the #10 or replacing the excellent Paik Seung-ho deeper in midfield is a point of debate for Blues fans, but he has to play.
Eiran Cashin fills a gap in the defence, as a left-footer helping to build from the back, while James Beadle is also capable of playing out from the defence.
Any other business ahead of the Championship Season?
Birmingham aren’t done yet. Davies has made no secret about the fact that he wants to sign a left-back, with Alex Cochrane the only recognised left back at the club.
Cochrane ran himself into the ground last season due to a lack of trusted, adequate cover – and another horrible injury to Lee Buchanan, and cannot be expected to play the same amount of minutes this campaign.
Cochrane fills a unique role as a hybrid left-back/left central defender, but it is unclear whether a potential rotation or improvement would be like-for-like or someone who can provide width on the left in the same way Osayi-Samuel or Laird can.
A flying left-back could allow for Gray, Anderson or even Stansfield to come in off of the left and play as more an inside forward or creative player, meaning Davies could switch to a similar system with relative ease.
“How are they affording this?”
There have been outgoings to fund some of this – Emil Hansson out on loan after some fitness issues, money for Brandon Khela and Romelle Donovan goes a long way with profit and sustainability (as does residual cash for Jobe Bellingham) and somehow, a profit on Alfie May. They’re unlikely to be the last, with captain Krystian Bielik apparently up for sale, and Dion Sanderson, Alfons Sampsted, Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Lyndon Dykes noticeably quiet in pre-season.
Blues still have money to spend, especially as reported figures of £10m for Furuhashi are suggested to be inflated by sources closer to the club. Of course, the club has a vested interest in leaking that they’re paying less, but PSR has to be beaten in some way.
The club, as mentioned previously, were pursuing Kwame Poku at the start of the window, but reportedly became frustrated when things didn’t move along. It stands to reason Blues will want a player in his mould, with both Oliver Antman and Jesurun Rak Sakyi loosely linked. Antman had a sensational season last season, and though his assist numbers are a little higher than his underlying creative numbers, his underlying numbers are still excellent. He is, though, more of a traditional winger who likes to stay a bit wider, which wouldn’t quite fit the system, you’d expect.
Rak Sakyi on the other hand seems perfect – he’s an excellent dribbler who consistently gets a lot of touches around the box, a good amount of shots from quality positions, and importantly for this team, works very hard off the ball. Chris Davies’ side are a high-pressing, all-action team where everyone is expected to do their bit, and JRS made more tackles and interceptions per 90 than Anderson last season, who was a key part of Blues’ press.
Ben Davies is expected to rejoin the club should Krystian Bielik depart, but this is a known quality.
What can Birmingham City really achieve?
As mentioned above, owner Tom Wagner wants back-to-back promotions – but that does seem a tiny bit far-fetched.
Finishing in the top two will not be an easy feat, with Southampton and Ipswich both looking incredibly strong, and plenty of seasoned Championship teams who will fancy their shot at climbing the ladder too. It’s not impossible, but it would require a pretty ridiculous season.
The playoffs do seem well within reach, though. This is a team and coach with a clear playing style that has proven to be consistent and effective, albeit in a league where they had a huge talent deficit. A lot will depend on how the marquee signings land, but Kyogo Furuhashi could be a big part of making up that gap.
Birmingham, for all their strengths, weren’t always killers in the final third last year. Often moves broke down due to a poor pull back, or were too slow, or didn’t have the required penetrative pass from midfield. Some of that does have to fall on the forward players, though this is as much a style thing as anything else. Kyogo offers the team a real poacher, though, which is something Jay Stansfield isn’t.
Stansfield excels at a lot of things, but often doesn’t seem to score the really ‘easy’ goals, the tap-ins and the real poacher goals. Furuhashi was sensational at that in Scotland, and should offer Blues a cutting edge to turn dominance into goals.
Anywhere in the top half wouldn’t be a real surprise, though one imagines Chris Davies won’t be there next season if he doesn’t make the playoffs at least. These owners are ruthless and have massive ambitions, and anything less than success is failure – but top two seems like a tall task.
It’ll have to be the playoffs, one would imagine, which would be fine with Blues fans; redemption at Wembley would be a cathartic way to end this season.