With League One promotion secured, Birmingham City now face the unforgiving intensity of Championship football — a level where pressure mounts quickly, quality is higher, and mistakes are punished.
Every fixture brings higher stakes, and Blues must be ready to adapt fast.
Every fixture brings higher stakes, and Blues must be ready to adapt fast.
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00:00Now with League One promotion secured,
00:05Birmingham City now face the unforgiving intensity of championship football.
00:10A level where pressure mounts quickly, quality is higher and mistakes are now punished.
00:15Every fixture brings higher stakes and Blues must be ready to adapt fast.
00:19I spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World for the latest and the message is clear.
00:24Birmingham must grow quickly or risk being left behind.
00:27The championship demands more consistency, stronger depth and sharper tactical awareness.
00:33Winning tight matches, handling relentless scheduling and competing with bigger squads are all part of the step up.
00:40Birmingham have built a solid momentum in League One,
00:42but survival, let alone success at the next level, will require more.
00:47Recruitment will be key.
00:48A few smart signings, especially in midfield and defence, could make the difference with the right planning.
00:54Birmingham cannot only hold their own, but push higher up the table.
00:59The challenge is now a huge one, but so is the opportunity.
01:06And looking at Birmingham City now, obviously, since we last caught up, they have won the lead.
01:12They have confirmed their place in the championship.
01:14Let's just take a little review in terms of their season.
01:17I mean, such an impressive rise.
01:19As we mentioned, obviously, Chris Davies wasn't an out-and-out manager before this season.
01:23He's been unbelievable.
01:24And, you know, yes, they've been competing at a lower level.
01:27Yes, we sort of predicted that this would be the outcome.
01:29But they have still had to go and achieve this feat, you know, over 90 points.
01:34A fantastic season for Blues and their fan base as well.
01:38So what have you sort of made of this refreshing season in League One for Birmingham City?
01:43I think it's been a blessing in disguise being relegated down to League One, in all honesty.
01:48That sounds strange to say.
01:49Any relegation should be absolutely heart-wrenching.
01:52It should be devastating for a football club.
01:54But the way they've picked themselves back up again, the way that Chris Davies has come in for his first managerial job,
01:59the way that they've reinvented the squad.
02:02Yes, they've spent a lot of money, unprecedented amounts.
02:04You would expect them to go straight back up.
02:06But it still takes that cohesion.
02:08It still takes a manager to bring everyone together and to stay motivated as well.
02:12There's a lot of characters that have dropped down divisions to be in this position who've been convinced by the project.
02:17And they've decided that they want to stick on with it.
02:19They want to train hard every single day.
02:22That's something I've been speaking to Davies about recently is how do you keep that motivation high
02:26when you know that you're going to win the title, you know you're going to go up,
02:29you know you're going to Wembley, etc.
02:31And it's just said that he wants everyone to work hard every day.
02:34Otherwise, they're not going to be part of his future plans.
02:36And I think the players have really bought into that.
02:38Rotation as well has played a key part.
02:40Even someone like Christian Bielek, the club captain, who last season and the start of this looks so, so important.
02:46He's hardly been able to get a game because there's just so many players in that squad capable of playing in this level
02:50and then up into the championship as well.
02:52It's been seriously impressive.
02:54It's unfortunate they couldn't add that silverware at Wembley, being beaten by Peterborough United.
02:58It's certainly devastating, but having that day out as well, nearly 50,000 Blues fans.
03:03It's just great for the morale and hopefully they can have many days like that in the future.
03:07Yeah, Tom Wagner was quite vocal in terms of saying this Blues side won't let fans down again.
03:15And he can't have overstated the disappointment of the Wembley trip, obviously not going to plan on the pitch.
03:21You know, you've got to look at the bigger picture in terms of competing in higher stakes games.
03:26They're going to have to go and compete, you know, when it matters most in the championship next season.
03:31Their ambitions are not going to be to settle in the championship.
03:34There's no bones about it.
03:35You know, we've learned enough about the ownership, the project now,
03:39but to realise that that's going to be the goal is to really compete towards the top six.
03:44You know, we've seen multiple times with the likes of West Brom how close the playoff race is.
03:49Do you feel Birmingham have enough? Do you feel they can really compete and look ahead to sort of going up
03:56and really making sure that they're making great sort of steps towards progress in the championship next season?
04:03Yeah, I don't think that people can be expecting them to be promoted straight away.
04:06I don't think that's realistic that the championship is so, so competitive.
04:10We've seen that, especially this season, the likes of Coventry City being in amongst the relegation contenders.
04:15And then Frank Lampard comes in. Within a few months, they're suddenly playoff contenders, promotion contenders.
04:20Anything can happen and Blues can't be naive.
04:22Even they saw it when they were sixth under John Eustace.
04:26He goes, Wayne Rooney comes in and then they drop away and they are relegated.
04:30It's the whole documentary in America.
04:32All the big names coming over, David Beckham and Tom Brady and Ryan Reynolds and co.
04:37They dealt with that fine.
04:38So I think once they get to the championship, it won't be a walk in the park,
04:42but I think they'll be able to deal with it just fine.