00:00Birmingham City have stormed their way back to the Championship and they've done it in style.
00:08Under Chris Davis, Blues not only secured promotion but set a club record for points in a single season,
00:14wrapping up the League One title with games to spare.
00:17From the recruitment of experienced leaders to the emergence of key young talents, everything clicked.
00:24Davis instilled an identity that combined structure and freedom and the results followed.
00:30Fans have bought into the project and now there's real belief this momentum can carry over.
00:36The next step, investment, smart recruitment and ensuring this progress isn't a one-off.
00:42Can Birmingham build a side ready to thrive, not just survive in the Championship?
00:47We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World to understand how Blues got it so right
00:53and what it means for the club's future in the second tier.
00:59And looking at Birmingham City now, obviously, since we last caught up, they have won the League.
01:05They have confirmed their place in the Championship.
01:07Let's just take a little review in terms of their season.
01:10I mean, such an impressive rise.
01:12We mentioned, obviously, Chris Davis wasn't an out-and-out manager before this season.
01:16He's been unbelievable.
01:17And, you know, yes, they've been competing at a lower level.
01:20Yes, we sort of predicted that this would be the outcome, but they have still had to go
01:24and achieve this feat, you know, over 90 points.
01:27A fantastic season for Blues and their fan base as well.
01:31So, what have you sort of made of this refreshing season in League One for Birmingham City?
01:36I think it's been a blessing in disguise being relegated down to League One, in all honesty.
01:40That sounds strange to say.
01:42Any relegation should be absolutely heart-wrenching.
01:45It should be devastating for a football club.
01:47But the way they've picked themselves back up again, the way that Chris Davis has come in
01:50for his first managerial job, the way that they've reinvented the squad.
01:55Yes, they've spent a lot of money, unprecedented amounts.
01:57You would expect them to go straight back up.
01:59But it still takes that cohesion.
02:01It still takes a manager to bring everyone together and to stay motivated as well.
02:05There's a lot of characters that have dropped down divisions to be in this position,
02:08who've been convinced by the project, and they've decided that they want to stick on with it.
02:12They want to train hard every single day.
02:15That's something I've been speaking to Davies about recently,
02:17is how do you keep that motivation high when you know that you're going to win the title?
02:21You know you're going to go up.
02:22You know you're going to Wembley, etc.
02:24And he's just said that he wants everyone to work hard every day,
02:27otherwise they're not going to be part of his future plans.
02:29And I think the players have really bought into that.
02:31Rotation as well has played a key part.
02:33Even someone like Christian Bielek, the club captain,
02:35who last season and the start of this looks so, so important.
02:39He's hardly been able to get a game because there's just so many players in that squad
02:42capable of playing in this level and then up into the Championship as well.
02:46It's been seriously impressive.
02:47It's unfortunate they couldn't add that silverware at Wembley,
02:50being beaten by Peterborough United.
02:52Certainly devastating.
02:53But having that day out as well, nearly 50,000 Blues fans,
02:56it's just great for the morale.
02:57And hopefully they can have many days like that in the future.
02:59Yeah, Tom Wagner was quite vocal in terms of saying this blue side won't let fans down again.
03:08And he can't have overstated the disappointment of the Wembley trip,
03:12obviously not going to plan on the pitch.
03:15You've got to look at the bigger picture in terms of competing in higher stakes games.
03:19They're going to have to go and compete when it matters most in the Championship next season.
03:24Their ambitions are not going to be to settle in the Championship.
03:27There's no bones about it.
03:28You know, we've learned enough about the ownership, the project now,
03:32but to realise that that's going to be the goal is to really compete towards the top six.
03:37You know, we've seen multiple times with the likes of West Brom how close the playoff race is.
03:42Do you feel Birmingham have enough?
03:44Do you feel they can really compete and look ahead to sort of going up
03:49and really making sure that they're making great sort of steps towards progress
03:53in the Championship next season?
03:54Yeah, I don't think that people can be expecting to be promoted straight away.
03:59I don't think that's realistic that the Championship is so, so competitive.
04:03We've seen that especially this season, the likes of Coventry City being in amongst the relegation contenders.
04:08And then Frank Lampard comes in within a few months.
04:10They're suddenly playoff contenders, promotion contenders.
04:13Anything can happen and Blues can't be naive.
04:15Even they saw it when they were sixth under John Eustace.
04:19He goes, Wayne Rooney comes in and then they drop away and they are relegated.
04:23It's one of the most unpredictable divisions in the world, let alone just in England.
04:27So not just in England and Wales, but also across the world of the whole documentary in America.
04:32All the big names coming over, David Beckham and Tom Brady and Ryan Reynolds and Co.
04:36So they dealt with that fine.
04:38So I think once they get to the Championship, it won't be a walk in the park.
04:42But I think they'll be able to deal with it just fine.
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