Birmingham City looking early favourites for League One title

A great start for The Blues…

Transcript

00:00Onto Blues, obviously an amazing run, an amazing start to the league, something they would

00:05have hoped for this far into the season, but when preparations were going in with the new

00:10manager and the new set-up, how confident are you that they can become league winners?

00:16I know it's very early to say, but you do sometimes get a bit of a feeling at this stage

00:20of the season if there are any standout teams, and Blues are certainly looking like one.

00:25Well, if they carry on this run and seven successive wins, they'll probably have the

00:29league wrapped up by Christmas. It's ridiculous what they're doing at the moment in League One.

00:33Had it not been for that shaky opening day draw against Reading, well, it would be eight out of

00:38eight and they'd be absolutely flying, seven points clear. As it is, five points is already

00:43very impressive, and they've got a game in hand as well on Wrexham, so absolutely flying in League

00:48One. You would expect that with the money spent, but it's still a difficult job for Chris Davies,

00:53who's never been in senior management before. He's been an assistant at plenty of top clubs,

00:58like Tottenham and Leicester and Celtic, and was analyst at Liverpool as well, but to step into

01:03that management role and straight away be unbeaten, win seven of your first eight league games is

01:08easier said than done. Having so many new players to adjust into a new system and changing the

01:13mentality and the whole attitude at the football club is a big challenge, but he's made it look

01:18really easy so far, and I expect them to continue their fine run.

01:22You're obviously really impressed with Chris Davies and his job so far, but looking on to

01:27the future, how attractive is the Birmingham job to stay there? If they are to get promoted

01:34back to the Championship, they're going to want to keep him, but if he carries on and continues

01:39to impress, then surely bigger clubs and Premier League status clubs could even be after him.

01:45Yeah, you think so, especially because he's been in and around the Premier League before and he's

01:49got very big ambitions. You might see this as a bit of a stepping stone, but I genuinely think

01:53he's really committed to this project. He loves the club so far. He's got a real connection with

01:58the fan base in such a short space of time, and that's easier when you're winning games every

02:04single week. You're going to build that connection. It'll be a real test when Birmingham start losing

02:08matches and how the fan base reacts then, but from the early signs, I would expect him to be

02:13at the club for a very long time, especially if they get promoted to the Championship and are

02:17immediately competitive. With this squad, I think it's better than when they were in the Championship

02:22last season. I'd see them finishing in the top half, which might sound ridiculous, but I genuinely

02:27think they could do that. If they do, then Davies should stick around to try and get them in the Premier League.

02:34And finally, who's been the best sort of player so far? Obviously, they've made some fantastic deals

02:38and huge signings for League One, breaking multiple records in terms of the money spent.

02:44It's difficult to pick just one, to be honest. There have been so many impressive players.

02:48The midfield partnership of Tamoka Iwata and Peik Sung-ho has got to be one of the best

02:53partnerships outside the Premier League, let alone just in League One, so I've been very impressed

02:57with them. Christian Bielik as well as the new captain, leading from the back in centre-back,

03:02more traditionally a midfielder, but stepped into that defensive role very well. And of course,

03:08Alfie May and Jay Stansfield leading the line. May, last season's top scorer in League One,

03:13kicking off this campaign with five goals in seven matches, and then Stansfield

03:17just blows you away the way he glides with the ball. So,

03:20lots of impressive performers and it's a real team effort at Blues at the moment.