What Birmingham City fans chanted at Watford makes it clear what they think of Chris Davies | OneFootball

The travelling Bluenoses were less than impressed with their side's showing in Hertfordshire

Birmingham City's travelling supporters certainly made their feelings known early in the 3-0 defeat to in-form Watford at Vicarage Road on New Year's Day afternoon.

After ending a largely positive 2025 with successive 1-1 draws against Derby County and Southampton at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, the ideal New Year's resolution for Blues would have been just a third away victory of the campaign against the Hornets, who they defeated 2-1 on home turf exactly one month beforehand.

However, they would be the masters of their own downfall away from the Second City once again, as Chris Davies' side suffered yet another 3-0 defeat, a repeat of the scoreline suffered in their previous away encounter in the Championship against Sheffield United on December 20th.

After scoring just four times for the Hornets in his previous 69 appearances after signing back in June 2023 on a free transfer, experienced midfielder and second tier campaigner, Thomas Ince, netted a hat-trick for Javi Gracia's side as they moved up to fourth in the table on goal difference, whilst further results across the afternoon saw Birmingham drop to 17th, having taken 31 points from their opening 25 outings since returning to the division as League One champions.

Ironically, Birmingham's last victory came against Watford in the reverse fixture in front of the Sky Sports cameras, picking up just three further points in the following seven encounters - all of which came at St. Andrew's in frustrating draws against Charlton Athletic and the aforementioned Rams and Saints.

It is now six defeats in the past seven away league games for Davies' men, who have only taken maximum points on their travels against Blackburn Rovers on August 16th and Preston North End on October 21st.

Despite implementing a brand of football which saw them romp to the third tier title at a 19-point canter last season, a handful of tweaks from Davies this time around haven't had the most desired of affects, particularly away from home.

It has often been debated that an under-pressure manager - which Davies reportedly is at this moment in time amid links to former Middlesbrough boss, Michael Carrick - will have his job on the line if those who travel to each and every away fixture voice their opinions extremely strongly, which certainly proved to be the case in Hertfordshire.

Birmingham City supporters make their feelings known to Chris Davies with ironic chant in Watford loss

Davies, of course, was forced to watch this particular encounter from the press box after being dismissed against Southampton on Monday, leaving his assistant, Ben Petty, as the main figure on the touchline.

It was the worst possible start for Blues when Ince bagged his first after nine minutes, before eventually going on to complete his hat-trick by the hour-mark ahead of a 77th-minute substitution.

Despite a handful of changes once again being made by Davies, which included the major blow of Jay Stansfield not being involved at all through injury, the West Midlands outfit threatened to lay a glove on the Hornets, producing just six efforts throughout the 90-plus minutes, only two of which were on target.

Of course, Birmingham supporters have been used to seeing their side dominate possession under the 40-year-old's management, and that remained the case against Watford. However, as has been the case far too often recently, much of this was down to plenty of passes without forcing the initiative.

As such, this led to ironic chants of "Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go," from the sold-out away end, to the well-known tune of the Beautiful South's 'Rotterdam (or anywhere).

Chris Davies issues intriguing response to Birmingham City chants at Watford

Blues supporters are often described as some of the most vocal in the country, particularly away from St. Andrew's, and it is evident from the above footage that, whilst it can be described as 'gallows humour', there was certainly an element of anger and frustration as to how Davies' side were, and have been, performing.

As such, the Blues boss issued a rather intriguing take on said chant in his post-match assessment, stating to Birmingham Live: "I didn’t hear the chanting. In terms of the style of football, we’re a team that tries to be aggressive, tries to press the opposition and keep the ball close to their goal, try to dominate the ball but create chances with it."

It will be somewhat of a relief to Bluenoses that their next fixture comes at St. Andrew's, where they boast a rather impressive record, losing just one league encounter on home turf since April 2024.

Despite the fact their next outing comes against Coventry City, the second tier leaders have showcased that they are not fully unstoppable in recent times too, having won just twice in their past seven games, with two of those outings also resulting in defeats to Ipswich Town.