Birmingham City head-coach Chris Davies has been predicted to stay at the club long-term amid their strong League One form and potential to compete at the highest level in the years to come.
Birmingham’s unstoppable campaign has been well-documented, particularly over the last few months, as they edge ever closer to a third-tier title-winning season that has looked all too easy, at times, for Davies’ side.
They currently sit top of League One with 79 points, 11 ahead of second-placed Wycombe Wanderers with just 12 games of the campaign left, and the club has made real strides off the pitch too this season, thanks to increased investment from owner and chairman Tom Wagner.
There is a real positive feeling around St. Andrew’s at this moment in time, and with an immediate promotion back to the Championship on the horizon, the general consensus is that the club should also be comfortable in the second-tier next season, and they might even spring a surprise and aim for the play-off places.
Birmingham City fan pundit makes bullish Chris Davies long-term prediction
Blues’ relegation campaign was a dismal time for supporters, but following his appointment last June, Davies has been able to change his players’ mentality in League One and they are now just a few wins away from sealing automatic promotion at a canter.
Heavy summer investment into his squad has no doubt been a huge aid to his challenge, but that is surely only set to continue if the club are preparing for the Championship again ahead of next season, so their chances of avoiding relegation and performing well seem quite high right now.
Davies is likely to be on the radar of numerous clubs in the near future, but there is a clear project and vision at St. Andrews that could take the club back into the Premier League soon enough.
FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, thinks that those factors will be a real help in keeping the 39-year-old at the club, amid potential interest, and is hopeful that he will be committed to the club long-term, as a result.
“My gut feeling says (Chris Davies) is in it for the long haul, but I think a lot of that is going to be dependent on the club’s success, both positively and negatively,” Mike told FLW.
“With success comes prying eyes from other clubs, but my view is that we are likely to get promoted this year, and if we’re competitive in the Championship next season and are able to push for the higher positions, then maybe he sees a path to getting us in the Premier League.
“I think if we continue to invest in the team and in the club, why would he want to go anywhere else? Other than unless maybe a top-half Premier League club came knocking.
“I’m hoping that the strength of the project, and the drive that brings, will keep him at the club.”
Davies must succeed with Blues to stay on as head-coach
Birmingham’s lofty ambitions for the future have been made abundantly clear, and Davies has been able to match them so far with his side making League One look easy throughout this campaign.
Club owner and chairman Tom Wagner, who took charge in 2023, has previously spoken to The Telegraph of his plans for the club to be in the Premier League alongside local rivals Aston Villa, and wants the two clubs to be competing in the top-half of the top-flight within the next few years.
That seems like a long way away right now, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they get into the Premier League in the next few seasons. The biggest challenge for Chris Davies will be having the tools himself to achieve that kind of success.
He has done excellently in League One so far, particularly given that this is his first time as a head-coach after being an assistant at the likes of Liverpool, Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur before taking the Blues job last summer, but the jump up to the Championship can be a tough one regardless of big money being invested into a squad.
Davies is clearly a highly-rated young coach, the type that will be of interest to higher-placed clubs in the modern game, but his unproven nature means he needs to keep Blues on the right track to continue to be trusted by Wagner and the rest of the club’s board of directors.
They have already displayed their cutthroat nature with the shock dismissal of John Eustace last season, so Davies will know that any misstep or poor form over a certain period of a season could see his job at risk, despite his impressive job this term.
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