What next for Birmingham City after achieving the highest points total in the history of English football? Chris Davies could retire now with a higher win percentage than Pep Guardiola. But that is not the plan. He and Birmingham are just getting started.

Davies knows the numbers. The most points? “One-hundred and eleven.” More league games won than any English team before them? “Thirty-four.” Not bad for a club with a highest finish of 17th in the previous eight seasons. One that had forgotten how to win.

“It was a rejuvenation of the whole club, really,” Davies tells Sky Sports. “That was so enjoyable after so many years in the doldrums, poor leadership and ownership, and just chaos. To actually have a season to remember, for the fans, it was a long time coming.”

For Davies too. After assistant manager roles at Liverpool, Celtic, Leicester and Tottenham, he had long felt ready for this chance. “It just felt right with Birmingham. You want to try to make an impact straight away and I saw that opportunity here.”

Speaking to Sky Sports inside an office at St Andrew’s, he can now say with confidence that he prefers the top job. “I feel better being a manager. It is more consuming but less stressful. You are not second-guessing yourself. I feel more comfortable in this role.”

Birmingham’s owners certainly needed it to work. There had been embarrassing missteps, some of them explored in the newly released documentary. Wayne Rooney brought a profile. But Davies brings the sort of substance that better fits their vision.

There are grand plans. Knighthead Capital Management, among which NFL legend Tom Brady is an investor, have already spent in excess of £35m on infrastructure. There are proposals for a 60,000-seat stadium and the development of a sports quarter in the city.

Supporters appreciate how the matchday experience has been transformed, the sort of attention to detail that wins hearts and minds. A club reborn off the pitch and on it, it is the sense of trying to build something that will last that captures Davies’ imagination.

He is speaking after seeing what was essentially a development team beat Solihull Moors. “The system of play. The way they are moving. The principles in our press. A lot of it was there. It is quite encouraging that it is filtering its way down through the club.”

The plan is for that to extend to the academy. “We are working on that alignment so there is an identity there as well. Because of the success that we had, I think that only reinforces your belief in the playing style and identity. The principles are in place.”

Davies has been working closely with director of football Craig Gardner on the next steps. “Recruitment and retention. That is the big thing this summer.” Some of the fees quoted are inflated with clubs aware of their resources, so they are having to be smart.

But they are still making moves in the market. “When you get 111 points, you can say that you are in a great position. But I just felt that we needed to progress, to improve the quality, while keeping the core, the essence of the culture that we have been building.”

Kyogo Furuhashi, the former Celtic forward, has signed from Rennes. Tommy Doyle, a creative midfielder, has arrived on loan from Wolves. There is Bright Osayi-Samuel from Fenerbahce. Demarai Gray is back in a Birmingham shirt after a stint in Saudi Arabia.

Getting the blend right is uppermost in Davies’ thoughts. Senior figures such as Lukas Jutkiewicz, Grant Hanley and Ben Davies are no longer part of the squad. “I am conscious that we have enough voices and leadership around to fill that void.”

They will be leaning on defensive rock Christoph Klarer. “A real leader.” And there is Tomoki Iwata, the responsible midfielder who helped the team tick in League One. “He brings quiet leadership and is a good reference point. So, we have our core players.”

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There is hope that others such as the popular Jay Stansfield, a trophy winner with England’s U21 side in the summer, will continue to grow when surrounded by better players. “This is an exciting time for Jay. He has everything I love,” says Davies.

“He is just full of energy, works so hard, has technique and intelligence. Having worked with Jamie Vardy, I think Jay is in that mould of striker who can be so dangerous with their movement, cleverness and speed. I am looking forward to seeing him develop.”

Others, such as Alfie May, will not be continuing on the journey. The 32-year-old striker featured in 57 of Birmingham’s 60 games last season – and has, therefore, played in more games under Davies than any other player in his fledgling managerial career.

“That was one of the hardest decisions that I have faced in my time in football,” he admits. “He was a catalyst, really, for us going up.” But Birmingham want to maintain the momentum and that demands ruthlessness. May could not be guaranteed game time.

“We would never push him out of the club. But we had an honest conversation.” Those chats have changed since last summer when he was trying to persuade people to stay. “When you go down, everyone wants to leave. When you go up, nobody wants to leave.”

Davies hopes that Kyogo can bring what May did and more. “He is in the Alfie mode, a real finisher with both feet around the box.” And they plan to bolster the squad with a superior target man too having lost Jutkiewicz. “I like having different types,” he says.

“I want three types of striker to choose from. Having a bigger one, that can be a good option to go over the press or attack crosses at certain stages of a game.” It is an indication that Davies has given much thought to how he will need to tweak things.

Birmingham dominated possession last season in League One and ball retention will remain a priority but there is an awareness that the opposition has changed. They will face fewer low blocks and that will ask different questions of Davies and his team.

A Swansea analyst in his early career, he still likes to do his prep, figuring out what each game demands. He checks the PPDA of each opponent – Birmingham allowed fewer passes per defensive action than any team in Europe’s top five leagues last season.

“We still want to be very aggressive with the press but I have been watching a lot of teams and trying to make sure that I am adding more layers to that because we are going to need more layers in the Championship than what we had last season.

“I am looking at working with the boys on how it can look when we are deeper in the pitch, for example, because we are going to come up against some really good teams, especially away from home, that are going to get hold of the ball and really stretch us.”

He mentions the need for “options in the back pocket” and having “a few different weapons now” – so expect that to include pace on the counter-attack as well as a physical presence. When deep, they will need someone to spring those breaks too.

Doyle could help with that. “I really like him,” says Davies. “He has great vision, great awareness and a real tenacity about him as well. From deep, he can see and execute things that a lot of players at this level cannot. I am really pleased that we have got him.”

Gray brings speed and trickery, as well as fulfilling the function of Stansfield last summer in being a fan-favourite signing – one that suggests the club are aware of the need for supporters to connect with the squad. Davies knows him from Leicester too.

“The key part of that was this is not just any club. It is Birmingham City. He has been a Birmingham City boy since eight years old. His family are all here. It needed to be something that could ignite him. When he has that fire and is on it, he is exceptional.”

The signing of Gray is a football one as far as Davies is concerned but he knows that it takes on a symbolic significance. The return of the prodigal son, sold to Leicester during their title-winning season almost a decade ago, shows that the landscape has changed.

The East Midlands club, with which Davies won the FA Cup not so long ago, are Birmingham’s promotion rivals now. And while those expectation levels are high, he has had to learn to embrace them. He laughs when the pressure question comes up.

“I had 60 games last season and was expected to win 58 of them so I am pretty used to the pressure now,” he says with a smile. “Ultimately, we are a promoted team. I will continue to remind people of that. Everybody knows how hard the Championship is.”

He adds: “I am not going to make grand statements. About 20 of the 24 teams go in feeling this could be their year. We have to earn it, we have to prove it. But with the squad that we are putting together, there is great belief that we can kick on with momentum.”

Chris Davies and Birmingham City plan to keep right on.

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