Birmingham boss Chris Davies talks to Sky. “It’s the first game … we have a long season ahead of us … I was pleased we got a home game … it’s a bit of a celebration at getting promoted and our first game back at this level … we can share that with our fans … we are expecting a really tough match … the favourites … a really strong team … it suits the occasion … we must prove we can compete … the next game is the most important one and this is it … the next league is usually quicker so we tried to address that … speed and athleticism … could we get more of that in the team? … I think we have managed to do that … more goal threats … we won a lot of games by just a goal … set pieces as well … quality of delivery … still a way to go before I have a squad that is complete and we are happy with … we can’t wait for this game to get going.”
Birmingham co-owner Tom Wagner is at St Andrew’s tonight, and he chats to Sky Sports. “Chris Davies has been unbelievable … for his first coaching gig to set a points record … to dominate the way he did is a testament to the way he prepares the team and squad … keeps them motivated … very, very pleased with the work he has done … with Tom Brady there is no such thing as ‘good enough’, you are either striving for excellence every single day or you may as well find somewhere else to be … that holds true for every member of the organisation … that’s what it takes for us to get to where we want to be … my expectations are that everybody performs at their very best … every member of staff … the folks we don’t see every day … the highest level … it sounds trite to say it, but that’s the reality … I certainly will have nothing to offer on who we should recruit, how we should play and what they should do for the 90 minutes, but I can certainly help with the culture and the attitude … thinking about the game and the experience as a supporter might … what would I want if I were on the other side of the wall? … if you keep that mindset and remember the club is theirs and not ours, you get 99 percent of the way there … we care about this city and the people who live and work here … I trust people will take me at my word when I say that.”
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna speaks to Sky, and is asked for his thoughts on his side being favourites for promotion. “It’s a positive … it reflects we’ve done some good things over the last few years … in the end it doesn’t mean very much, you have to earn the right every game, every week … there is a lot of work ahead of us … we are ready for the challenge … it’s not alien to us … in League One we were one of the promotion favourites … our depth isn’t what it needs to be in some positions … we’re pretty tight … we expect to be stronger in a few weeks’ time … [Ajax striker Chuba Akpom] has been well publicised … it’s one we’re trying to get done … we’re hoping for good news on that one.”
Birmingham name three debutants in their starting XI. Kyōgo, formerly of Celtic, starts up front, while Bright Osayi-Samuel and Phil Neumann line up at the back. Demarai Gray makes his second debut for his boyhood club, having since played for Leicester, Bayer Leverkusen, Everton and Al-Ittifaq.
Ipswich have one new name in their starting line-up: midfielder Azor Matusiwa. Ashley Young, 40 last month, is on the bench waiting for his first start since his move from Everton.
Birmingham City and Ipswich Town return to the Championship tonight, albeit from different directions, and possibly therefore in different moods. Birmingham slummed it in League One last season, racking up 111 points on their way to the second third-tier title in their history; meanwhile Ipswich, having reached the Premier League arguably ahead of schedule, won just four games all season and were cashiered back from whence they came.
Ipswich’s sorry fate won’t have any bearing on the ambitions of these two clubs. Town want to bounce back to the top flight immediately, and are the short-priced favourites to win this division; Birmingham fancy following in Ipswich’s footsteps, given the Tractor Boys were the last team to leap from League One to the Premier League with successive promotions, and they’re third-favourites in the race for glory. Everyone can work out how to stay in the Premier League when they get there.
An exciting way to begin the Championship season, then. The match kicks off at 8pm UK time, and if we can get through the entire evening without reference to either Tom Brady or Ed Sheeran that’ll also be great.
