Chris Davies situation is turning heads at Birmingham City but Tom Wagner can't afford Wayne Rooney 2.0 | OneFootball

Blues are enduring the first tricky period of Chris Davies' time in charge

Birmingham City's well-publicised ambitions have very much put the spotlight on developments at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in both the short and long-term, with Chris Davies feeling the heat at present.

Blues had previously become a stagnant Championship club, with the atmosphere in B9 on matchdays often apathetic instead of upbeat, something which Knighthead Capital Management have clearly changed across two years.

Tom Wagner has been heralded as a saviour in these parts despite an initially chaotic first season at the club in 2023/24 which resulted in League One, although the club would respond to the major setback in tremendous fashion last term, becoming record setters in terms of the EFL's all-time points total.

Davies has also received mass plaudits throughout his 14-month spell in the West Midlands, regardless of the hefty investment and backing he has received.

It would be fair to say that his current predicament has split opinion among Bluenoses as the club endures its worst run since the 40-year-old took charge, with Tuesday's 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday at St. Andrew's making it one win in six games across all competitions, with the aforementioned Wagner watching on from the stands and looking understandably dissatisfied at full-time.

Yet, whilst some sections of the support-base claim the American should consider drastic action, Wagner must take the events of October 2023 into account, which proved to be a disastrous turning point.

Tom Wagner must remember John Eustace, Wayne Rooney mistake as Chris Davies pressure intensifies

Just two years ago, Blues marked the beginning of the Knighthead era in impressive fashion with John Eustace at the helm, with the then-Blues boss welcoming in a raft of new signings after one campaign with little investment at his disposal under previous owners, BSHL.

Birmingham went unbeaten in their opening five encounters with two wins and three draws before suffering a run of one draw and three defeats following the first international break of the campaign. At this point, speculation regarding Eustace's immediate future began to surface, with Wayne Rooney being named as a potential replacement.

However, Blues comfortably put Huddersfield Town and local rivals, West Bromwich Albion to the sword by an aggregate score of 7-2 over a three-day period, although the latter of those would be the last of Eustace's 63 games in the dugout, with the aforementioned Rooney immediately being drafted in as his replacement as the club attempted to bring "no fear" football to St. Andrew's.

It couldn't have transpired any worse in truth, with the players at the Liverpudlian's disposal clearly unable to transition to a possession-based style imminently, with it taking the ex-England forward six games to record the first of his two victories in charge.

By January 2024, Blues had slumped from the play-offs to 20th place, with Rooney's final game being a 3-0 defeat to Leeds United, with his tenure coming to an end after just 83 days with a win percentage of just 13%.

Of course, there were several other factors which led to the club's relegation on the final day with 50 points, such as a further four permanent or temporary bosses, yet it was clear that Wagner had pinpointed the downfall on events back in the autumn, and he can ill-afford to make a similar mistake this time around.

Tom Wagner will hope Chris Davies can turn Birmingham City fortunes around

It has been far from a disastrous start for Birmingham since promotion, with a tally of 11 points from eight games normally accepted by a side who have just come up from the third tier.

However, as has been well-documented, the club are not in the division to purely consolidate. This was showcased by the array of high-profile signings adding to what was already a competent Championship-level squad, although it has been argued that not all bases were adequately covered in the summer window.

As was the case in League One, Blues have remained dominant in terms of possession, yet despite having several established creators and goalscorers in their ranks, that hasn't translated into goals or a consistent run of form.

Understandably, summer recruit Kyogo Furuhashi has been backed to eventually click once he finds his first Championship goal, having missed several big chances, whilst Stansfield has netted three goals thus far.

It continues to be a major worry that Davies' side are scoring less than one goal on average thus far, as well as averaging one of the lowest shots on target counts and underperforming xG data.

Injuries and suspensions have also played a part in what has been an unbalanced rearguard of late, and one that was ruthlessly exposed by Leicester, Stoke, Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday in the last month or so.

With the October international break looming large, this provides Davies and his side with an ideal chance to reset and take stock of where they are, regardless of the club's lofty off-pitch plans and Wagner's previously stated ambitions which, in many ways, could prove detrimental.