Welcome to The Championship Catch-up, a new Sky Sports column in which Andy Hinchcliffe rounds up some of the key stories from the second tier. This week: Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player You have to give Chris Davies a huge amount of credit for the transformation he's overseen. Last season, Birmingham were a possession-dominant side, but they struggled to turn that control into goals on the road.
Their away form was particularly poor, and they ultimately finished well outside the play-off places. I saw the potential there, but what Chris has done over the summer is clear. He's made them a bit more progressive.
They're ranked 10th now for possession, which shows they still want the ball and want to control games, but they're playing forward a little bit more and being a bit more direct. They've got August Priske leading the line, who's not just scoring goals but is also a big focal point they can play to. They're a team now that can play through you, over you or around you.
Liam Millar has to be in the top three best Championship players since he arrived. Davies has always said he was a player he wanted to sign, but he hadn't been able to get it done until now. You can see why, because Millar is fitting in perfectly.
I heard an interview with Millar about his own form and how well he was doing individually, but he also spoke about the team and the attacking mix they've got now. They're not predictable anymore. Last season, you could work out who was going to play, how they were going to play, and you could deal with it.
Teams did that last season. This season, with the development in their style and the signings they've made hitting the ground running, things are different. He had to develop the style because he couldn't just say, "We'll go with Plan A again and hope it works better this season." He needed a Plan B, and that's what he's done.
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