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Times
27 minutes ago
- Times
Chris Davies: I spent my dream family holiday on Zoom calls with Tom Brady
On Thursday, a screen outside St Andrew's played excerpts from Amazon's new Birmingham City documentary. It kept looping back to a clip of Tom Brady: 'I have no f***ing fear. I have no fear in anything I do,' says the GOAT of American football. In his personable yet steely way, Chris Davies is similar. Last June there he was, only 39 but 20 years into his preparation — 20 years of working towards The Moment. That point where he would take the plunge and become a manager, his ambition since injury killed his playing dreams as a teenager. The former Welsh youth international had built such a reputation in coaching circles that for some time good offers, including from Championship clubs, were flying in. He turned them down. In football management, you're cooked if you don't get the first job right. Then Birmingham called. 'I knew I'd have six games. I was a complete unknown to most people and if I didn't get early results, I'd have been gone,' he says. 'But this one was different. It was a feeling in my gut.' So he took those dreams, those 20 years of careful preparation, and staked the lot on blue. A story that sums up Davies' mentality. He had said his goodbyes at Tottenham Hotspur, where he was assistant head coach to Ange Postecoglou, and arrived at St Andrew's with Birmingham's sporting director, Craig Gardner, and then chief executive, Garry Cook. Outside the main stand he met Jasper Carrott and remembers embarrassing himself somewhat by telling the comedian he was his hero. Then he went out to the pitch with the club historian who casually hit him with a fact. 'He said no team in English football, in the last five seasons, had lost more games than Birmingham City,' Davies recalls. 'I thought . . . wow. But then, it conversely excited me. I thought, 'What if we win more games than any team?' ' Davies went on to take Birmingham up from League One with an all-time English points record (111) and the most league victories (34) of any side in an English season. Of course, Birmingham had the biggest budget too and a hyper-ambitious ownership group including chairman Tom Wagner and minority investor Brady, and the cameras were rolling on the documentary Built in Birmingham: Brady & The Blues. All of that fuelled the expectancy that led Davies to calculate those six games were all he had. Yet he rather liked the thought. 'I want to be under pressure because I think that's when I'm at my best,' he says. His education was at clubs expected to win all the time. He was assistant coach to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool (and Swansea City) and Rodgers' No2 at Celtic and Leicester City. At Spurs, he took training while Postecoglou observed (Davies' departure was perhaps a factor in last season's slump). 'Even at Leicester we were at the higher end of the Premier League so I was used to teams who were going to have the ball and be dominant,' Davies says. 'I wasn't a specialist in relegation battles and thought the job here suited me more than one down at the bottom of the Championship.' He learned so much from Rodgers, stretching back to captaining his youth team at Reading, and describes his season with Postecoglou as 'finishing school'. 'Brendan's core is being able to set up a team to have possession of the ball and how Ange would want the team to train, let alone play, was just relentless. And it all connected with my own idea of how I want football to look like,' Davies says. 'What I want to see in players is an energetic team, but a brave team. A team that can get on the ball and play.' Davies' first competitive game was a 1-1 draw with Reading. In the comments section under the BBC match report, a fan wrote: 'If Birmingham think playing tippy tappy and possession-based football gets you promoted out of this league they will soon find out it doesn't.' However, Birmingham won the title by 19 points with an average 67.1 per cent possession, the highest in England's top-four leagues, while pressing the ball quicker than any team as well. 'As I said to the players, I've never seen myself as talented, I've seen myself as having a work ethic others won't always match,' Davies says. 'This club is working class to the core and our fan base want that reflected on the pitch. 'Tom [Brady] asked Sir Alex [Ferguson] about Birmingham and [Ferguson] spoke about how hostile St Andrew's is. There's an edginess to it. So I've been cautious that the football's not too pretty. The pressing gives you that.' I've known Davies since his days at Swansea, where initially he was Rodgers' opposition analyst, and he always stood out: a young British coach with a sharp and serious mind about the game, and gift for conveying concepts with clarity and passion. He traces his drive to being released by his hometown club, Watford, at 11, then after rebuilding at Reading having his playing career curtailed by a foot injury. 'The setbacks gave me a hunger and resilience I wouldn't have had,' he reflects. His 20s was a decade of pouring enormous energy into carving a coaching path. He took a BSc in sports and exercise science at Loughborough (graduating with first-class honours), coached at Leicester's academy then schlepped to New Zealand to coach at two academies there. His first talks with Wagner and Brady were video calls while in the Maldives with his wife and three children. 'I remember the calls. Six o'clock every day, the perfect time to go out for dinner with the kids. I've promised we'll go back there one day and actually enjoy the Maldives. It was our dream holiday and I spent it on Zoom, basically.' He and Brady have forged a connection. They converse two or three times a week, sometimes by video call, more usually on WhatsApp. 'Tom sent me a message today. We often talk back and forth about how the team's doing, training's going and one of his big things is process over outcome. He built his identity of success on what he did day to day,' Davies says. 'I've found there's a lot more layers to just that superficial Tom Brady [image] and as a person he's really switched on — and not just win, win, win all the time. He understands the challenges. He's been helpful to me in terms of high-performance culture and probably reminded me of Steven Gerrard. 'I've worked with some top, top players and Steven is a real reference point for me as an elite player, England captain, Liverpool captain. These people, they have this relentless drive. 'Harry Kane is another. These types are never satisfied. But typically they're really good people — they just have this aura.' Brady has organised Zoom calls for Davies with NFL coaches and regales him with stories about Bill Belichick, the legendary former New England Patriots head coach. 'How he pushed his players is sometimes very funny and not conventional,' Davies says. 