Chris Davies, former assistant to Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, set a new club record with Birmingham City as they clinched a spot in the promotion play-offs on Tuesday evening…
The St Andrew’s side made the trip to Bristol Rovers in League One and claimed a 2-1 win, with Keshi Anderson and Jay Stansfield finding the net.
Birmingham City now 11 points clear of Wrexham at the top of League One
Birmingham City are now 11 points ahead of Wrexham at the top of League One, with two games in hand. The top two teams in the league at the end of the season secure automatic promotion to the English Championship, while the teams finishing third to sixth compete in the play-offs.
While it would require a significant slump in form in their final eight matches to miss out on automatic promotion, Birmingham confirmed their place in the play-offs with Tuesday night’s victory.
The win marked Davies’ 37th of the season, setting a new record for the most victories in a single campaign in Birmingham’s history. The 40-year-old has led a remarkable campaign in his debut season as a manager.
Davies served as Rodgers’ assistant at Celtic for more than two and a half years during the manager’s initial tenure. In 2019, he followed Rodgers to Leicester and has now found himself at St Andrew’s six years on.
Ex Celt Tomoki Iwata has played a key role for the former Celtic assistant manager
Former Celtic midfielder Tomoki Iwata now plays under the stewardship of Davies following his permanent transfer last summer.
Iwata has played a crucial role in their promotion bid, contributing seven goals and two assists from midfield. With eight league matches and an EFL Trophy final still to play, Davies and his players are set for a memorable season.
The Celtic support will be delighted for both Chris Davies and Tomoki Iwata who is way too good a player to be in the third tier of English football. You’d expect Birmingham City to do well in the Championship next season too.
Conor Spence
A MOTY What If – Treble Winning Brendan Rodgers or Europa League winning Barry Ferguson…
Iwata going for £1m has always been perplexing. Reportedly bought for around £1m. Sold him for same. Always showed strength and promise. Never really got a sustained run in order to develop. Should have been a loan to buy at the very least. I get a strong suspicion of personal favours being done and mates rates. Now we have a midfield that’s like a crisp poke caught in the vortex of a juggernaut when facing any team with pace and energy.