A full version of the BirminghamWorld Q&A with Charlie Haffenden.
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00:00So Charlie, looking at Wolves and the January transfer window obviously now coming to a close,
00:05a bit of late business, a bit of business that was needed. Vitor Pereira stayed really confident throughout the window that
00:12one, Wolves were going to stay in the Premier League, which was quite a bold claim at the time he said that,
00:17but he clearly sees a bit of future at the club and that there were more names coming in.
00:22Just tell us a bit about the names that have come in and how they can bolster Wolves' squad moving forward.
00:28I mean, obviously, Agbadoo has been absolutely fantastic in Wolves' defence in their last couple of games.
00:34Yeah, Agbadoo is the main one, signing in at the start of the window from Reims in France.
00:4027-year-old Ivorian centre-back for Ivory Coast International, and you can just see in the last four matches,
00:46played 90 minutes in all of them, he's been the standout player, I think, in that period,
00:50other than, of course, Mateus Kounia. Agbadoo, just such a strong yet quick centre-half,
00:56strong in the air as well, and they're areas that Wolves were struggling in so much,
01:01especially from set pieces. You can already see how much of a difference he's made.
01:05But Vito Pereira did want more depth at centre-back, and he got that on deadline day.
01:09Nacer Dziga signing from Red Star Belgrade, about £10 million for him,
01:14one of the most expensive deals in Red Star history. He should be someone who can come in
01:19and provide a bit more cover at centre-back as well, potentially starting games.
01:23It waits to be seen what his plans are in the immediate future, but he's only 22.
01:27Nottingham Forest wanted to sign him as a potential replacement for Murillo,
01:30when he's bound to leave at some stage, so must have some sort of talent.
01:34And then Marcial Monezzi in central midfield can play as more of a defensive anchor,
01:39kind of in the Mario Lamina role, and I think that's the thinking there,
01:42is Lamina's going to leave for Galatasaray. It's not been confirmed just yet,
01:46but with the window still open in Turkey for another five or six days at the time of recording,
01:51until the 11th of February, he should be on his way out.
01:54And Vitor Pereira's got his man to replace him.
01:57Yeah, and obviously Vitor is confident that Wolves will be a Premier League outfit.
02:01They've got those fixtures to play, like the likes of Southampton away,
02:05they've got to go to Ipswich, they've got to host Leicester.
02:08These are huge games, and where do you sort of see Wolves' ambitions
02:13and Wolves' fortunes going in this sort of running now?
02:17Well, I think the game against Aston Villa was a real sign of intent.
02:21I know Villa had to play three days after their Champions League game against Celtic,
02:25which was exhausting for them whilst at that game at Villa Park.
02:29But still, Wolves had a job to do against a team that's flying at the other end of the table,
02:33that's heading into the last stages of the Champions League.
02:36Wolves had lost four in a row before that game at Molineux against Villa.
02:40They managed to run out two nil victors, not only getting three points, but a clean sheet.
02:44And I think that is such a solid basis to try and build on.
02:47So much confidence can be taken from that.
02:49And then the news after the game that Matthias Kuhnje has signed a new contract,
02:53I think is another huge boost for Wolves.
02:55If he'd left in this winter window, I think potentially Wolves could have faced a drop,
02:59but now they've kept their main man and they've got some reinforcements in defence,
03:02it's looking good and they should be able to beat the likes of Leicester and Ipswich.
03:06Charlie, on to Birmingham City.
03:09Now, obviously, we've discussed a few times their heavy investment,
03:12and they're clearly building for the future fortunes of the club.
03:16I mean, the owners are fully on board.
03:18The fans are really enjoying their time in Ligue 1 this season,
03:21that looks to be obviously short-lived with their ambitions to go up.
03:26Just summarise the January business and where they are standing ahead of the remainder of the season.
03:32Yeah, it wasn't the most busy window for Birmingham in the winter.
03:37That's because they got most of their business done in the summer transfer window,
03:40as we know how much money they spent completely tearing apart the Ligue 1 transfer records.
03:45It was mainly focused on free additions and those for the summer as well.
03:49So Phil Newman, a centre-back who plays for Hanover in a second tier of German football,
03:54he was looked at by a host of Bundesliga clubs.
