'Doing a brilliant job' - Pundit sings praises of Birmingham City manager Chris Davies

Suffice to say, the 2024/25 season has been a positive one for Birmingham City and Chris Davies so far, following a disastrous previous campaign that saw them relegated from the Championship for the first time since 1994.

Former West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Don Goodman has taken notice of the job that Davies is doing at St. Andrews, saying that he has got his team to play ‘exactly the way he wants them to’.

While he conceded that the Blues’ high spending summer transfer window is one of the reasons for their success, he still maintains that Davies deserves ‘credit’ for their position in the league. He lauded the ‘style of play’ that the 39 year old has implemented and also praised the level of ‘authority’ that he has managed to hold over his squad.

Furthermore, he also compared Davies’ current situation to that of Pep Guardiola’s at Manchester City. The Spaniard’s tactical brilliance is often overlooked, due to the amount of money that the Sky Blues regularly spend and the quality of players at his disposal - Goodman says that he hopes this ‘doesn't happen with Chris Davies’.

What did Don Goodman say about Birmingham City under Chris Davies?

Speaking in an interview, Goodman said: “The way Birmingham City play all comes from Chris Davies. I've seen clips of him in training and you can see that they are playing exactly the way he wants them to.

“Chris Davies is doing a brilliant job and, even though Birmingham have spent a lot of money, I hope he still gets the credit that he deserves. Although he has a good group to work with, he has still needed to implement a style of play and his authority.

“I often say Pep Guardiola doesn't get the credit he deserves as people look at the money spent as opposed to how he improves players and implements tactics. I hope that doesn't happen with Chris Davies.”

How have Birmingham performed so far this season in League One?

Currently, Birmingham are sitting at the top of the League One table with 22 points from eight games. The team in second, Wrexham, are five points behind the Blues at the time of writing.

Additionally, Birmingham are also the joint top scorers in the division, with 17 goals - only Blackpool can claim to have scored as many as this. With eight goals conceded, they have a goal difference of +9.

Furthermore, their fixture list up to this point has been far from smooth sailing. They have played (and beaten) teams such as Rotherham United, Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United, all of whom were touted as possible promotion candidates at the beginning of the season. This is Davies’ first job in senior team management - it has been a dream start for him thus far.

As such, things are looking good so far for Davies’ Blues. They are set to take on Charlton Athletic, who have lost their last three league games, at The Valley on Saturday - can Birmingham add another three points to their tally?