There is only one team in Birmingham worth supporting with true passion and Birmingham City is it. I have been supporting them since 1978 when Jim Smith was the manager. He is my favourite manager to date. I am a blue nose ’til I die.
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The following article is all about Birmingham City’s new manager Chris Davies who was announced by the club on the 6th of June, 2024. My initial reaction like a lot of Blues fans was WHO? However, after reading his profile on Birmingham City’s website there is no doubt his C.V. is impressive as you will see.
Chris Davies.
Who Is Chris Davies?
Chris Davies was born on Wednesday the 27th of March, 1985 in Watford but qualified to play for Wales through his father who, alongside his duties as Reading’s youth team captain, he represented at Under-17s, Under-18s and Under-19s. However, 20 years ago, he was stopped in his tracks by an arthritic condition in his foot and his professional playing career was aborted.
Non-league outings with Farnborough and part-time work briefly tided him over before conversations of encouragement from his former manager in Berkshire, Brendan Rodgers, and an erstwhile Royals teammate gave him a fresh focus i.e. coaching and studying. Aided by P.F.A. funding, he studied at Loughborough University achieving first-class honours in Sports Science, having concurrently undertaken his U.E.F.A. B Licence at Arsenal’s Hale End whilst growing experience out on the grass as a Development Coach for Leicester’s Under-8’s to Under-12’s age groups.
To broaden his experiences, Davies jetted across the pond and also down under, notably working with academy players at Napier-based Hawke’s Bay United and further south in New Zealand’s North Island with Team Wellington FC.
Hungry for an opportunity in First Team football, he returned to the United Kingdom in 2010 and to his family’s roots in South Wales.
Davies’ Managerial C.V.
2010 – 2012: Assistant Manager at Swansea City to Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers wanted a trusted aid to lead on performance analysis, casting a critical eye over the tactics and organisation of opponents. In season one, they clinched promotion via the play-offs at Wembley Stadium before narrowly missing out on a top-half Premier League finish by goals scored. A student of the game in every sense, during this period, he penned a newspaper column and attended press conferences to gauge the demands placed upon 21st-century managers, sharing his boss’ meticulous attention to detail.
2012 – 2015: Head of opposition analysis at Liverpool to Brendan Rodgers.
Matching his ambition Davies accompanied Rodgers to Liverpool in the summer of 2012. On Merseyside, posted as Head of Opposition Analysis, he continued to dedicate 70 hours in preparation for each match, being a key component as the Reds mounted a season-long title tilt in 2013/14. In 2015, he obtained his U.E.F.A. Pro Licence.
2016: First Team Coach at Reading to Brian McDermott.
A popular number two to McDermott, Davies was credited for his understanding of players and their tendencies on and off the training pitch.
2016 – 2019: Assistant Manager at Celtic to Brendan Rodgers.
Davies reunited with Rodgers in July 2016 and became a serial winner. Across two full seasons at Parkhead, Celtic achieved back-to-back trebles, completing the first as Invincibles whose unbeaten run stretched to 69 matches. Under the pressure of suffocating expectations in Glasgow, domestic dominance met chastening Champions League tests head-on, but before departing for Leicester, a third treble was cued up.
2019 – 2023: Assistant Manager at Leicester City to Brendan Rodgers.
The juxtaposing tactical approaches made at Celtic between controlling league fixtures and suffering in European football facilitated a move to Leicester City, again as number two to Rodgers in 2019.
A team totalised by transition became focused on possession and territory, yet still created an environment where Jamie Vardy won the Golden Boot and the team recorded consecutive fifth-place finishes in the Premier League.
The second of these ran parallel to the club winning the FA Cup for the very first time, and a few months later they beat a Manchester City side orchestrated by Pep Guardiola to lift the Community Shield, somebody that Davies admires for his pragmatism. When Leicester reached their maiden European semi-final, as had been the structure at Celtic, he led training on a daily basis, operating in tandem with the sports science department and video analysts.
Between April and June 2023, he visited five clubs in five different countries (Atalanta, Benfica, Monaco, Villarreal and Wolfsburg) where ideas chimed with a football ideology that can be traced back to counting the passing sequences from the stands at Vicarage Road.
2023 – 2024: Senior Assistant Coach at Tottenham Hotspur with Ange Postecoglou.
During his tenure as Senior Assistant Coach to Postecoglou, Davies was courted by a number of clubs, but the Australian had him hooked by a desire to make Spurs the top-flight’s most intense team, and a promise to support his burgeoning personal ambitions when the time to take the right opportunity to step into management presented itself.
