Football thrives on marginal gains, and Birmingham City’s recent season has highlighted the fine lines that separate mid-table from promotion contention. After an inconsistent campaign, one clear area the club has identified for improvement is set pieces—the critical moments that often decide matches.
At the start of the season, Birmingham City’s struggles with set pieces were widely noted. While manager Chris Davies, assistant Ben Petty, and coach Jonathan Grounds (who has primarily handled set pieces over the past year) have made progress, the numbers reveal why more specialist attention is needed.
Statistically, Blues have netted 11 goals from set pieces in the Championship—ranking 14th—while conceding 16, with only Sheffield Wednesday and Watford conceding more. Effective set piece execution correlates strongly with league success; Coventry (+12) and Millwall (+13), sitting first and third respectively, boast the best set piece records in the division.
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Birmingham’s negative goal difference of -5 from set pieces is a key factor keeping them from promotion contention. Recognizing this, Davies is moving to expand his coaching staff to include a dedicated set piece specialist.
When Davies took charge in summer 2024, he established a streamlined coaching approach to avoid conflicting directives—a reaction to the previous season’s coaching overload that contributed to relegation. However, Davies acknowledges the growing complexity in set piece analysis requires expert focus.
“Set piece coaching has become a job in itself,” Davies said. “It involves extensive analysis, and you often need multiple people working on it. For us, bringing in the right specialist who can enhance our attacking variations and shore up our defensive organization could be the difference of six to nine points by season’s end.”
Davies also noted the unique challenges the Championship presents, describing the league’s physicality during dead-ball situations compared to stricter fouling standards in other leagues.
While Blues don’t possess the towering presence of teams like Millwall, they have the potential to emulate Coventry’s creativity—helped by a long throw specialist like Milan van Ewijk. The incoming coach’s brief will focus initially on curbing the soft goals conceded from set pieces, a key vulnerability this season.
A detailed review of the 16 set piece goals conceded by Birmingham City reveals recurring issues: poor marking, unclear defensive roles, lapses in concentration, and physical mismatches. Examples range from easily exploited flick-ons and unchallenged headers to miscommunications leading to uncontested rebounds.
For instance:
- Against Blackburn, a deep corner led to a chaotic head tennis inside the box, ending with an unmarked Todd Cantwell scoring.
- Versus Stoke, Blues left their strongest aerial threat unmarked, allowing Bosun Lawal a free header.
- In matches against Coventry and Leicester, indecision and failed tracking allowed key attackers to capitalize on rebounds and throw-ins.
- Own goals and defensive errors exemplify the pressing need for a tactical overhaul of set piece defense.
These mistakes have cost valuable points. Hypothetically, if Birmingham City had prevented all set piece goals conceded this season, they could be 12 points better off—placing them comfortably in the play-off zone.
Addressing these weaknesses with a specialist coach not only represents a tactical evolution for the club but also an essential step towards reclaiming competitive status and pushing for promotion in a fiercely contested Championship.