Knighthead told to ‘be quieter’ at Birmingham City as Wayne Rooney claim made | OneFootball

Blues' American investors have changed the mood at St. Andrew's in the past three years

Birmingham City's American investment group, Knighthead Capital Management, have been told to somewhat alter just one minor issue in how they look to run the club on a day-to-day basis.

It has been three years since Blues were acquired by majority owner, Tom Wagner, after previously suffering years of stagnation under various consortiums, with the last of those being Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited.

Prior to his arrival, it is fair to say that St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park's own state summed up that of the club as a whole, with both the Kop and Tilton Road stands closed for almost two years after the reopening of stadiums following the COVID-19 lockdowns, due to mandatory repair works.

Since then, and in rather typical fashion given Birmingham's recent history, it has already been a dramatic journey in the past 36 months, with Knighthead overseeing a first relegation to League One in 30 years, before breaking a plethora of records and returning to the Championship under Chris Davies.

Wagner has constantly dreamed big, which has created a wave of optimism for the future at St. Andrew's, although it could still take some time for those dreams to become a reality.

With that in mind, Football League World's Birmingham City fan pundit, Jason Moore, has urged the owners to slightly alter how they communicate from the top-down.

Birmingham City owners urged not to always shout from the rooftops amid Tom Wagner vision

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Although Wagner has recently taken a step back from being the main man in terms of Birmingham's day-to-day running as he recovers from a stroke suffered in February, the American was previously an extremely vocal figure.

As well as setting out his hopes for the club to return to the Premier League, a new 62,000-seater stadium and Sports Quarter complex has been dreamed up and visualised in the past two years, which has also led to outside scepticism.

Knighthead continued to heavily back Davies in last season's transfer windows, but Blues could only finish 10th, and at the start of this season, Moore hopes the investment group rethink how they act in some ways.

When asked if there were any major changes Knighthead should make, Moore told FLW: "It's a difficult question to answer as a Blues fan, as they get most things right.

"The only thing I'd change is to be a bit quieter," he stated.

"I get they want to make noise and they say 'if we can't do it, we wouldn't say it', but I think we need to be a bit quieter.

"The 'no-fear football' comment damaged Wayne Rooney right from the start," Moore claimed. "Not that he was good anyway.

"Last season, we were selling season tickets on the basis we would compete at the top end of the Championship and expectations were through the roof.

"They just need to be a little bit quieter and operate efficiently, which they are doing, to be fair."

"I'm probably clutching at straws if that's the only 'issue' with our owners."

Birmingham City has reined in on big-money transfers so far this window

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As Moore alluded to, expectations at St. Andrew's have perhaps never been greater than 12 months ago, when some were even claiming that Blues could achieve back-to-back promotions.

As many as 14 new signings were recruited, which included the acquisition of Kyogo Furuhashi, who has since exited the club after an underwhelming 3-goal stint, moving to LA Galaxy and representing a significant loss of money.

With plenty of players now gelled into the squad, Blues haven't splashed the cash this time around despite Jhon Solis' permanent £6m return from Girona, with Davies instead looking to plug much-needed gaps with quality and sufficient depth.

That said, some supporters are still of the opinion that more needs to be done between now and September 1st.

Chris Davies will hope to retain Knighthead backing after mixed 2025/26 term

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Of course, Knighthead's previous claim involving Rooney has been well-documented, but since Davies was appointed in June 2024, the 41-year-old has also been backed in terms of support from Wagner through periods when some fans have called for a managerial change.

Therefore, he will hope to justify why the ownership took that particular stance and build towards the play-offs this season, as well as potentially being given the chance to remedy any dips in form, even though it could also prove to be one step too far given previous supporter frustrations.