2024 onwards : First Team Manager at Birmingham City.
On Thursday the 6th of June, Davies was named the new Men’s First Team Manager at Birmingham City, signing a four-year contract with the Club ahead of the 2024/25 League One season.
What Tom Wagner Said About The Appointment
Birmingham City Owner and Chairman of the Board, Tom Wagner, said, “I am delighted to welcome Chris to Blues. He is widely respected in the game and fulfils our goal to appoint an ambitious, progressive coach. He is motivated to help redefine the Club, the culture, and the playing identity. From our first meeting, it was clear we were aligned on values and shared the ambition for Blues. Chris will thrive in the high-performance environment that is being created at the Club. He wants to be at Birmingham City and is committed to winning. I would like to thank both Tom Brady for his support and involvement, and the Football Leadership Team for their diligent approach in identifying our next Manager. They have conducted a robust process and we have appointed a top operator to take us forward.”
What Garry Cook Said About The Appointment
Birmingham City Chief Executive Officer, Garry Cook, said, “Chris is an outstanding coach and person, that the playing staff and our supporters will instantly warm to. The goal was to identify a progressive coach, one who has demonstrated the ability to build teams and improve players in the squad. Chris has done this at leading clubs, being part of championship, cup and promotion winning teams, working with world class players and managers. He is a perfect fit for Blues. He is a meticulous planner, with an insatiable appetite for work. Known for his excellent man management skills, he will now focus on building a Championship ready squad in League One. He is the coach we wanted. Blues is the club he wanted. We are very pleased he is here.”
What Ange Postecoglou Said About The Appointment
Tottenham Hotspur Manager, Ange Postecoglou, said, “Chris is an outstanding individual. It is no surprise to me that a club of Birmingham City’s stature have shown an interest in him.”
What Chris Davies Said About The Appointment
Birmingham City Manager, Chris Davies, said, “I am proud and honoured to be the Manager of Birmingham City. As soon as I spoke with Tom, Garry, Tom Brady, and other board members it was clear to me how passionate and committed the board and all of the Football Leadership Team are to bringing success to this club. It is a club with an ambition that reflects my own, and a plan to make it a reality. It is such an exciting time to be at Blues. I can’t wait to get started, meeting everyone at the Club and speaking to our supporters. I will give everything to build an attacking team that reflects this great city, and most importantly to produce a team that our supporters can be proud of. Let’s go.”
You can see his first interview with Blues T.V. here and behind-the-scenes on his first day as Blues manager here.
And Finally…
I was, like any Blue Nose, downhearted when Blues were sadly relegated to League One but as soon as that heart ache was over I was looking forward to the new football season straight away, even more so now with the appointment of Davies. As mentioned above it was a case of thinking “WHO?” when Davies was appointed but the more I read about him and see him talk I feel more confident for the months ahead. I believe he is the right man for the job and I wish him good luck for his entire time at the club which hopefully (for a change) will be a long time.
Giving everything that as happened to us over the recent years under the chinese ownership I think relegation wasn’t a bad thing. We start the new season with a clean slate and it means we can get rid of the dead wood and rebuild stronger. This is going to be an exciting season with exciting things happening on and off the pitch and they started as soon as last season ended.
Together with Tom Wagner and co., our new manager and our players old and new, ALL Blues fans need to get 100% behind them and give it our all and all we ask is we get the same back in return.
We now have a young new manager who is hungry to do well and I truly believe he will but everyone has to be patient which is hard for a lot of “fans”. Time will tell but I’m always the optimistic and I really believe the days of shit football days are over for us.
Blog Posts
Birmingham City: Blues History.
Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2024/25 Season.
Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2024/25 Season.
Birmingham City: Kits For The 2024/25 Season.
Birmingham City: Our 2023/24 Season In Review.
Birmingham City: Staff For The 2024/25 Season.
Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2024/25 Season.
Birmingham City: The 2023/24 Season Archive.
Notes And Links
The Birmingham City Club logo shown at the top of this page is the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and has come from Blues social media pages and website, as has the subsequent information seen here and here.
Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.
Birmingham City on Facebook – Official Facebook page.
Birmingham City on Twitter – Official Twitter page.
Birmingham City on Instagram – Official Instagram page.
Birmingham City on YouTube – Official YouTube page.
Blues Store – Official club store website.
Birmingham City Foundation – Official website.
Nike – Official website.
Undefeated – Official website.
BCFC The Project on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.
