New Blues boss Davies 'always felt like a manager'

Chris Davies' last role alongside Brendan Rodgers was at Leicester, before linking up with Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham

New Birmingham City boss Chris Davies says he is ready to make the step up to manager after such a long time as a number two.

The 39-year-old took charge at Blues on 6 June after a season as Ange Postecoglou's assistant at Tottenham.

The Spurs stint followed 13 years working under Brendan Rodgers at Swansea, Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester, and Davies says becoming a manager was just about finding the club that would be the best fit.

"I've been ready to be a manager for quite a few years," said Davies in his first in-house club interview in his new role.

A newly relegated Birmingham, backed by the financial might of Tom Wagner and Tom Brady's Knighthead Group, more than beckoned the former Reading and Wales youth player to the second city.

"I always felt like a manager, like a number one," Davies told Blues TV. "I've had a lot of responsibility at big clubs with the managers I've worked with.

"Now I'm the decision maker and the buck stops with me but I prefer that.

"It was about the right club, the right fit and the right time.

"I already had a great job at a great club, but my gut feeling was that this was a club which reflected my own ambition.

"I was over in the Maldives with the family when this all happened, but these types of opportunities are important to capture."

He says it was co-owners Wagner, NFL legend Brady and chief executive Garry Cook who sold the League One club to him.

"They're all very successful, credible people in their field," he said. "You sense their commitment to this club and the real vision for what they can do.

"It was inspiring just listening to them talk. As each conversation went by with each one of them, the more excited I got."

'We must be the hardest working team'

Having started his job on Monday, Davies' immediate plans are simply to get his building blocks in place on and off the pitch as Birmingham prepare for what they hope will be a one-season stay back in English football's third tier.

"Recruitment is critical for every team," Davies said. "We have a few key positions to fill.

"It's important to bring in the right sort of characters - but we already have some highly skilled people here already."

It is the same story with regard to his backroom team.

"There are two or three I've worked with at previous clubs who I'm looking to bring in," Davies said. "Plus we have a lot of good people on the current staff.

"That creates the best blend - to bring in some fresh energy and new ideas but also work with the good qualities we already have in the building."

But his main concern is delivering the sort of fast-flowing, entertaining product that the fanbase will want to watch and will win Blues games on a regular basis.

"Fitness is going to be key for the high energy football we want to play," Davies said. "To be very proactive and dynamic, to be attacking and dominant, to play with a relentlessness that makes it difficult for the opposition, while making sure we're very organised.

"Number one is to be the hardest working team. You need a lot of discipline. To never have an easy day during the week, with pressure on all the time so that, when it comes to matchday, dealing with pressure becomes second nature.

"But also essential is to build that bond with the fans. That will be fundamental to any success we might get.

"We're hoping to put a quality team out on the pitch that the fans are going to enjoy coming to see and, if we get that right, we're going to be very difficult to stop."