{"id":519189,"date":"2025-10-22T08:43:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T08:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/519189\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T08:43:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T08:43:27","slug":"phil-neumann-proves-a-point-as-chris-davies-unlocks-new-birmingham-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/519189\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Neumann proves a point as Chris Davies unlocks new Birmingham City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birmingham City talking points after Chris Davies’ side ended their wait for an away victory at Preston\"Alex<\/p>\n

Birmingham City reporter for BirminghamLive and the Birmingham Mail<\/p>\n

\"PhilPhil Neumann of Birmingham City scores<\/p>\n

Birmingham City ended their two-month wait for an away victory by ending Preston North End\u2019s unbeaten home record on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

The odds were stacked against out-of-form Blues<\/a> at Deepdale but a set piece goal from Phil Neumann and a backs-to-the-wall defensive effort did the job.<\/a><\/p>\n

Blues moved up to 12th, three points off sixth-placed Stoke City, in the ever-changing early Championship picture.<\/p>\n

Here are our talking points from Deepdale\u2026<\/p>\n

A victory that Blues needed<\/strong><\/p>\n

For a large part of Tuesday night at Deepdale, Blues were the polar opposite to how they usually look under Chris Davies<\/a> \u2013 and that was exactly what was needed to halt their bad run of results.<\/p>\n

They finally scored a set piece goal, prompting a humorous chant from the away end \u2013 \u2018how s*** must you be, we\u2019ve scored a set piece\u2019 \u2013 and defended for their lives in the second half.<\/p>\n

Blues went five at the back for the final 10 minutes, possibly seven if you include defensively-minded wingers Alfons Sampsted and Demarai Gray, and were simply unwilling to succumb to Preston\u2019s pressure.<\/p>\n

The Lilywhites\u2019 aerial bombardment was dealt with by Neumann, Christoph Klarer and the commanding James Beadle on a night where Blues proved they can win ugly.<\/p>\n

After a few weeks in which Davies has been scrutinised more than ever before, all seemed well at quarter to ten when the manager was being serenaded by a packed away end that included Blues chairman Tom Wagner.<\/p>\n

Neumann is the answer\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The return of Neumann<\/a> after five games out of the team proved to be the catalyst for Blues\u2019 first victory of October.<\/p>\n

Blues have started with seven different back four combinations this season, largely due to Davies\u2019 chopping and changing at centre-back, but everything suggests that Neumann and Klarer are the best bet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked really good,\u201d Davies said of Neumann. \u201cWe always forget with these players that they come over from a different country and he\u2019s been in Germany his whole career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s bringing his family over and trying to get settled straight away into a new country, to adapt, and we sometimes forget about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually didn\u2019t come out of the team because he was playing badly, he came out the team because I wanted to put a left-footed centre-back in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you saw (Michael) Smith\u2019s name on the teamsheet you knew it would be a really difficult game for the centre-backs. I thought he was really good aerially, he used his body well, won his duels and didn\u2019t do anything rash. It was a really good performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PhilPhil Neumann of Birmingham City<\/p>\n

All four midfielders played their part<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tommy Doyle<\/a> joined the party in Preston with undoubtedly his most complete performance in a Blues shirt. Doyle\u2019s one and two-touch passing was excellent and he coped physically with a combative Preston midfield.<\/p>\n

There was a 10-15 minute spell in the second half when Marc Leonard had been introduced where he, Doyle, Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata were running the show.<\/p>\n

The only criticism of Blues is that they didn\u2019t find the second goal that would have made the final 20 minutes more comfortable.<\/p>\n

The picture changes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Davies will hope this win is a springboard for a positive run of form that catapults Blues to the heights they set out to reach in August.<\/p>\n

One win, coupled with results elsewhere, saw Blues move to within touching distance of the promotion positions.<\/p>\n

Fourth-placed Bristol City are next up. The Robins have already lost twice at Ashton Gate and Blues might benefit from the pressure and expectation that will be on their opponents due to their lofty league position.<\/p>\n

What midfield combination should Davies use at Bristol City? Have your say HERE<\/a>Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n

BirminghamLive has its very own Birmingham City<\/a> WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just click this link<\/a> to receive daily Blues content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. Click on the name at the top of your screen while in WhatsApp and click ‘Exit Group’. Read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham City talking points after Chris Davies’ side ended their wait for an away victory at Preston Birmingham…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,1205,748,8372,393,4884,39844,81676,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-519189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-chris-davies-football-coach","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-phil-neumann","15":"tag-tommy-doyle","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115416938628532742","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}