'He would question them so they reacted. You've got to be careful with that, but as a psychologist and in terms of coaching strategy, from the stories Tom tells, he was incredible. He was very, very demanding — and that's what I've tried to be.' Knighthead, Wagner's ownership group, has already invested £35million in improving Birmingham's stadium, training ground and academy, and £100million in helping regenerate East Birmingham. Wagner's vision is to create a Sports Quarter with 62,000-capacity Birmingham City Stadium at its heart, at a projected cost of £3billion. Knighthead's original plan was for Premier League football by 2026 and it is thought the target is immediate promotion this season. Internal data and analytics suggest a top-two finish is possible. Davies' brow furrows momentarily, but he takes mention of this in his stride. 'I think everything is with a pinch of salt in the sense that we believe our squad is stronger than last year, but we need a few more pieces to be a real contender,' he says. Summer signings include Demarai Gray, whom he coached at Leicester and is returning to his first club from the Saudi Pro League. 'When Demarai is fired up he's as good as almost anyone and he needed something like this to really motivate him,' Davies says. Birmingham have also brought in James Beadle, the 6ft 7in, highly rated England Under-21 goalkeeper, and paid Rennes about £10million for the Japan striker and modern Celtic legend, Kyogo Furuhashi. Their opener is at home to Ipswich Town on Friday night and tickets were sold out a month ago. 'Looking at their squad, I would class Ipswich as favourites [for promotion], with Leicester potentially there. So to test ourselves against them is going to be a great start for us,' Davies says. 'St Andrew's will be louder than I've ever heard it. Next Friday under the lights is going to be one of those games to remember.' The quality he loved most in Postecoglou was his authenticity — 'Ange doesn't change for anyone,' Davies says, smiling — but while rising to be one of the hottest prospects in British coaching, Davies is no different to the helpful, young analyst I met when trying to tell the story of Swansea's rise 14 years ago. His children have been enjoying watching their cameos in the Amazon documentary, but what does he think of it? 'Well, the first thing I said when I watched it was, 'God, why do I swear so much?' I warned my parents. My dad comes to every game and my mum said, 'It's all right, don't worry'. She's heard it all before. 'I guess it's passion, and sometimes you don't realise you're doing it.' Birmingham City v Ipswich Town
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Test cricket needed a thrilling, feisty series like this - even if the schedule has been too tight, writes NASSER HUSSAIN
India will feel like they deserve to get on their flight home next week having drawn this exceptional series. They have won as many sessions as England, if not more. They have just been found wanting in some of the crucial moments. But they can put that right today. I have been hugely impressed with the character and fight they have shown throughout this series. Some people thought they might roll over after the way they lost at Headingley, but they have since shown what a tough side they are to beat. It is especially impressive when you consider they lost legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli right before the series. One thing you know about India, though, is that when great players retire, others will come along and make their mark. With the bat, the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rishab Pant have done just that. These are players who will take India into the future and score a lot of runs for them. They have also got two fantastic all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. And then you've got Mohammed Siraj, who has shown massive character and heart, particularly when Jasprit Bumrah has not played. With Chris Woakes going down injured for England, Siraj is the only fast bowler who has lasted the course of the series and put in spell after spell. He is the sort of bloke a captain absolutely loves. He lifts the team. I always talk about Darren Gough being that sort of person when I was England captain, and Siraj is that man for India. This series has been feisty and played with a bit of needle and I like that. I did not like Akash Deep putting his arm around Ben Duckett after he got him out on Friday. For me, any form of physical contact is a no-no. But in general, the fight between the teams has made it much more watchable. It has been great TV. We talked at the start of the summer about two iconic series coming up for England, India at home and then Australia away. When you build a series up, sometimes it can be a bit one-sided and deflating. But this has not disappointed and I think Test cricket needed a series like this. There have been so many memorable moments. There was that over at Zak Crawley on the last night at Lord's. You had Pant strolling down the stairs on one leg at Old Trafford, hobbling around as he batted with a broken foot. Here at the Oval, we saw Joe Root – the most mild-mannered, calm individual – going off at one after some verbals from Prasidh Krishna. Then there was Sai Sudharsan, another calm person, walking into the England huddle and having words with Duckett. Mohammed Siraj was bowled on the final day at Lord's as India tried to pull off an extraordinary victory I have enjoyed every single minute of it. The only downsides have been the pitches and the schedule. Make no mistake, this series needed this Oval pitch. Although every Test has gone to the last session, it has slightly been too much in favour of the bat. Here, ball has dominated bat just enough to make it an incredibly watchable match. As for the schedule, five Tests in six weeks has been too tight and the dates have also been odd. I agreed with Ben Stokes when he questioned why there have been two long turnarounds between Tests, of eight or nine days, and then two short ones of three days. It would be better to have a five-day break between them all. There has to be some leeway because every venue wants weekend cricket. But it is mad to push cricketers to the limit, especially on the pitches that they have played. You have to look after them. It is no surprise when you get to the last Test and you are without world-class cricketers like Bumrah and Stokes. It is a shame that after today we will not have any Test matches until the big one in Australia. Still, it is incredible that you can get to the 24th day of the series and you still do not know which way it will go. Of course, India are favourites to win today but, because of the way England play, you can never rule them out. A lot will depend on how this pitch plays, but the more the wicket does, the harder England will go at India. Who knows, we could yet see one final twist, with England needing 20 to win and them wheeling Chris Woakes out to bat with his arm in a sling. It would certainly be a fitting way to finish this thrilling summer.
