Chris Davies Interview with Henry Winter

He finds encouraging echoes of Vardy in Alfie May, Birmingham’s £775,000 signing from Charlton Athletic. “There’s little things Alfie does that remind me of Vards. They’re really intelligent, they read the intention of a defender, they can read a transition that’s upcoming, and they’re already half a second on the move. Vards was an exceptional finisher, so clinical and again that’s something that we’ve tried to bring here with Alfie.”

Then Birmingham came calling. “I got offered jobs in the Championship and so I was never really thinking about coming to League One. I was at Spurs, one of the biggest clubs in the country. I was thinking if I’m going to step out to be a manager it’s going to be top end in the Championship at least.” But he examined the clubs, their owners and resources. “Probably 20 Championship teams say they want to get promoted but only six have the budget.” He could see the risks.

He was far more impressed with Wagner, Knighthead and Blues. “I knew enough about the club to know that it’s a sleeping giant but the owners are really ambitious people. They’ve already pledged money to [a new £2bn] Sports Quarter in Birmingham. I’ve looked through the plans and it’s really impressive, not just the 60,000 stadium, it’s everything else for the community. It’s a little bit like the impact of Manchester City in terms of that area of Manchester.

“These are serious people, all successful in their own field, and they’re backing this club and they’re going to get it there basically. If it’s not me it’s going to be someone else who’s going to do it eventually so this is the time to come and lead this club.”