Picture is becoming clearer for Chris Davies as Birmingham City prepares League One assault

Birmingham City comfortably saw off League One rivals and pre-season friendly hosts Shrewsbury Town at the Croud Meadow on Saturday. Jordan James netted in the first half to send the Blues in front before Lukas Jutkiewicz bagged a late second after good work from Romelle Donovan.

It was an afternoon in which almost 1,200 Bluenoses made the journey to Shropshire and saw 22 different players, including new signing Willum Willumsson and, for the first time, an extended run-out for the impressive Alex Cochrane at left-back. There were signs over the course of the afternoon, too, that the Blues have been making progress in their development under new boss Chris Davies.

Here are the talking points.

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Pieces of the puzzle

Signings five six and seven have arrived this week. That’ll be a satisfying development for Craig Gardner and co, who have been spinning plates behind the scenes lately, to see those pieces fall into place one after the other. Blues have exploited Europe and may yet return to the continent after Messrs. Hansson, Willumsson and Klarer, but for now the squad picture looks brighter.

Clearly, they’re not done yet. Davies’ assessment of the situation could not have been clearer after this friendly when we asked him how he considers the window to have played out up to now. That said, after this week, he does admit to having a clearer idea of ​​what his starting XI may look like for Reading on August 10.

“I do have a better idea,” he said BirminghamLive . “I thought when we got back from Austria that I’d have a better idea of ​​what we had in the building. I definitely did. Now, I’m getting a feel for what is our strongest team. I keep saying to the players that I want depth – two players competing for every position so we don’t have a team that is well ahead of the rest. It keeps standards high in training and that’s what I’m trying to create here.”

Surefire signs

Especially in the first half, when there were the bulk of the first choice players on the pitch, you could clearly see patterns of play and moves generated from deep which were easy on the eye and which have clearly been implemented by Davies this summer. Blues intend to play front foot, speedy football in order to break down stubborn opponents in League One and there was evidence – against a League One opponent, no less – of this this afternoon.

Having Willumsson slot in straight away as the deepest of the front four, a player who enjoys having the ball at his feet and who is clearly of a high quality technically, was a positive sign. It’s of course particularly early days. More friendlies are to come, and weeks of preparation still ahead for this side which is still gelling and which is still to be added to.

It’d be foolish, though, not to recognize the positive early signs. The new players have been recruited to fit into Davies’ approach, and the existing personnel are buying into it. Some players, whose international statuses speak for themselves – namely Paik Seung-ho and Krystian Bielik – just looked too good for their opponents in various areas of the pitch.

Conveyor belt

More signings are to come, but while the newer faces were appearing today, the very newest recruit watched on with the Blues staff from the stands. Christoph Klarer was introduced to the local press before the match and the first impressions were of a pleasant individual who, quite frankly, looks like he’d be a nightmare if you were a center forward.

Klarer has, albeit minimal, exposure to English football previously and the demands, and was facing the likes of Harry Kane in Germany’s top tier last year. His implementation into this side will be interesting indeed, for Dion Sanderson – who didn’t put a foot wrong here – was deployed on the left of the defensive pairing, a rarity in itself. Klarer, though, hasn’t come to the Blues to warm the bench.

“The good thing about Christoph is that he’s been here before with Southampton. He went away to play games in Austria and Germany, and he’s come back a man,” Davies said. “He has good ability. He was playing in the Bundesliga last season, obviously the team got relegated but he’s had a few seasons in Bundesliga 2. He’s a good footballer, good on the ball but imposing, good in the air and someone with the character for what I’m trying to build here.”

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