Birmingham City Manager Chris Davies Voices Frustration Over Controversial Stoke Draw
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has spoken out forcefully following his team's frustrating 1-1 draw against Stoke City at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on Saturday. The Blues boss expressed particular bewilderment at what he described as 'blatant fouls' that went unpunished during the Championship encounter.
Missed Opportunity in Play-Off Chase
The result represented a significant missed opportunity for Birmingham City, who could have moved within three points of the Championship's top six with a victory. Instead, they were forced to settle for a single point after Phil Neumann's unfortunate own goal cancelled out Tomoki Iwata's first-half opener. The draw did little to advance either team's play-off ambitions in what proved to be a tightly contested Midlands encounter.
Controversial Incident Mars First Half
The match was punctuated by a controversial first-half incident that left Davies particularly frustrated. Iwata had initially appeared to give Birmingham the lead when he converted Jay Stansfield's cross following a Tommy Doyle free-kick, only for the goal to be disallowed for a foul by Marvin Ducksch in the build-up.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Davies expressed his bewilderment at the decision, telling Sky Sports: 'If that's a foul, what Ducksch has done there, then what their full-backs were doing to [August] Priske... I don't know what this is because they were throwing him to the ground every time he was trying to run forwards.'
Manager Questions Championship Consistency
Davies went further in his criticism, questioning the consistency of officiating in the Championship. 'Ducksch just got his body in there so based on consistency, no, [it] definitely should not have been disallowed,' he stated emphatically.
The Birmingham manager made a clear distinction between physical Championship football and what he witnessed on Saturday: 'The things that were happening to him in the game, that's not English football or the Championship. They are just blatant fouls. The Championship is physical but between the referee and the fourth official, they have to spot if a player is obstructing another or throwing a player to the ground.'
Harsh Introduction for New Signing Priske
The controversy centred particularly around the treatment of new signing August Priske, who made his Championship debut following his £6 million move from Swedish club Djurgarden earlier in the week. The 21-year-old Danish striker replaced fellow new arrival Ibrahim Osman in the 56th minute and received what his manager described as a 'harsh introduction' to English football.
Davies expressed hope that the 6ft 5in forward would prove a success in Birmingham despite the challenging debut, telling BBC Radio WM: '[Priske] is a fantastic character and the type of striker who can link, play technically and be physical. He's one that will get better season by season.'
January Transfer Window Activity Continues
The Birmingham manager also provided insight into the club's ongoing January transfer activity, suggesting that 'two or three' more arrivals could be expected before the window closes. Carlos Vicente has been strongly linked with a move to St. Andrew's after Birmingham reportedly made an 'astronomical offer' for the Alaves winger.
Davies explained his transfer strategy: 'It's important in January to get some fresh faces in and the ones we've bought in are young and that brings a certain energy and I think it's just what the squad needed.' He added cautiously about Priske: 'It's not going to be help piling expectation on him immediately - he's new, young and we need to give him space to breathe and grow. We've signed a striker I'm excited about.'
The Birmingham boss concluded with realistic expectations for the remainder of the window: 'We've got off to a reasonable start. There will probably be another two or three in and maybe two or three out. There are no guarantees but that's what I'm hoping for.'
