Birmingham City have become the most successful EFL team in history having hit 108 points this week
Jim White (L) and Simon Jordan (R) discussed Birmingham City’s record points tally(Image: talkSPORT – YouTube)
Respected radio pundit Simon Jordan considers that Birmingham City have carried out the job which was expected of them this season, albeit in emphatic fashion – but he doesn’t put stock in the idea that their achievements can be compared to 2006 Championship victors Reading, whose record points tally they’ve just surpassed.
Blues eased past Blackpool on Wednesday night to hit 108 points and, in doing so, become the most successful side of the EFL era with a game to spare. They went past the 106 accumulated by the Royals under Steve Coppell 19 years ago, when they won promotion to the Premier League.
Chris Davies, in his first year in management, has overseen 33 wins and just three defeats in the 45 games to date, as well as delivering a day out at Wembley and providing a significant scare for Champions League wannabes Newcastle United in the FA Cup. Blues are expected to be highly competitive in the second tier next season.
Jordan agrees that what they’ve achieved has been notable, if not expected, but can’t get on board with the idea that parallels can be drawn between this Blues side and what Reading achieved in ’06 – simply because the latter did so at a higher level.
“You can only win the league that you’re in, and they’ve won it with a remarkable return,” Jordan told talkSPORT. “They have spent around £30m, which probably equates to a significant portion of the entire spend of that league. They shouldn’t have been in that league in the first place, they’re too big a club – I know that sounds a bit wrong to say, but they shouldn’t have.
“They can’t pat themselves on the back having been responsible for getting their club relegated from the Championship, when not that long ago they were a Premier League side, but they have come back.
“I know there have been comparisons, now that they have got the EFL record total, eclipsing Reading’s in 2006 – Reading won the Championship. It’s universally accepted that the Championship is one of the most difficult and competitive leagues in the world.
“It was the season my team [Crystal Palace] were in that league, and we were expected to go back up having been relegated the previous season, so I know how good Reading were. It’s not a fair comparison. They have held order, but to spend the kind of money they’ve spent, I would think that is a fair return on their investment.”
Have Blues received the recognition they otherwise might’ve had, had they achieved such a feat higher up the football pyramid? Simply, for Jordan, there isn’t as much light shed or acknowledgement given by the media in this country for the goings on in the lower leagues.
“Ask yourself how much time we spend talking about League One and League Two and how much time we spend dwelling on the Premier League. Of course there is less interest because it doesn’t occupy the same precedence or same investment,” he added.
“The media don’t alight upon it in the same way as the Premier League. It doesn’t make the news or carry the information that, ultimately, the Premier League does, so of course people pay less attention to it. There is, though, lots of talk in the EFL that they have success – there are unprecedented returns for second tier teams compared to other leagues around the world.
“It has massive clubs languishing in the Championship and sometimes also in League One – we have seen other clubs down there – we’ve seen Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland…all of these clubs have been big clubs in the world of football.
“It’s not a case of not paying due respect to the competitiveness of those leagues – simply, the football world alights upon the Premier League, media wise, a damn sight more than it does on the EFL.”
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