Kieran Dowell made his first start for Birmingham City this weekend and, alongside former Rangers teammates Ben Davies and Scott Wright, all roads are leading towards the League One title.
A narrow 2-1 home victory over Rotherham United, coupled with Wycombe Wanderers dropping points away to Cambridge, leaves ambitious, big-spending Birmingham four points clear at the top of the table.
Win their two games in hand, meanwhile, and former Celtic assistant Chris Davies will almost certainly be managing in England’s second tier come 2025/26.
Whether Kieran Dowell and Ben Davies stick around to welcome the return of Championship football to St Andrew’s, however, only time will tell.
Rangers’ £4 million forgotten man Ben Davies has been a revelation at the heart of Birmingham’s backline. The Blues have not lost a single game with Davies on the pitch since October. A run which now extends to 16 matches.
As for Dowell, his record reads one start and one win in a Birmingham shirt. The midfielder also arrived on loan from Ibrox. And if Davies looks destined to earn himself a permanent contract south of the border, then Dowell’s eye-catching full debut will have done his own hopes of a clean break from Rangers no harm either.
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Rangers loanee Kieran Dowell impresses on full Birmingham City debut
Despite only arriving last week, Dowell has already made just one fewer start at Birmingham than he managed in five months in Glasgow.
The former Gers benchwarmer might not have registered an assist, but he did provide the ‘assist to the assist’ as Birmingham came from a goal down to beat Rotherham and extend their lead at the top.
It was Dowell’s sumptuous floated cross to the back post which ended with Jay Stansfield flicking home the equaliser, via Lyndon Dykes’ knock down. The former Everton and Norwich City man then caused havoc with a wicked free kick from the opposite flank too before his eventual removal with 62 minutes on the clock.
A substitution made with his lack of match sharpness in mind.
Ange Postecoglou’s former right-hand man, speaking in his post match duties, confirmed that Dowell had featured in only two training sessions, plus a cameo off the bench at Huddersfield Town in midweek, before being thrust into the starting XI for the first time.
As such, the pace of his adaptation looks even more impressive in context.
“I think he had a strong game,” Davies said. “I hadn’t really had the chance to teach him how we play. He had to pick it up on the job a little bit, and he did. He picked it up quickly. He got in some good areas in the first-half, we saw some moments of quality.
“Good to have an influence in a goal straight away and I brought him off just to add a bit of energy and save his legs. But he did look strong physically.
Birmingham fans hail ‘exceptional’ Dowell in Rotherham win
A positive start, then, if not a blistering one.
The Birmingham fanbase have become huge admirers of Ben Davies in recent months – less so the injury-hit Wright – and Dowell has clearly made a good first impression too on his new fanbase.
“Rangers, I can’t thank you enough for giving us not one but two of your best players,” one joyous Birmingham supporter writes on social media. “Kieran Dowell was exceptional today.”
Now, the Gers fans will take issue with that. Neither Davies nor Dowell managed to force their way into Philippe Clement’s starting XI with any great regularity.
BrDowell, in particular, is a player unlikely to be missed at Ibrox with Mohamed Diomande, Connor Barron and the ever-growing Nico Raskin ensuring that the midfield is arguably the strongest area of the Rangers squad.
“Dowell looked tidy and grew into it,” another supporter says while praising Wright’s impact following a run of 12 games out of the side due to injury.
“Special mention for Wright. I’ve been unimpressed by him so far – pre and post-injury – and not blinded by the Wigan winner [on his debut in August]. But today he looked good decent when he came on.”
“Our recruitment has been impressive in terms of finding players that may not be starters for their teams but are identified as good fits to our system and how we want to play,” one Birmingham fan adds astutely, the Blues taking advantage after Dowell, Davies and Wright slipped down Rangers’ pecking order.
“So far, it’s paying off. Dowell the latest addition to fit in nicely, thought he was very good.”
“Kieran Dowell; Shout out today for a great debut for Blues,” one fan agrees. “Looks like another solid player that will add to this squad. Can only get better and better.”
After starting only twice for Rangers during the first half of the Scottish Premiership campaign, Dowell should only improve with more minutes in the legs.
“Dowell was quality by the way,” a delighted supporter beams, reflecting on the loanee’s fine clipped pass in the build up to Stansfield’s equaliser. “That little chip for the goal was unreal.”