03:57Quite quick yet tall centre-back.
03:59He'll be joining up with Blues in the summer after signing a pre-contract agreement.
04:03Grant Hanley came in from Norwich City.
04:06He was the Canaries' captain.
04:08He wasn't really getting that much game time in the championship this season,
04:11but he's played so many games in the EFL throughout his career.
04:14He's got Premier League experience as well.
04:16He just bolsters the squad depth for Blues.
04:18Out the back, it's been confirmed Taylor Gardner-Hickman will sign permanently from Bristol City in the summer.
04:24Not happening just yet, but Birmingham World's understanding is it's £1.5 million,
04:29which I think is a bargain for a player who can play in so many different positions.
04:34And then on deadline day, they signed a South Korean international, a left-back.
04:38He's played seven times in the World Cup qualifiers recently.
04:41Should have some decent experience, a left-back.
04:44Obviously, Leigh Buchanan's season-ending injury was a big blow to Blues,
04:48but they've now got the necessary depth in that position.
04:51Yeah, and Blues is running, obviously flying near the top of the table.
04:56How important is it that they just keep plodding on?
04:58And they could even go near their rivals Wolves' League One points record.
05:04Yeah, it's a shame that they lost those games earlier in the season against Charlton Shrewsbury
05:08because they could have potentially been unbeaten this year.
05:11But that doesn't really matter.
05:13The main goal was getting promoted back to the championship,
05:15and it looks like they'll do that in style.
05:17They should win the league title, and I don't see any way that they don't.
05:2118 matches unbeaten is just simply incredible.
05:24Going on to the semi-finals of the Virtue Trophy, playing Newcastle in the FA Cup
05:28is always an exciting prospect.
05:31It's just such a fantastic time at St Andrews,
05:33and the buzz around the place, sellouts most week, home and away.
05:37Chris Davies, the Birmingham manager, will be delighted with how things are going.
05:43Charlie, looking at West Bromwich Albion and obviously Tony Mowbray coming into the side again,
05:48it's been a bit of a difficult start for him, obviously.
05:51But we've mentioned how close the race is for championship promotion at the very top.
05:56It's a slippery slide.
05:58If you go a few games without a win, for example,
06:01he's sort of seen both of those sides of it since coming back to West Brom.
06:06What's the situation following the window?
06:09Are they in a decent position now to push on until the end of the season?
06:14I think they are.
06:16They need to reinforce an attack, and it looks as if they might not do that.
06:20But then they did on transfer deadline day and the day before that.
06:23Will Lancashire coming in from Tottenham Hotspur on loan for the rest of the season.
06:27He'd scored in the Europa League earlier this campaign.
06:30He's been breaking through under Andr Postakoglou,
06:32sort of can get in behind, also decent in the air.
06:35He should play a fair amount of games before the end of the campaign.
06:38And then on deadline day, right at the end, went down to the wire,
06:42and actually until the next morning, Adam Armstrong from Southampton.
06:46He was one of the Saints star players last season
06:49when they were promoted from the championship.
06:51He scored two against West Brom in the championship playoff semifinal.
06:56He's someone that haunted Albion in the past,
06:58but he's worked with Tony Mowbray at Blackburn.
07:00Mowbray played a massive part in getting him through the door.
07:03It was only very late on in deadline day that Armstrong became available,
07:06but he's a proven goal scorer,
07:08someone who should be able to lead the line for the baggies.
07:10Josh Major being injured is a big blow.
07:12Daryl Dekay is not quite back to fitness just yet.
07:15It should take him a while.
07:16So having Armstrong there, a proven player,
07:19he's got the experience, should be a huge boost.
07:22Yeah, and just on West Brom's consistency,
07:25it's sort of been at times this season, win, loss, win, loss.
07:28Obviously, the managerial change.
07:31But if you look at any app now,
07:33it's only one scroll until you're at the very bottom of the fixtures.
07:37It's that close.
07:38How important is it that they build a bit more consistency
07:41in terms of results and can take that into the final few days of the season?
07:45Yeah, as you mentioned, the win, loss situation.
07:48I think baggies fans would have been fairly happy with that
07:52when they were drawing every single week.
