Wayne Rooney's new Birmingham City claim called 'ridiculous' | OneFootball

Wayne Rooney has been criticised for a claim he's made in relation to his time as Birmingham City boss

Wayne Rooney has opened up on one aspect of his challenging time as Birmingham City boss.

Rooney took the managerial reins at Blues in October 2023 after John Eustace was sacked even though they occupied a Championship play-off spot.

The legendary England and Manchester United striker was also dismissed by the St Andrew's Stadium outfit in January 2024, having lost nine of his 15 games in charge.

Birmingham were relegated to League One at the end of the 2023/24 Championship campaign, while Rooney went on to endure another poor managerial stint in the second tier with Plymouth Argyle.

Wayne Rooney given fresh Birmingham City criticism after latest Blues claim involving Tom Wagner and Tom Brady

Rooney has not returned to football management since parting company with Plymouth in December 2024, and is now a regular pundit on popular shows such as BBC's Match of the Day.

When the 40-year-old left Argyle, they were bottom of the Championship table, while the Devon club were ultimately relegated to League One at the end of the 2024/25 season.

Meanwhile, Birmingham won the third-tier title last campaign, and current boss Chris Davies led them to a 10th-place finish in the second tier this term.

Blues have shown plenty of ambition under Knighthead Capital Management's ownership, as demonstrated by their 111-point haul in League One last season, but the consortium were unpopular among supporters when they replaced Eustace with Rooney.

Meanwhile, speaking on The Overlap, the former Birmingham boss claimed he wanted to go back to Eustace's style of football when he was in the St Andrew's Stadium dugout, but was warned against doing that by co-owner Tom Wagner and minority investor Tom Brady.

Football League World asked our Blues fan pundit, Jason Moore, if he thinks Rooney could have done a better job if he wasn't warned by the ownership about his style of play, or if the ex-Derby County boss was just out of his depth.

Moore told FLW: "When is the bloke just going to hold his hands up and say 'Do you know what I'm probably not a good enough coach'?

"He's been at Derby, not even succeeded because he got them relegated, but he did reasonably okay. Went to Blues, shocking. You can have that style of play argument as much as you want.

"But then you've also got (that) he went to Plymouth, shocking. DC United, wasn't very good. There's nothing wrong with being a really, really good footballer, but then not a very good coach.

"He might just be at a point where he was that good he can't understand why these players can't do what he wants. The bloke is just excuse after excuse.

"He just wasn't very good. He can come away from no fear football as much as he wants. What are they going to do? 'You played one game that wasn't attacking football, you're sacked.'

"It's a results business, he was shocking. Even when he got us to switch, the players just didn't have any idea what they were doing. This bloke, and it's really getting frustrating, because I adored Wayne Rooney. He was one of my idols growing up. I'm just getting really fed up with him.

"Just take a bit of ownership, and just say 'Do you know what? I wasn't very good.' There's loads of excuses under the sun. But sometimes, you've just got to be held accountable and just say 'I wasn't very good.'

"This whole thing about Tom Wagner and Tom Brady is just ridiculous. You're the manager. If it comes to it, and they say 'You know what, you're not playing the football we want', then they sack you, so be it.

"You can leave with your head held high, knowing that you stuck to your principles. The geezer is just absolutely frustrating. He's not a very good coach. End of."

Birmingham City supporters are unlikely to take kindly to Wayne Rooney's latest comments

As previously mentioned, Rooney's predecessor, Eustace, was sacked by Birmingham after leading them to a Championship play-off spot in the relatively early days of the 2023/24 season.

Rooney was subsequently a major factor in the fact that Blues were relegated to League One, having won just two games in 15 attempts.

Therefore, even if the former Manchester United, Everton, and Derby player was under strict instruction regarding what sort of playing style to utilise, he will remain an unpopular managerial figure among the Birmingham faithful.

Additionally, Moore is right to outline that Rooney's managerial struggles were not unique to his time in charge of Blues, as he also failed to get a tune out of his Plymouth team in his last job.