Birmingham City position is up for grabs as League One learns the blueprint

Birmingham City position is up for grabs as League One learns the blueprint.

Talking topics for Birmingham City following their first League One loss of the year under Chris Davies’ leadership

Yesterday afternoon, Charlton Athletic became the first team to defeat Birmingham City in League One.

The Blues’ seven-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten run came to an end at The Valley when Matty Godden scored the game’s lone goal.

In a match when the Blues produced very little, the visitors were, in fact, deserving winners. For the first time this season, the Blues did not score or even manage a shot on goal in a league match.

Here are our talking points after the first ‘off day’ of the season.

Blues can be pressed effectively

The term ‘bait the press’ is a new one on Blues fans but it’s important to the way Chris Davies wants to play. Blues haven’t had to bait many good presses this season with teams often content to sit back and not press them.

Charlton did the opposite. In fact, a colleague in the press box suggested Blues were tailor-made for Charlton. Blues weren’t able to get out all that often because of the relentless pressing of Charlton’s front two and the four midfielders behind them. Daniel Kanu was the thorn in Blues’ side.

The frustrating thing for Blues is they weren’t actually punished for the errors they made trying to play through Charlton’s press, it was a throw-in that wasn’t defended properly that proved to be their downfall.

Charlton have effectively created the blueprint to beat Davies’ Blues. It will be interesting to see whether other League One teams are brave enough to follow it.

The subs didn’t work

You can count on one finger the number of times we’ve said that this season. Davies went early with three substitutions at half-time, albeit one was enforced due to an injury to Krystian Bielik. Lyndon Dykes came on in the 60th minute and Alfons Sampsted was the final roll of the dice with 15 minutes to play.

None of those who came on had a significant impact on the game. In virtually every other game, Davies’ ability to change things has had an effect.

The fact that Blues’ bench couldn’t turn the game in their favour tells us that they aren’t invincible, even if they are better than their rivals.

The left-wing battle remains open

When you look at Blues’ team, it has the spine of a good Championship side. The two centre-backs, the two midfielders, Willum Willumsson and Jay Stansfield, can compete at the top end of the second tier. It’s out wide where Blues will require surgery.

And the left-wing is becoming quite the conundrum for Davies. Neither Emil Hansson or Keshi Anderson is setting the world alight as a starter.

Anderson has had moments off the bench and Hansson has threatened to take off. But neither has played with consistency, hence why they are still being chopped and changed.

Keep Right On

After the final whistle, Davies remained still on the touchline for a short while before shaking Nathan Jones’ hand and going through the post-match protocol. Davies might have entertained in his mind the possibility of an undefeated season, even if it was utterly improbable. He was, after all, a member of the Celtic coaching staff that oversaw a domestic 69-game winning streak.

After that, he moved to the 3,155 traveling supporters, who serenaded him with a spirited performance of Keep Right On. The Blues’ positive vibe remains intact despite their loss, as they continue to play well in Shrewsbury.

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