Craig Gardner makes Tom Wagner revelation after “disastrous” Birmingham City moment.

Birmingham City’s Director of Football Craig Gardner has revealed what Tom Wagner said to him after the club suffered relegation from the Championship last season.

Blues are on track to return to the second tier at the first attempt, and after defeating Stevenage 2-1 at St. Andrew’s on Tuesday evening, their advantage at the top of the League One table has grown to 14 points.

Chris Davies’ team is only weeks away from gaining promotion to the Championship, and he deserves a lot of credit for helping the West Midlands club take that first step back towards their ultimate ambition of reaching the Premier League.

Birmingham will go to Northampton Town on Saturday to maintain their lead in League One and attempt to smash the points record  which is currently held by Wolverhampton Wanderers when they won the title with 103 points in 2013/14.

Craig Gardner drops Tom Wagner post-relegation reveal

To many Blues fans, the club’s relegation feels like a distant memory, with this season restoring confidence in the club’s foundations and re-establishing the club’s reputation.

Birmingham has made significant progress in the recent 10 months, starting with a victory over Norwich City in May 2024.

Gardner, the Blues’ director of football and a former player, recalled what Wagner told him when the club’s third-tier position was confirmed.

In an interview with Birmingham’s match day program, Blues News, he said, “It was a low moment for me.”

“I remember sitting in my seat after the game, all the fans had left, and I was thinking, ‘This is disastrous.'”

“And then I noticed Tom Wagner walking over. He sat with me, wrapped his arm over me, and asked, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘No, not really!’ His instant answer was, ‘Don’t worry.'”

 

Gardner said, “I said, ‘Tom, we’ve just been relegated; what do you mean don’t worry?'” And he said, ‘We will make sure you have everything you need to get this team back into the Championship, back into the Premier League, and back to where it belongs. And you will take the lead in that.

“When you look at that moment, that is proper leadership from an owner to come down and make sure that, A, I’m OK, and B, to spell out just where we are going.”

Birmingham are showing no signs of slowing down this season

Last week, the Blues suffered their first league defeat since November against Bolton Wanderers, but they have since rebounded with victory over Lincoln City and Stevenage.

Promotion is within sight, and it is quite probable that they will return to the Championship at the start of April, which will thrill Gardner and Wagner as they seek to rectify the wrongs of last season.

Birmingham will not be complacent under Davies’ leadership, and League One rivals can expect them to be blazing on all cylinders until the end of the season as they aim for the league crown.

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