Are Parkinson’s side too ponderous? Has Chris Davies embraced direct football? Wrexham vs Birmingham takeaways

It has been dubbed the Hollywood derby, but there wasn’t much glitz or glamour about Birmingham City’s 2-1 win at Wrexham.

Both sides had yet to record a Championship victory and both needed one. It was more a war of attrition, one that Birmingham won.

Birmingham made life difficult for themselves by missing two glaring first half chances but two goals from set pieces from centre half Phil Neumann proved to be the difference.

None of either club’s famous US owners — Wrexham’s thespian duo Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, or Birmingham’s chief advisor Tom Brady — were present, but a rivalry that was born in League One still lives on in what was a combative encounter.

Richard Sutcliffe and Rob Tanner dissect the latest instalment of a burgeoning rivalry.

No stars in the stands, but there was one on the bench

There were no star names in the stands on Friday as Ryan Reynolds, Rob Mac and Tom Brady all followed events from afar on TV but there was no doubt who the Wrexham fans were most pleased to see on Friday night.

Issa Kabore, signed the day before from Manchester City on a three-year contract, returned to a hero’s welcome when brought off the bench with 20 minutes remaining.
The heartfelt cheers were testament to his impact when spending last season on loan at The Racecourse Ground, his eight assists comfortably the highest by a Wrexham player in 2025-26.

This despite a lengthy spell out injured and spending several weeks away with Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Kabore’s return was a crumb of comfort on an otherwise hugely disappointing night, as Birmingham made it three wins and two draws from five meetings between the two clubs in the Hollywood era.

The 25-year-old certainly showed enough to justify the rapturous reception that met his arrival from the bench.

On a night when Wrexham’s resorted far too often to pumping aimless balls forward, Kabore’s pace and direct running were like a breath of fresh air.

His first cross came within a whisker of creating an equaliser that, on the balance of play, would have been undeserved with a pinpoint cross picking out Kieffer Moore at the back post.

The Wales international then picked out Sam Smith, who nudged the ball goalwards but not with sufficient force to cross the line.

Kabore’s team-mates could also have taken a leaf out of his defensive book, not least how he prevented Carlos Vicente from making it 3-1 late on with what would have been a tap in but for the Wrexham man’s tenacity.

Richard Sutcliffe

Are Wrexham leaving their transfer business too late?

Since returning to the EFL fold in 2023, Wrexham have developed a taste for leaving it late in the summer transfer window.

No less than six signings have been made on deadline day, half of which came a year ago when Issa Kabore, Dominic Hyam and Ben Sheaf came through the door.

All three proved worth the wait, as was the case in 2023 when late arrivals Arthur Okonkwo and George Evans helped Wrexham recover from a difficult start to life back in League Two to go on and clinch promotion.

With the countdown now on to Tuesday’s 11pm deadline, what chances the Welsh club again going right to the wire again?

Phil Parkinson still wants a new centre-half and a number 10, and it was easy to see why on the evidence of this latest meeting with Birmingham.

Not only were the home defence led such a merry dance by a lively Birmingham forward line that this really should have been over as a contest by half-time.

But, Wrexham also looked ponderous in attack, particularly during those one-sided opening 45 minutes. Neither Nathan Broadhead nor Ollie Rathbone have had great starts to the season and Friday night just brought more of the same. Club record signing Broadhead, in particular, looked out of sorts, underlining why Parkinson is so keen to bring in more creativity.

Callum Doyle scores Wrexham’s equaliser vs Birmingham (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

It’s a similar story at the back with Wrexham yet to keep a clean sheet after four league and Cup outings.

Zak Vyner, preferred to Max Cleworth, was outmuscled by Phil Neumann for the goal and then caught on his heels when the City defender restored the visitors’ advantage just after the hour.

With Hyam also having another testing time in the middle of the back three, Wrexham’s attempts to strengthen will surely have been given more impetus ahead. It could be a busy final few hours at The Racecourse once again.

Richard Sutcliffe

Does this result rescue Chris Davies?

The pressure has been building on Birmingham boss Chris Davies.

Considering the publicly-stated ambitions of chairman Tom Wagner and the club’s US ownership, that’s obvious. The Premier League is the goal and any signs Birmingham may be falling short of that aspiration will crank up the pressure. There have been such signs, last season and at the start of this campaign.

Probably more concerning for Davies is the scrutiny has increased from the fanbase.

Wagner and chief advisor Tom Brady may want to give Davies as much time as possible, having paid the price for a premature change when John Eustace was replaced by Wayne Rooney, with disastrous effect.

There was no doubt there were mounting frustrations at the style of play last season, when results didn’t come, especially away from home. The slow start to this season hasn’t helped Davies’s cause, especially the heavy 6-1 home defeat to Brentford in the Carabao Cup in midweek. Birmingham can’t be seen as a soft touch. At Wrexham they definitely weren’t.

Friday’s game is a huge result for Chris Davies and Birmingham (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

During pre-season, Davies pledged he wanted to adapt his side to becoming more direct, more able on the counter attack. There was some evidence of that at Wrexham. His side were more pragmatic. Both goals came from set pieces.

Birmingham fans are a blue-collar fanbase. They have traditionally identified more closely with teams that have been more belligerent, aggressive and uncompromising. They love a bunch of scrappers.

Now his team needs to show the same fight, not just for their season aspirations, but for Davies himself.

Rob Tanner

Why Birmingham need to be more clinical

If Birmingham are to mount a promotion challenge, it was pretty clear, even just from their display at Wrexham, where they need to make a dramatic improvement.

They fell way short of a push for the Premier League last season because of their lack of a killer instinct.

They finished tenth last season, but in terms of their xG they were eighth in the division and sixth in terms of their chances created from open play. Notably, their big chance conversion rate was just 29.9 percent, ranking them 22nd in the Championship.

Put simply: Birmingham create chances, but don’t take them.

At Wrexham, there was a couple of glaring examples. How August Priske missed with a free header from two yards out only he will know. Then again, Priske has only scored twice in 23 appearances in all competitions since joining Birmingham.

They have signed Argentine striker Luis Vasquez for £3 million from Anderlecht in the summer, but he has never reached double figures in a single season in his career.
Marvin Ducksch has a more impressive 10 from 34 appearances for the club, but doesn’t get much of a look in.

Jay Stansfield was guilty of some big misses against Wrexham (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

The emphasis has fallen in recent seasons on Jay Stansfield and his cause has not been helped by a deeply unpopular move — with the supporters — to the left flank. At Wrexham he was back in his best position, behind a main striker.

Shockingly, Stansfield also missed a golden opportunity to make a Wrexham comeback much more difficult. Birmingham can’t afford to be so wasteful in the final third.

Rob Tanner