From Steve Evans to Phil Parkinson and Matt Bloomfield, here is what League One managers have said about Birmingham City…
Birmingham City are steamrolling their way through League One without a second thought.
Blues have made a flying start to the season with five wins from their first six games and hold the only unbeaten record in the third tier. They are only second on goal difference and have a game-in-hand on league leaders Wrexham, who they dismantled at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park this time last week.
Chris Davies’ team were favourites for the title before the season started and they are living up to their billing as things stand. They have been aided by a quite extraordinary summer transfer window, which saw the club recruit 17 new players and spend in excess of £20 million.
After Blues cruised past Rotherham United on Saturday, Millers manager Steve Evans labelled them ‘the best League One side I’ve ever seen’. Evans isn’t the first manager to praise Blues this season, and he isn’t the first to reference their summer spending, as he did consistently in the pre-match build-up.
With that in mind, we have dug out the quotes from each manager on Blues. In addition to their six League One games, Blues also met fellow third tier side Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup in mid-August. Here is everything League One bosses have said about Blues…
Ruben Selles (Reading)
Selles is the only manager who hasn’t paid Blues much lip service. The Spaniard’s Reading side impressed at St Andrew’s on the opening day and he chose to focus on them before and after the match.
Speaking beforehand, Selles said: “Everyone invests the money they have or want in the club as long as they can be sustainable. Not many clubs can support that level of finance.
“Sometimes you need money to create good teams, sometimes you have a good academy and you can create a good team. There are lots of different ways to do it. But it’s played by 11 players and about which team is better not how much money you spend.”
Nathan Jones (Charlton)
When Blues beat Charlton 1-0 at The Valley in August, Jones spent his post-match press conference talking up the budget available to his opposite number. He then added: “These are expected to walk the league. Not win the league, walk it. And the margins were very small between the two teams. We’re in a decent place.”
Matt Bloomfield (Wycombe)
Wycombe manager Bloomfield was fulsome in his praise, saying: “Birmingham City are going to get promoted this season. Absolutely – they remind me of what Ipswich did a couple of years ago.
“They’ve gone and recruited an incredible young coach, they’re spending millions and millions of pounds on the backroom staff, on the playing staff, on everything, and there’s no point spending all that money if you’re not going to do it right. They’re doing it right and properly.”
Richie Wellens (Leyton Orient)
Speaking after his side narrowly lost to Blues in August, Wellens said: “I thought we were the better team, by far the better team. They’ve got quality, obviously, but we were the better team and definitely should have got something out of it.
“They can have passages where they pass it between the defenders and the goalkeeper so it takes the sting out of it, but I thought for the first half hour of the second half they didn’t get out of their own half. I’m disappointed but proud because you only have to look at what they’ve got and what they’ve spent. We’re a team of free transfers – not one player of ours cost a penny. You look at the riches that they have and I thought we were better than them.”
Shaun Maloney (Wigan)
Before the game, Wigan boss Maloney – who spent time at Aston Villa during his playing career – couldn’t have been more flattering. He said: “When you look at the resources and the level of investment at Birmingham, it’s them and then the rest of the league in my opinion. They’re a really good team with really good players. I know the left-back (Alex Cochrane) from Hearts – really good player. If you look at the financial side of things, it shouldn’t be a contest.”
Afterwards, Maloney reflected: “When you compare the teams, the level of investment, our academy players, what they did today was very good. I’ve honestly never been as proud as I have been watching a team like that come and really play, I think that’s why I’m so disappointed.”
Phil Parkinson (Wrexham)
Wrexham – who have crusaded through the leagues thanks in no small part to the spending power of Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – lost their unbeaten record to Blues and Parkinson was quick to point to a difference in resources afterwards.
“Birmingham have had an extraordinary opportunity this summer with the resources they have had,” said Parkinson. “Every player we were going for, they were going for them and outbidding us or offering more wages. It was almost ‘let them sign who they want and everyone else will look for what else is out there’.
“No-one can compete in this division in terms of their spending and it would have been absolute madness to say we could compete with Birmingham City’s spending, it’s just impossible. They have spent more than any other club outside the Premier League. But, listen, if I was in their position with those resources available, you’d get the best possible players you can and that’s what they’ve done.”
Parkinson stopped short of handing Blues the League One title, adding: “As much as we don’t want to get too carried away with this defeat, we don’t want to get too carried away with Birmingham.
“It was a good performance from them and they are unbeaten. But there’s a lot of football to be played. But of course with the options they have got off the bench, they are going to take some beating. They have got talent and are a decent side.”
Steve Evans (Rotherham)
Evans dubbed Blues ‘the Galacticos of League One’ and ‘Real Birmingham’ in the week leading up to the match at the New York Stadium, but he focussed less on their finances after watching his team get pulled apart on the pitch
