Birmingham's final games crucial for Davies - Clarkson

Former Birmingham City defender Ian Clarkson believes the future of Blues boss Chris Davies will depend on how they finish the season.

A run of one win in six, including a 1-0 defeat at Derby, has left them five places and 10 points adrift of the Championship top six with just seven games left.

"We're not going to make the play-offs, but I do think the next seven games will be really, really crucial for Chris Davies," Clarkson told BBC WM.

"For me, he gets the rest of the season, absolutely. But if it peters out and tails off quite drastically in the next seven games, he could be putting himself in a scenario where the club looks somewhere else perhaps."

Davies was appointed in June 2024 and led the relegated Blues straight back to the Championship in 2024-2025.

Whilst Birmingham have taken 35 points from 19 home matches this season, they've managed only five away wins in 20 games, totalling 18 points on the road.

Clarkson goes on: "What I would say, and this is quite applicable to a few teams in the Championship, is they're a vastly different proposition away from home.

"For the first time on Saturday, Chris Davies, who is normally incredibly vocal on the sidelines, was quite quiet by his standards. We did look a bit like we were clutching at straws."

Just seven months after their Championship promotion, the club's American owners were revealing plans for a new 62,000-seater stadium.

Clarkson says the club and its fans are highly ambitious: "This season reminds a bit like the old days; we had the big build-up at the start of the season, and we have spent some money on players, but for whatever reason it hasn't quite equated to what the owners want.

"You need a core of Championship-experienced players. It is a relentless league, and if you've got too many players who aren't used to the rigours of the league, it's really hard to find the consistency.

"There will be some games where you think, 'We've cracked it here' - Portsmouth 4-0, Millwall 4-0,Norwich 4-1,Coventry 3-2.

"Then all of a sudden, a week later it looks like a completely different team. A lot of that is to do with, for example, if you come from Germany, you're only playing 34 games a season; you have a winter break.

"If you're not used to it, it does take time. People don't normally want to hear that. They want to get promotion yesterday.

"But to do that, you probably have to sign lots of players in their late 20s with four or five seasons in the Championship under their belt, but to do that is also very expensive."