Following this second relegation, with the management under pressure to cut wages and generate income from transfers, there were several departures. Devlin stayed, under orders from manager Steve Thompson to learn patience"Devlin wants the ball and thinks he should have it all the time ... He's got to become less impatient when we don't get the ball out to him"and three months into the season, he had five league goals and Notts were third in the table. He remained in the team, and the team remained in contention for promotion, although his goalscoring tailed off. On 1 March 1996, Devlin and Andy Legg were sold to First Division club Birmingham City for £500,000 the pair; both the "crowd favourites" were out of contract at the end of the season. Thompson pointed out that until his goal against AFC Bournemouth three days prior, Devlin had gone 13 matches without scoring, that he was a Birmingham boy who had been well aware of the club's interest in him, and that the whole fee would go towards strengthening the team.