Exclusive: Don Goodman reveals the EFL Championship's most exciting manager - I've "loved his work" | OneFootball

One manager has been identified as the Championship's most exciting

The Championship is home to 24 managers who all have their own unique traits and abilities.

Gone are the days of an overwhelming number of traditional coaches taking charge of the clubs up and down the EFL, as recent times have seen an influx of new, more modern tacticians ply their trade in English football’s second-tier.

The 2025/26 Championship campaign sees a real mix of operators in the dugouts across the country. Old school bosses such as Mark Robins and Phil Parkinson still fit the mould of the EFL coaches of yesteryear, with the former getting Stoke City off to a brilliant start this term.

Young, exciting managers like Will Still, Ryan Mason and Alan Sheehan are underway with their maiden permanent first-team manager roles in English football and are dealing with the dilemmas the Championship brings for the first time.

Gerhard Struber, Paulo Pezzolano and Julien Stephan have switched jobs abroad for the English second-tier, looking to use some of their influences from around the globe to their sides’ advantage.

Each manager has their own attributes and beliefs that they assert on the training ground and in the dressing room to make their teams unique in how they want to play, which creates compelling battles on a weekly basis.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit and former EFL striker, Don Goodman, has revealed who he believes is currently the most exciting coach in the Championship.

Don Goodman highlights the Championship's most exciting manager

“There are loads and loads of established managers operating in the Championship that we know what they're all about,” stated Goodman.

“That doesn't make them any less exciting, but we know all about them.

“So, one who's making the journey that I like in the early embers of his career is Chris Davies at Birmingham City.

“This is his second season. He produced a really brilliant team last season. They were on the front foot, an attacking team and he seems to be in the process of doing the same in the Championship this season.

“So, I'm certainly one who has loved his work so far and hopefully he can continue that.”

Chris Davies will need to get Birmingham City back on track amid dip in form

Chris Davies’ short career as a first-team manager has heralded much success, as he guided Birmingham City to their record-breaking, title-winning League One triumph last term.

The Blues played excellent football throughout and much credit must go to the 40-year-old for keeping his squad consistent across 46 games.

However, the Second City side had far and away the best team in the division and anything other than promotion would’ve been a severe shortcoming.

That isn’t the case in the Championship, but Blues did invest heavily in the summer and will expect to be fighting towards the top six come May.

Birmingham have lost their last two league outings, against Leicester City and Stoke City respectively and were firmly the second-best team on both occasions.

Coupled with an embarrassing EFL Cup exit at the hands of League One side Port Vale, Davies must not let this poor blip turn into a negative spiral.

If so, Blues could quickly slip down the Championship table, which isn’t what is expected of them with the squad they possess.