Just three years ago, serious claims of promotion to the Premier League for Birmingham City would have been enough for some sort of social shunning.
Especially if you called them ‘Tom Brady’s Birmingham City’.
The last decade has been a struggle for the Blues. Playing in a half-open stadium, in the swing of a managerial merry-go-round, and a largely unenthused fanbase amid years of bottom-half finishes. Ownership issues plagued the club for years.
If it wasn’t for the timely appearance of a teenage Jude Bellingham, the club might not have been there for Tom Brady to even make a documentary on.
Now, though, things are looking up. The club not only has one ground to be proud of, but a second is being developed, owners with massive ambition and the money to match, and a team that is fulfilling those ambitions in the short term.
This season, though, is a litmus test – can their successes be continued a division above?
Birmingham City Joys without sorrows
Blues’ anthem proudly shouts about the joys and sorrows of following the boys in royal blue, but few seasons have brought as much joy without the latter emotion. Blues fans have become accustomed to following in goose step. Even the most pessimistic of Blues fans found little to complain about, as Chris Davies romped to 111 points in his first-ever season as a manager.
It is easy to write it off as an easy job with the reported amount of money spent, but even if one assumes those figures are correct (many Blues sources dispute the reported figures for many of the big money signings), that doesn’t make the job any less impressive. Blues signed an entirely new squad that needed to gel and gel quickly.
Some of those signings didn’t work out for whatever reason, which, when combined with early-season fragilities, forced Davies to adapt on the fly. A horrendous loss to bottom-side Shrewsbury Town could have been a season-defining one; and indeed it was, just not in the way many would expect.
The young boss adapted, suturing up the gaps and seemingly never conceding again.
That’s only a mild exaggeration. Blues kept six clean sheets in the next seven, and went on to concede just four league goals in three months.
Expecting another copycat season in the Championship seems far-fetched, but Chris Davies has proven himself capable of handling what must have been an incredible amount of pressure.
Backed with money in his first-ever #1 role, he was expected to win the league with no ifs or buts, with an Amazon Prime camera following him around and all the furore of Tom Brady and the media circus that surrounds Birmingham City.
Big plans, big business
Tom Wagner has made no secret of the Blues’ target to achieve consecutive promotions.
To outsiders, it seems preposterous – but to Blues fans, it’s… equally daunting. These fans have learnt to expect little and dare not hope, and it’s a hard mindset to shake.
Fortunately, Wagner has put his money where his mouth is.
Despite the record-breaking season, there were problems with the Blues squad. One of the adaptations made by Davies was due to a lack of fit, trusted wide men, with only Keshi Anderson both fit and firing. Kieron Dowell was brought in to help shift Blues’ 4-2-3-1 into a 3-2-4-1 in possession, or sometimes 3-3-3-1, depending on the team.
Dowell would step into either a second 10 role, or sometimes a wide midfield role in possession, with the perpetual motion machine Ethan Laird tasked to provide the output of a traditional winger while assuming his natural full-back role.
Anderson was expected to hold width on the left, with Willum Willumsson usually the chosen number 10. WW was not without his critics last season, but was praised for his relentless hard work off the ball. Although he will probably need to produce better than the 0.31 xG+xA he maintained per 90 last season if he wants to stay in Davies’ plans.
Birmingham City Move Hijacked by Championship Rivals
Adding to what worked
With that in mind, it is surprising that Birmingham has only signed one winger so far this summer, with the style adopted in the latter half of 2025-26 appearing to be the plan moving forward.
Ambitions for a new wide-forward have been made no secret, with plans for the likes of Kwame Poku, Oliver Antman, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi well documented over the last few months.
Right now, though, the Blues have made some important additions. Another winger, as mentioned, to rotate in and out with Keshi Anderson, and there are few more experienced than Demarai Gray in this division. His return shows that Blues aren’t here to waste time; Gray is in the peak years of his career, largely anticipated to hit the ground running in the Championship.
That signing is not without concern, though. Gray has been away in the Saudi League, and though he has reportedly taken a big pay cut to sign, he won’t be cheap, and there’s little recent data or footage of him in a tough, physical league.
Despite this, the former-Everton man has shown excellence above and beyond the level, and will immediately have the Blues faithful on side given his previous pedigree in the West Midlands.
On the other flank, Bright Osayi-Samuel will be expected to join Laird in that high winger/full-back hybrid role that both excel in. This likely spells the end for Alfons Sampsted, who can feel a little hard done by.
