Yahoo News Birmingham City require a transfer type and there is a risk - but don't worry yet
It’s all systems go at Birmingham City with preparations for the 2024/25 League One season being ramped up.
The relegation hangover has been cured in the past week with the appointment of Chris Davies as manager, the release of season ticket information and a new home kit. Almost 4,000 season tickets were sold on the first day of sales and 52 percent were purchased by people who didn’t buy one last season according to the club.
Blues supporters are eagerly awaiting a signing with the transfer window now open. Davies and the club’s recruitment team have a big rebuild on their hands after 10 players departed in May.
Davies, season tickets, the kit and transfers were topics of conversation on this week’s Keep Right On Podcast before Alex Dicken (AD) and Brian Dick (BD) answered questions sent in by supporters. You can check out the Q&A section below and listen to the podcast here.
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I would be curious to hear any thoughts about who you think could be our rivals for promotion next season?
AD: “There are some decent sides in League One that have knocked about in the Championship in recent years. I look at Charlton under Nathan Jones, I think they will be quite strong. That’s a big club that shouldn’t be in League One and eventually they are going to get it right and get promoted aren’t they? Blackpool finished last season quite strongly and they have been hopping between the Championship and League One over the last few years. Rotherham have signed a new team already under Steve Evans and I do think they will be in the mix. They will probably play horrible football but get results – Rotherham is always a very difficult place to go, as Blues found last season.”
BD: “Rotherham is the one I was going to say. We almost saw signs of what Steve Evans was doing towards the very end of last season. They bounce between League One and the Championship and I don’t see any reason to think they won’t come very close to doing that again. The other two I would potentially throw in would be Peterborough – who are always close and they uncover good young players year after year after year – and the other one is Barnsley. Barnsley knocked on the door and threatened to kick it in last season. Rotherham is the one that leaps off the page to me.”
Thoughts on any potential transfers, what kind of players you’d like to see?
AD: “There’s got to be joined up thinking this year hasn’t there. The message I got last pre-season was that they were recruiting players to play a more possession-based style of football and then John Eustace took one look at the whole picture and decided to play a different way which resulted in him getting fired. Quite clearly, over the course of last season, that group of players weren’t good enough to play the style of football Blues wanted. It got better in January once Tony Mowbray had signed three midfield players – two of which, Paik and Dozzell, were effective for a short period of time. Blues need to recruit for that style of football this summer. I’m sure Davies will have a big say on who they sign and I’m sure he has players already lined up. It’s got to be players that fit the system, and if they use data to recruit, which it sounds like they will, then they have to do it effectively.”
BD: “In terms of profile, you want athletic players because in previous seasons Blues haven’t been the most athletic team and it condemned them to play a certain style of football. The thing they are absolutely crying out for is leaders. That doesn’t necessarily mean shouters and screamers, it means someone who will take the ball under pressure – but in a way it does also mean shouters and screamers, it does mean the type of players who will call teammates out if they’re not training properly, or if running changes need to be made during the course of a game. You don’t have to be John Ruddy’s age or Lukas Jutkiewicz’s age to be that person but I do think that characteristic is important.”
Check out the latest Keep Right On Podcast
Do you think we run the risk of spending too much time chasing players who won't want to play in League One regardless of what wage we offer, missing out on more realistic targets in the meantime?
BD: “In League One terms, Blues will hopefully be able to tempt the Waitrose options from the League One aisle. They are right to be looking at decent players. You have got to ask the question. If Marc Leonard is sought after in England and Scotland, then you should ask the question. You need to be trying to be ambitious rather than signing the first seven easy straightforward free agent deals.”
AD: “You would hope there’s three or four options for each position and that they would be comfortable with any of those options. There are going to be players this summer who Blues are ambitious enough to go for and aren’t going to be able to convince to drop down to League One. But why shouldn’t they be ambitious? We’re early in the window. I would hope there are Championship players out there that see a move to Birmingham City on a two or three-year contract as an attractive proposition.”
Do you see Hall, Donovan, Chang and Dixon being key members of the matchday squad this season? I feel all four could prosper in League 1 and this would battle harden them for Championship level.
AD: “In League One, on ability, George Hall should be one of the first names on your team sheet. If you can get a tune out of him in pre-season and keep him fit for a long period of time, which hasn’t happened throughout his career, Hall should absolutely thrive in League One. Alfie Chang depends on how quickly he gets over the injury – I would have him as one of my midfield options. Alfie Chang looked like a competent Championship midfielder when he was fit towards the end of the 2022/23 season. Romelle Donovan will get chances. He is a very talented young man, clearly. Not necessarily as a starter, but he will get chances. Junior Dixon needs to impress in pre-season then a decision will be made on whether he goes out on loan, stays with the 21s or props up the first team next season.
What do you make of Bielik being at the training ground on Monday? Meeting the new captain?
AD: “Bielik was presumably there for the kit launch. He was one of the players who featured in the photoshoot for the new home shirt. Going onto the captain thing, we have spoken about a lack of leaders, if you take Ruddy and Jutkiewicz out of it for a second, Bielik is my pick for the captaincy next season. If you can convince Bielik to stay in League One, I think he’s captain material. So many times I spoke to him last season in defeats or bad moments and he’s a great talker who speaks his mind and really, really well about the game. I think he would be quite a dominant voice in the dressing room, albeit a calm and composed one.”
BD: “I think he’s got a bit of fire in him. We’re probably pie in the sky here saying Blues can keep this Poland international in League One, but if Blues keep him – and I really hope they do – then he is the clubhouse leader for me in the captaincy stakes. Chris Davies will have his own opinion and there will be other contenders arriving.”
