Why Chris Davies has nowhere to hide at Birmingham City - Tom Wagner wants one thing | OneFootball

Blues have enjoyed an extremely successful window in their bid to secure a play-off spot

The winter transfer window is often described as a period which is very difficult to complete a plethora of transfer dealings, regardless of how necessary they are to any given club.

However, Birmingham City have paid no attention to that particular description in recent weeks, as the West Midlands side hope to give themselves a key advantage over several Championship rivals in the fight for a play-off spot in the final weeks of the season.

Chris Davies has certainly endured a mixed second season in charge at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, albeit the Blues boss has been able to recently address an inconsistent first half of the season with a largely impressive run of form and further statement signings in the transfer market.

In the lead-up to the now-closed window, it was widely discussed that the 40-year-old, alongside director of football, Craig Gardner, had to identify several targets in an array of positions in which the availability or performances of specific players had come under the microscope.

The now-closed window also allowed Davies and his recruitment team the chance to facilitate a greater number of incomings if they were able to successfully offload numerous players who had seen gametime diminish over the course of the campaign, as well as those who had been plying their respective trades elsewhere.

It has been well-documented that both of those predicaments have occurred heading into the final quarter of the campaign, meaning that there is now very little room for error on Davies' part if he is to grant the wish of majority owner, Tom Wagner, in the club's first season back at Championship level.

After regaining their status in the second tier through a record-breaking season in League One, many were intrigued to see how Birmingham would fare this season, as well as Davies' individual performance as a manager, in what is his first-ever season in the second tier on that front.

Despite having the backbone of a competent Championship squad at his disposal, the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant welcomed a raft of 14 new players on permanent or loan deals throughout the summer window, although the vast majority of those have certainly split opinion as the season progresses.

An inconsistent first half of the season, with results and styles of play differing on the road in comparison to performances at St. Andrew's meant that changes were a must if Blues were able to achieve Wagner's pre-season dream of back-to-back promotions.

That has certainly proven to be the case in terms of results and the overall outlook of the squad, whilst the ambition of Knighthead Capital Management has remained very much the same.

Birmingham City have to deliver a play-off finish after Tom Wagner's continued backing of Chris Davies

As previously mentioned, it has been a mixed campaign for Davies, who has seen his position as Blues boss come under scrutiny at various points.

However, whilst there continues to be a split of opinion amongst Bluenoses, it was confirmed at the start of January that he would continue to lead the club forward.

After spending two eight-figure sums to lure both Jay Stansfield and Kyogo Furuhashi throughout his tenure as statement additions, it's fair to say that, whilst a handful of Birmingham's winter additions fall into a similar category, they have been finalised with understandable logic.

Davies has been able to address a key issue of depth and quality at left-back with the acquisition of Kai Wagner, who has already made a strong impression with two assists.

Girona FC and Brighton loanees Jhon Solis and Ibrahim Osman both put in strong performances to ensure Blues recorded a second successive away league win against Oxford United last time out, with debutant and £7m signing, Carlos Vicente, also registering a sublime maiden assist to help Marvin Ducksch record his eighth goal of the campaign.

Davies also added to an already strong frontline with the exciting acquisition of August Priske from Djurgardens on a five-and-a-half year contract, as well as rectifying a glaring issue in terms of centre-back depth with a short-term deal for one-time Championship play-off winner, Jonathan Panzo.

The addition of such quality and experience also came after 13 fringe players exited the club, with supporters believing the Blues squad is now in a much stronger position than the one which was at Davies' disposal for the New Year's Day defeat at Watford.

As such, the expectation now will firmly be a play-off place, with Birmingham currently five points behind Wrexham ahead of their final 16 matches.