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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