'What are they doing?' - Lyle Taylor slams Birmingham City ownership | OneFootball

The former Blues loanee has had plenty to say on Knighthead's running of the club

Former Birmingham City loanee, Lyle Taylor, has criticised the 'Americanisation' of the West Midlands outfit ahead of the 2026/27 Championship season.

Speaking on the BBC's '72+' podcast, the 36-year-old believes that Blues' American investors, Knighthead Capital Management, are somewhat attempting to take away the identity which has become synonymous with the club throughout its 151 years of history.

With the 2026/27 Championship season just a matter of days away, Chris Davies' side will be hoping to lay an early marker down when they travel to Sheffield United on Saturday.

It has been an interesting summer of activity this year also, although the number of players who have come through the door in B9 with under three weeks until Deadline Day is far less than that of 12 months ago, which has certainly split opinions.

However, what is also likely to split opinion is Taylor's assessment of Knighthead, who are certainly more than popular in this part of Birmingham.

Lyle Taylor criticises Knighthead for attempting to change Birmingham City's identity

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Majority owner, Tom Wagner, recently marked his third year at St. Andrew's after completing an initial deal in July 2023 to buy the club from controversial former consortium, Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited.

It has, in typical Blues fashion, been a hectic three-year period, with Knighthead's first season seeing six permanent or temporary managers take the reins as a positive start under John Eustace ended in relegation.

As well as breaking the EFL's points record in 2024/25, Birmingham parted with more than £15m to sign Jay Stansfield on a permanent basis, and have since confirmed plans to move into the 62,000-seater Powerhouse Stadium as part of the upcoming Sports Quarter complex.

And, after hearing former Ipswich captain, Chambers, explain why Blues are his 'dark horse' for promotion, Taylor criticised the off-pitch philosophy in B9.

"I think, at Blues, it's very different (to Wrexham) because beyond that, sat on the board, you've got an attempted gentrify of a football club, which has never been what Blues have ever been about," he said.

"They're trying to open restaurants in the stands and closing boxes. You just think, 'what are you doing'.

"This isn't America," Taylor claimed. "This isn't how we do football here.

"Just put your money into the football club, show the fans you're willing to drive the off-pitch stuff forward, and they will love and back you as an owner.

"It's just whether they can separate the nonsense that comes with the Americanisation of football from the football club," he added.

Birmingham City are a different club to when Lyle Taylor was on loan

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Taylor clearly has no ill-feelings towards Birmingham as a club, but it is a very different one to the one he played 14 times and scored five goals for in 2022 on loan from Nottingham Forest.

A winner against West Bromwich Albion was his standout moment, but St. Andrew's was also half-closed due to mandatory repair works in the Kop and Tilton Road stands, both of which have been reopened, and the ground is sold out most weeks.

Naturally, Knighthead have attempted to bring a flavour of America to B9, and that has been emphasised in many ways, such as having seven-time Super Bowl winner and advisory board chairman, Tom Brady, as the face of an Amazon Prime docuseries telling the club's fortunes in 2023/24 and 2024/25 to a global audience.

Such developments have, of course, split opinion, but in the eyes of many Blues fans, Wagner can't have done much more to bring a sense of life back to St. Andrew's

Birmingham City's chances of promotion in 2026/27 assessed

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Having made five signings so far this season, Blues fans will be hoping for more movement between now and September 1st to increase the club's chances of pushing for the play-offs.

Last season, Davies' side struggled away from home in particular, but have already won away from the Midlands in the EFL Cup against Swansea City, which is an encouraging sign.

However, with the expansion of the play-offs, if Birmingham can address their greater shortcomings from the past year, there will be a sense they can, at least, secure a spot in seventh or eighth, which would mean an initial eliminator tie before the customary semi-finals and final.