The Nigerian is, akin to Laird, a physical, flying full-back who adds much-needed pace to a sometimes ponderous City attack.
Blues’ lop-sided attack seems set to continue, much to Osayi-Samuel’s delight. He told Birmingham Mail:
“The minute I heard there was interest from Birmingham, I started watching clips of the club in League One. I could see Ethan (Laird) was bombing forward, and sometimes he was playing as a winger for 90 minutes.”
The big one, though, is Kyogo Furuhashi.
Goals goals goals
The former Celtic man was an absolute phenomenon in Scotland, and despite an ill-fated move to France dulling the excitement around him a little, this is a guy who knows how to score goals.
For the first half of last season, he was averaging 1.00 xG+xA per 90, which is frankly absurd. For those who don’t know what that means, Haaland was around 0.79 in the Premier League last year.
If he’s even half as good in England – which he should be, despite a niggling shoulder injury – he could be a player who rockets Blues up the league on his own. Similarly, he comes in on the older end of the age curve. This is a team being built to win now.
Phil Neumann was widely considered one of the best central defenders in Germany’s second tier, adding a great depth of pace – there’s a theme here – to a slow backline. There are no concerns about his physicality adapting to England, stocky and standing at 6ft3″.
Championship fans will know all about Tommy Doyle, an all-action midfielder with a delicious passing range and Premier League pedigree.
Doyle was a creative spark and a force going forward for Sheffield United, but he has also played in a more reserved role for Wolves.
Whether he will play more as the #10 or replace the excellent Paik Seung-ho deeper in midfield is a point of debate for Blues fans, but he has to play.
Eiran Cashin fills a gap in the defence, as a left-footer helping to build from the back, while James Beadle is also capable of playing out from the defence.
Any other business ahead of the Championship Season?
Birmingham isn’t done yet. Davies has made no secret about the fact that he wants to sign a left-back, with Alex Cochrane the only recognised left-back at the club.
Cochrane ran himself into the ground last season due to a lack of trusted, adequate cover – and another horrible injury to Lee Buchanan… the former Hearts full-back cannot be expected to play the same amount of minutes this campaign.
The left-sided defender fills a unique role as a hybrid left-back/left central defender, but it is unclear whether a potential rotation or improvement would be like-for-like or someone who can provide width on the left in the same way Osayi-Samuel or Laird can.
A flying left-back could allow for Gray, Anderson, or even Stansfield to come in off the left and play as more of an inside forward or creative player, meaning Davies could switch to a similar system with relative ease.
“How are they affording this?”
There have been outgoings to fund this summer expenditure.
Emil Hansson departed on loan to Blackpool after finding his gametime limited amid several injury issues last season.
Fees received for Brandon Khela and Romelle Donovan go a long way with profit and sustainability – as does residual cash for Jobe Bellingham, and somehow, a profit on Alfie May.
They’re unlikely to be the last to part ways with the West Midlands club, with club captain Krystian Bielik available for transfer. While Dion Sanderson, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, and Lyndon Dykes have been noticeably absent in pre-season.
What can Birmingham City achieve?
As mentioned above, owner Tom Wagner wants back-to-back promotions – but that does seem far-fetched.
Finishing in the top two will not be an easy feat, with Southampton and Ipswich both looking incredibly strong, and plenty of seasoned Championship teams who will fancy their shot at climbing the ladder too. While not impossible, a monumental effort would be required.
The play-offs do seem within reach, though.
This is a team and coach with a clear playing style that has proven to be consistent and effective, albeit in a weaker division.
A lot will depend on how the marquee signings land, but Furuhashi could be a big part of making up that gap.
Birmingham, for all their strengths, weren’t always killers in the final third last year.
Often, moves broke down due to poor decisions in decisive moments, which falls to the forward players. Furuhashi offers a real poacher, which is something Stansfield is not.
Stansfield excels at a lot of things, but often struggles to score the ‘easy’ goals, tap-ins, and poacher goals. Furuhashi was sensational at that in Scotland and should offer Blues a cutting edge to turn dominance into goals.
While a top-half finish upon promotion would not be a real surprise, it could be considered a failure on Davies’s behalf if the Blues fail to finish in the play-off spots. While the ownership has huge ambitions, previous history suggests this is matched with a ruthless nature.
With the top two appearing as a difficult, but possible task, a play-off finish amid a decade of mediocrity would be excellent, with the Blue side of Birmingham on the rise again.