Chris Davies Backs Luis Vazquez After Miss Against Derby

Chris Davies is not joining the pile-on.

While clips of Luis Vazquez’s late miss at Derby County bounced around social media and were spliced into montages of football’s most infamous sitters, the Birmingham City head coach has doubled down on his belief in the Argentine striker.

To Davies, it was exactly what he called it: “a freak”.

“He could do that 100 times and score 100 goals,” he told BBC Radio WM, brushing aside the online mockery that followed the 2-1 win at Pride Park. “It can only make him stronger.”

The chance, blazed over from close range with the goal gaping, would have been Vazquez’s first league strike for Blues and a simple way to quieten the noise around a player still waiting for his moment. Instead, it became a meme.

Inside the camp, though, the mood is very different.

“He’s a tough cookie. He’s shown no signs of fragility,” Davies said. “I made a point to talk to him straight after the game last Saturday. And, when he scored a good goal in training this week, he got a big cheer from the lads.”

That reaction matters. Vazquez has yet to start a Championship game, used so far as an impact option from the bench, and the longer the wait for a first goal drags on, the louder the questions usually become. Davies is determined not to let that happen.

“He’s so desperate to score,” he admitted. “And we so want him to score. As soon as that first one goes in, it will all be forgotten about.”

For now, the miss lives on in the timelines, alongside names like Roger Davies and Ronny Rosenthal. Inside the dressing room, it is already yesterday’s news.

Away form strong, home puzzle remains

While Vazquez wrestles with his own breakthrough, Davies has a different riddle to solve: why Birmingham can win on the road but not at St Andrew’s.

Four away games have brought seven points from a possible 12 – victories and draws at Sheffield United, Wrexham and Derby County, with Norwich City inflicting Blues’ only defeat of the campaign so far. It is a solid return from a demanding early schedule.

Back home, the picture is more frustrating. Three league games at St Andrew’s, three draws: 2-2 against Bristol City, 1-1 with Southampton, 2-2 versus Wolves. Leads have slipped, momentum has stalled, and the home crowd is still waiting for a statement win.

Davies, though, sees progress beneath the surface.

“We’ve got the same amount of points as we did this time last season, but we’re a better team,” he said. “We’re more of an attacking threat, but we also look a bit more solid and more of a team.”

He knows there is work to do. He is not pretending otherwise.

“There’s still room for improvement in a few areas, but we can’t say we’re not pleased with the start we’ve made, given the challenge we had.”

That “challenge” has been repeated to him often enough: a brutal run of early fixtures, opponents with Premier League budgets or ambitions, and little time for a new coaching staff to bed in ideas. Birmingham have emerged with credit and a platform.

At the heart of that platform, Davies insists, is something simple.

“Our love of defending is clear to see. It’s as good as scoring a goal,” he said. “That takes you a long way. So much gets talked about systems but you can’t get away from commitment.”

Commitment in the tackle. Commitment to the press. Commitment to a forward still chasing his first league goal in a blue shirt.

Middlesbrough arrive at St Andrew’s on Saturday. The memes will still be out there. The question now is whether Vazquez, and Birmingham’s home form, can finally flip the narrative.