Exclusive: Birmingham City make Chris Davies sack decision, new manager shortlist emerges
Birmingham City are drawing up a shortlist of manager replacements as Chris Davies fights to keep his job, sources have told Football Insider.
The 40-year-old is expected to survive Saturday’s 3-0 Championship defeat at Sheffield United.
But Davies is under huge pressure to turn around ambitious Birmingham’s fortunes.
Sources say that the former Tottenham coach must oversee wins against Derby County and Southampton in the team’s next two matches, both of which are at home, to stay as manager.
The club’s US owners have targeted back-to-back promotions and have set aside cash to invest in the squad in January’s transfer window.
Birmingham are 14th in the table after Saturday’s round of matches but they are six points from the final play-off spot.
Birmingham City previously came close to dismissing Davies
Saturday’s defeat continues a streak of horrendous form under Davies, with the Blues now suffering defeats in three of their last four matches.
Davies previously had two weeks to save his job in late October, and a string of victories ensured that he remained at St. Andrew’s.
Yang Hyun-Jun has been targeted at Birmingham to help improve their fortunes as they prepare for the January window.
It remains to be seen if the manager can pull off another strong run of form to remain in a job at St. Andrew’s.
Birmingham’s chances of promotion dwindling
According to Opta on 20 December, the defeat has now left Birmingham in a difficult position to win promotion.
The supercomputer insists that the Blues have just a 10.58 per cent chance of going up through the playoffs.
Getting into the Premier League this season through coming second or winning the title is even lower at just 0.56 per cent and 0.04 per cent.
Overall, Birmingham are on track to finish 14th according to Opta’s estimations, far away from the ambitions of promotion that were present at the start of the season.
Only time will tell if Davies, or any potential incoming manager, will be able to turn this around before the campaign ends.