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Hughes and Hunt win British 100m titles
UK Athletics ChampionshipsVenue: Alexander Stadium, Birmingham Dates: 2-3 AugustCoverage: BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website & app. View coverage details Zharnel Hughes and Amy Hunt claimed the 100m titles at the UK Athletics Championships as pole vaulter Molly Caudery also starred on day one in bronze medallist Hughes clocked a wind-assisted 9.94 seconds to cross the line ahead of Jeremiah Azu (9.97) and Louie Hinchliffe (10.01) and secure his place on the Great Britain team at September's World Championships in star Hunt, 23, also secured qualification by dominating the women's final in a personal best 11.02 after defending champion Daryll Neita was disqualified for a false must achieve a top-two finish in their events and have met the World Athletics entry standard to be assured of a place in the squad, which will be announced on 27 runner Hannah Nuttall and discus thrower Lawrence Okoye were among those to also triumph on Saturday and earn are 26 gold medals to be won on the final day of action at Alexander Stadium. Olympic 1500m medallist Georgia Hunter-Bell and Max Burgin qualified fastest for Sunday's 800m finals, while 400m favourites Amber Anning and Charlie Dobson also secured comfortable victories before their finals. A relaxed and confident Hughes turned his head and stared down his closest rivals as he cruised over the line in the final event of the 30-year-old came into the championships as the fastest Briton this year after his 9.91 run in Eugene in July, holding off world indoor 60m champion Azu and the fast-finishing who won last year's title to secure a fairytale rise from obscurity to Olympic qualification, and Azu have not achieved the sub-10 standard needed for the a dramatic start to the women's final, Neita, who had run a season's best 11.00 in a strong semi-final showing, was denied the chance to compete after making a slight movement in her starting her absence, former training partner Hunt finished well clear of Desiree Henry (11.32) and Faith Akinbileje (11.34).Hunt and Neita are doubling up in 200m, where they will have competition from former world champion Dina Asher-Smith. Caudery won the pole vault with a first-time clearance of 4.45m, before pushing herself to equal her best performance of the year by going over at 25-year-old won world indoor gold in a breakout 2024 season, during which she broke the British record with a 4.92m jump, but failed to qualify for the Olympic final."I've just been finding my flow again and figuring a few things out, so I didn't push it today, but it is really exciting to jump back over the 80s again and I'm hoping to attempt [the British record] soon," Caudery sealed her place on the team by winning the women's 5,000m in 15 minutes 46.90 seconds, having achieved the qualifying time before the 19-year-old Innes FitzGerald, who achieved the qualifying standard in breaking the European Under-20 record in London last month, must wait to see if she is selected after finishing third behind India confirmed his place in Tokyo by winning the men's discus with a 65.93m throw, while Anna Purchase threw a championship record 72.96m to win the women's hammer title - a distance within UK Athletics' (UKA) consideration standard. Elise Thorner, who also has the UKA standard and will go to Tokyo if she qualifies by world ranking - ran a championship record 9:22.05 to win the women's 3,000m Barrett clocked 13.06 to win a chaotic women's 100m hurdles final in which several athletes Duruaku and Charlie Husbands agreed to share the men's high jump title after both cleared 2.14m, while Alessandro Schenini won the men's long jump with 7.85m in the first Lincoln, who has the UKA standard, won an 11th consecutive men's shot put title with 20.77m, and Adelaide Omitowoju claimed women's triple jump gold with a personal-best Alisson won the men's javelin title with a personal best of 78.48m, as did two-time Paralympic champion Daniel Pembroke with 63.62m to take the para men's title, while Daniel Greaves won the para men's discus with Young won the men's 100m ambulant final in 11.19, and the women's 800m wheelchair event was won by Kare Adenegan in 2:12.87.
