Curtis Davies Reveals the 'Machine': A Glimpse into What Awaits Birmingham City Players

Curtis Davies, a former Birmingham City defender, discusses his training experiences with Ashley Cole and what he expects from him as a coach.

Curtis Davies believes Birmingham City’s players will be able to advance their careers under the tutelage of serial winners Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, and John O’Shea.

The Cheltenham Town defender told BirminghamLive’s Blues podcast Keep Right On that the trio, who will be joined by Carl Robinson and Pete Shuttleworth, will expect the highest standards in both training and matches. He goes on to say that although some will thrive, others will fall by the wayside as the former Manchester United and Chelsea players strive to push the team – and club – to the next level.

Rooney has taken over for former manager John Eustace, while Cole has joined the 37-year-old after a promising stint with Lee Carsley’s England Under 21s.

When Davies was working alongside Cole at Derby County, he noticed hints that he might take on coaching duties. In January 2019, the former England international agreed to join Frank Lampard’s team after finishing his final season.

Cole came in after leaving the LA Galaxy and played most games until sustaining an injury that forced him to miss the final few games of the regular season before returning for the play-offs. Throughout Davies’ recuperation, he spent a lot of time with him.

It was then that one of his generation’s most distinguished players impressed him with his determination, leading him to suspect a career on the opposite side of the white line. “I could see it just by looking at him,” Davies told BirminghamLive.

“I was injured, unfortunately, when Ash came in, I’d done my Achilles but when I was doing some of my sessions towards the back end of that season and was getting fit, Ash had a slight niggle and he did some sessions with me. He was a machine. He was 38 years old, same age as me now, but he was a machine.

“His attitude to work – and this is just with me, him and the physio, so no one was watching – and his standards were just constantly top, top, top all the time.

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“When it comes to training everything has to be top. If not, he’s able to have a go at people. He’s making sure and not like whinging, I talk about better pass, stronger pass, give me the ball blah, blah, like which keeps standards high.

“I think when he goes into this training group now, I think they’ll have the idea ‘Oh my god, it’s Ashley Cole’. Every time they make a mistake he’ll be on it. They’ll think ‘I don’t want to upset Ash’. This is the thing when you’ve got these elite players, you’ve got England’s best ever left back and possibly one of the world’s best ever left backs in my opinion, as your coach.

“And then you’ve got Wayne Rooney as your manager and then you’ve still got John O’Shea that’s won the Champions League and won multiple Premier Leagues, Fa Cups, etc, there’s nowhere to hide.

“These players have been at the very top of the game for years and years and they know the standards that it requires to go to that next level and if you drop below those standards, they’ll be on you.

“I think it’s, it’s going to be massive, any player in that group you’re only going to learn and you’re only going to grow – or you sink and you move on to pastures new. But this is a great time to be part of Blues. The main thing is even though they’ll be hard on you as coaches, because of the standards they require, they’re good people and they’ll definitely want to help you.”