Davies trend may be bitter PHIL for star!

Davies trend may be bitter PHIL for star!

- By BRIAN DICK

BIRMINGHAM City’s pursuit of Phil Neumann was as determined as it was long.

Craig Gardner tried to sign the German in the summer of 2024 - a move the centre-back admitted he wanted at the time - but was made to wait as Hannover 96 played hard ball.

Blues eventually reached a pre-contract agreement with the 2. Bundesliga outfit in mid-January - and fuelled by irritation angered his club by announcing the deal around the time he was playing for them.

The 28-year-old finally arrived in the summer with the idea that he and Christoph Klarer would give Chris Davies as physically an imposing partnership as there is to be found in the Championship.

It started off well, Neumann's pace and athleticism got Blues out of a few holes against Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers.

But something wasn’t right. Or, more accurately, left.

Neumann's arrival shunted Klarer on to the other side of Blues’ defence, forcing the Austrian to play next to Alex Cochrane.

The idea made sense, Neumann's speed made him better suited to defending in the wider channels vacated by Davies’ galloping right backs.