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Birmingham City are set to improve their coaching staff with the arrival of Rangers' set-piece coach Scott Fry

Birmingham City's first season back in the Championship after their record-breaking League One campaign fell short of their lofty pre-season expectations, even with a 10th-placed finish.

The Blues' ambitions to earn successive promotions after their 111-point third-tier term, which owner Tom Wagner outlined in June 2025, weren't achieved, and the focus this summer is now on improving to get into the Premier League at the second time of asking.

With a brand new 62,000-capacity 'powerhouse' stadium set to open at the heart of the new Birmingham Sports Quarter, ideally in time for the 2030/31 campaign, Chris Davies' side need to be on their way to becoming an established Premier League outfit by then, so promotion to the top flight at the earliest possible opportunity is of the utmost importance.

On the field, the focus is to add more quality, rather than quantity, in the transfer market, after 12 new faces arrived at the club in the summer, but they'll be aided by some off-field coaching additions, too.

Set-pieces have risen to prominence over the last 12 months, and Birmingham are looking to add one of the better set-piece coaches to Chris Davies' backroom staff this summer.

Birmingham City set to bring in Rangers set-piece coach Scott Fry this summer

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It's well-known how important set-pieces were to Arsenal winning their first Premier League title in 22 years this past season, but they were just as important in the EFL, too.

Coventry City, Lincoln City and Bromley all scored the most set-piece goals in each of the three divisions below the top-flight last term. Coincidentally, they all won their respective league titles.

Birmingham ranked eighth in set-piece goals in the Championship last year, but they'll be angling to be right near the top of the list, and subsequently, at the top of the league, next year with the addition of Rangers set-piece coach Scott Fry, who is set to leave Ibrox this summer, according to the Rangers Review.

The report states that Fry, who only just arrived at the Scottish side in November alongside Danny Rohl, will not be part of the new coaching set-up under new boss Derek McInnes, instead moving back to England to join up with former Celtic coach Chris Davies.

Before his move to Rangers, Fry was the set-piece coach at Lincoln, and he truly set the groundwork for their brilliance from set plays this past season. He increased the number of set-piece goals at Sincil Bank from 13 in the 2023/24 campaign to 30 in his sole season in the role the following year.

At Rangers, he was credited with an immediate impact in the set-piece department, leading the club to the joint-best record in the division, scoring 23 times, 11 more than the 2024/25 campaign, and level with Hearts atop the ranks.

Birmingham City can feel encouraged by Scott Fry swoop

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Those numbers are incredibly encouraging, and if Birmingham can reap similar rewards that Lincoln and Rangers have with Fry as the set-piece coach, then next season could be a really exciting one for the Blues.

Last year, there was a clear swagger around the players that Birmingham were purchasing, and there was an expectation that the personnel in the squad and a strong, loud home fanbase would be enough for the Blues to replicate their successes of 2024/25.

Ultimately, the step-up to the Championship was a bit of a shock to the system. Unlike in League One, Chris Davies' side simply couldn't just show up, dominate the game and win comfortably.

Questions were asked about Davies' abilities as a manager in the Championship, but it seems that the higher-ups at St Andrew's are backing him, and instead of just throwing money at players once more, are putting in the groundwork for a strong coaching team to assist him.

Birmingham were still among the better set-piece sides in the second tier last season, and if Fry can work his magic and add even more goals from corners and free kicks, he could arguably be one of the more important additions at the club this summer.