Birmingham City 'moving closer' to appointing former Leicester City and Celtic coach

Blues have been searching meticulously for a new head coach following Tony Mowbray’s confirmed departure over two weeks ago and a resolution now appears to be moving closer.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke reports Birmingham have made a move for Tottenham’s Davies, entering negotiations over his appointment. This rather sudden update follows speculation that Blues had commenced talks with Chelsea and England legend Frank Lampard.

Who is Chris Davies, Birmingham’s managerial target?

Davies, a former Wales Under-19 international before giving up playing and instead opting for a coaching venture, has around 14 years of high-level experience. The 39-year-old owes a lot to Brendan Rodgers as the FA Cup-winning boss hired Davies at Swansea City for his first big break in 2010.

From there, Davies joined Rodgers at Liverpool for three years until Jürgen Klopp arrived at Anfield. A brief spell away from Rodgers followed as Davies joined Reading for six months as a first-team coach but it wasn’t long until he reunited with Rodgers, this time at Celtic.

As assistant, Davies helped lead Celtic to a domestic treble for just the fourth time in the history of the Scottish giants. Nearly three successful years at Celtic Park ended with a switch back to the Premier League as Rodgers moved to Leicester. An outstanding spell saw the Foxes win the FA Cup and Community Shield before Davies left in April 2023.

The most recent venture has been away from Rodgers as Ange Postecoglou made a call that simply couldn’t go ignored. Tottenham Hotspur has been Davies’ home since last June but an opportunity to become an outright manager for the first time will probably be too good to turn down, depending on Birmingham’s negotiations.