07:54But now they might be begging for the draws back,
07:57better than defeats, of course.
07:58But Mowbray, it's always going to take a little while
08:00to settle under a new manager.
08:02He's definitely got the right kind of ideas.
08:04He wants to be positive.
08:05He wants to play attacking football.
08:07Sometimes it's a little bit risky
08:09and they can be beaten on the transition.
08:11We saw that against Plymouth Argyle.
08:13A shock result for them.
08:14Bottom of the league, Plymouth are, and they beat the baggies.
08:17That was an upsetting one for Fallbeam fans.
08:19But having a bit of added firepower will certainly make the difference.
08:23I think it's just the competition that's difficult.
08:25Middlesbrough, especially, are really pushing on for the championship playoff spots.
08:29And West Brom need to be at their best
08:31and potentially ride their luck at times to finish in that top six.
08:35Charlie, looking at Aston Villa and obviously the January window coming to an end,
08:40a quite incredible window for Aston Villa.
08:43We just discussed how strange but incredible it actually was for them.
08:48And if you'd have looked seven or eight years ago and said this,
08:52the likes of Rashford and Asenjo were signing for Aston Villa,
08:56I don't think many would have really believed you with the position Villa
08:59were obviously in back then as well.
09:02How do those two fit into this side?
09:04Obviously, they are stars in their own right.
09:07Asenjo, multiple Champions League winners, played at the very, very top level.
09:11He's going to have really high expectations.
09:13And then on the flip side of that, Marcus Rashford can be one of the best strikers in the world,
09:18as he proved just a couple of seasons ago around this time of the year as well,
09:23where he was scoring relentlessly for Manchester United.
09:26What sort of impact will they have on Emery's side?
09:29Will Emery stand for any antics from the likes of Rashford as well?
09:34What's the sort of situation regarding these two players?
09:37Yes, it's such an exciting time for Aston Villa supporters,
09:41signing two players who've been world beaters at their best.
09:44Asenjo, as you mentioned, he's won three Champions League titles.
09:47Having that kind of pedigree in the dressing room is a massive boost.
09:50I think Philippe Coutinho was the last signing of this kind of level,
09:54along with Rashford as well, both such huge names coming to Villa Park.
09:58I think Unai Emery will work well with Rashford.
10:01It's a bit of an unpopular opinion, perhaps,
10:03but he just works so well with those players that are on the fringes at times
10:07and need a bit more confidence to come back into things.
10:09We've seen that with Jacob Ramsey.
10:11John Duran was a difficult character to work with.
10:13Even Watkins, to an extent, has had times where his finishing has not been at his best,
10:18but Emery's worked with him and he's improved him.
10:20Just little things of how he is on the half-turn, how he gets past defenders,
10:24I think we'll see a massive difference for Rashford.
10:27Asensio, he's not been playing as much football this year for PSG.
10:30So many options in that forward line that him being at Villa should give him that necessary game time.
10:36It's just so exciting where they'll fit in.
10:38I think Rashford potentially could make his debut against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup.
10:43Ollie Watkins is out with a minor injury, so potentially gives you opportunity for him to play.
10:48Asensio will probably rotate in for the likes of Morgan Rodgers, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey.
10:56Just on that race for the top four spots, it seems at times that Villa have gotten lucky
11:01with the likes of Bournemouth playing well, Newcastle playing well again,
11:05Chelsea back to form and Fulham also creeping well and Brighton as well around them.
11:10That race for top four seems a real tough one this season.
11:14Where can you see Aston Villa ending up?
11:17I can see them definitely ending up on the fringes of the top four or potentially inside of it.
11:22I think the thing that will benefit them this year is the likelihood of fifth place being enough,
11:27the Champions League, with the co-efficiency and there being so many English teams progressing
11:31in the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League as well.
11:34It is pretty much in England's hands to get that fifth place position.
11:38Of course, if Villa go and win the Champions League, I think that's a big dream, a big ambition.
11:42One that's probably not going to happen, but that is another route in to Europe's most elite competition.
11:48Plenty of opportunities there. Even if it's Europa League, it's still a massive step in the right direction
11:53to be a consistent European outfit. It's something Unai Emery has dreamed of
11:57ever since he arrived through the door and it's becoming a reality.