"Not panicking" - Birmingham City: Knighthead hailed for January transfer situation | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has had his say on the club's transfer window.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Birmingham City were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1995, but look set to bounce back up to the Championship at the first time of asking.

With Chris Davies now at the helm and under new ownership, the Blues have certainly shown ambition and the first shoots of a potential start of an exciting new dawn had begun to spring last year, even if relegation undid some of the good work initially.

However, there was no doubting that Birmingham had plenty of money behind them to go and build a good squad in League One. Blues hit the headlines in the summer, when they bought striker Jay Stansfield from Fulham after his successful loan spell last term.

That fee was reported by Sky Sports to be in excess of £15million, a simply staggering fee for a club in the third tier of the pyramid. Now, this January has been quieter, with Grant Hanley coming in from Norwich City, and talented midfielder Kieran Dowell on loan from Rangers, and Myung-jae Lee as left-back cover.

The Birmingham City verdict on the January transfer window

We asked our Birmingham fan pundit Mike Gibbs for his thoughts on the window ahead of the run-in, and what would be the thing he could praise the club for most in the winter market.

He said: "I think the thing I’d probably praise the club for most is not panicking. We’ve become accustomed to last-minute panics at this football club — leaving things until late in the window or panic buying or panic loaning players.

"I just got the sense that it was more of a controlled approach this time around. I think we moved Dion Sanderson quite early on in the window and Grant Hanley came in to cover. Bringing a left-back in quite late in the day when we could’ve done that a bit earlier? That would maybe have given him a bit more time to acclimatise.

"But that is probably the only negative point, really. I think we have such a strong squad from the summer. And then they’re still bedding in, right? 17 players came in and they’re still learning to play with each other.

"We didn’t want to disrupt that even further. So I’m pleased we weren’t held to ransom. Also, the fact that we had such a strong summer window meant that we weren’t needing to panic buy. That’s been really impressive.

Birmingham City's ambition could take them far

Naturally, following relegation, wins have been easier to come by, which may help to get more fans onside and enjoying games again in the ground, as the feel-good factor and optimism grows at Birmingham.

That, combined with continued backing in the market, is a recipe for success at any club. Although promotion is the main aim for Blues this season, and they are firmly on course to do that, with the side sitting eight points clear of third place, they could and should be excited for so much more to come.

They also have two games in hand on the chasing pack, but it could be a double celebration for Birmingham this season, as a 1-0 win at Stevenage saw them reach the last four of the EFL Trophy.

Blues are in cup action again this weekend, as they host Newcastle United in the FA Cup, which is sure to be a great occasion at St. Andrew’s. Irrespective of the result, they are in for an exciting and impressive end of the campaign.