Chris Davies facing Birmingham City pressure - Ambitious Blues owners may be starting to sweat | OneFootball

A 3-0 loss to Coventry City at the weekend could pile on the pressure for Chris Davies at Birmingham City

A 3-0 defeat to Coventry City on Saturday could put Birmingham City boss Chris Davies under a lot of pressure in these early stages of the campaign, with the Second City side yet to deliver on expectation and a strongly-yielded summer transfer warchest.

Goals from Brandon Thomas-Asante and Victor Torp, as well as an own goal from Bright Osayi-Samuel, left the Blues well behind their promotion rivals at the CBS Arena.

There are three points between the two sides after seven games, but also eight of their rivals fill that gap in the table.

The Championship is proving a much fiercer competition for the Midlands outfit than gaining promotion from League One was last year. That is, of course, to be expected, although the level and expenditure of Birmingham's summer recruitment bid meant that they have been widely tipped to compete for successive promotions.

Given the club’s very ambitious owners, anything less than a firm promotion push even in these early stages, will have Davies under immense pressure from Tom Wagner.

Birmingham City's mixed Championship form under Chris Davies

Birmingham were tipped by many to be in the promotion fight before the campaign got underway due to the lofty aims of the American owners at St. Andrew’s.

Wagner has made it clear on many occasions that he sees the club being in the Premier League as part of his long-term plans for the Blues.

The building of a new 62,000-seater stadium also demands top flight football, with huge plans in place for training facilities in the sports quarter.

Spending in the transfer market over the last 12 months or so has also raised a lot of eyebrows, with Jay Stansfield’s £15 million move to the team last year when they were in League One still standing out in particular.

Last summer saw the arrivals of players like Kyogo Furuhashi and Marvin Ducksch, both of whom are yet to contribute a goal in the Championship.

The prominence of Lyndon Dykes in these early weeks is a possible warning sign for Davies, as the Scot is someone who has been way down the pecking order over the last year, and yet he’s the team’s joint top scorer after seven games.

The 3-0 defeat to Coventry highlighted the gulf in quality between Birmingham and Frank Lampard’s side, which will be a big concern for Davies.

If performances don’t improve soon, then perhaps Wagner will be starting to sweat over the club’s ambitions for this season.

Especially with other defeats to Stoke City and Leicester City also fresh in the mind.

Chris Davies’ warning for Birmingham City form may not be enough

Davies warned earlier this month that it could take until the October international break before his squad starts to gel.

He referred to the number of signings made, suggesting that so many have arrived that they will need time to grow together.

So, he was likely unsurprised to lose to Coventry, who have mostly kept the same squad as the one from last year in comparison.

But the manner of the defeat is what’s most startling for the 40-year-old, who has taken his first step into senior management with this role at St. Andrew’s.

Not only was it a punishing 3-0 scoreline, but Birmingham failed to even register a single shot on target and only had 36 per cent of the ball. Davies has invariably favoured a controlled, possession-based approach during his time at Blues, so the fact they surrendered that to Coventry is a cause for concern.

It was a game in which they were dominated by superior opposition, which will not be good enough for Wagner and his lofty Premier League aims.

It is still early days in the season, and Birmingham do still have 10 points from their opening seven fixtures, but more performances like that will only pile on the pressure.

The success in League One will be quickly forgotten if these struggles continue, with goals proving a particularly pressing issue.

The Blues have scored just five times in the Championship despite all of the money spent on improving their attacking firepower.

Wagner has also shown in the past that he is not afraid to pull the trigger on a managerial change.

The decision to bring Wayne Rooney in to replace John Eustace was ruthless, if misguided, and he did not wait around to change his mind again when things weren’t working under the ex-England international.