- Wayne Rooney has been sacked as Birmingham City boss on Tuesday morning
- IAN LADYMAN: He was a superb footballer… but is Rooney a dud in the dugout?
- How on earth can Chelsea let one of their best players and stand-in captain Conor Gallagher go to fierce rivals Tottenham? It’s All Kicking Off
Wayne Rooney has been sacked as Birmingham manager, the club confirmed on Tuesday morning.
Since Rooney replaced John Eustace in October, Birmingham have had the worst record in the Championship. They took 10 points from a possible 45, losing nine and winning just two.
The former England captain is thought to have been on much less than the £1.5million per year salary that was initially suggested, and departed the club along with coach Carl Robinson.
The futures of fellow staff members Ashley Cole, John O’Shea and Pete Shuttleworth were being resolved on Tuesday morning.
Rooney had vowed to fight on after Monday’s 3-0 defeat at Leeds but staff were called to a meeting at the club’s training ground on Tuesday where they were informed that Rooney would be sacked.
Birmingham City have sacked Wayne Rooney amid the club’s awful run of form
Since Rooney arrived, Birmingham have fallen from the play-off spots into a relegation battle
The decision to appoint Rooney will surely go down as one of the worst in the history of the club.
When he was appointed in October to replace Eustace, Birmingham were sixth. He leaves with Blues only six points above the relegation zone and with the worst record in the division during that time.
Mail Sport understands Eustace would be open to returning to Birmingham but it seems highly unlikely that they would choose to reappoint him after already being forced into a such humiliating climbdown over Rooney.
This was Rooney ‘s third job in management. After spells with Derby in the Championship and DC United in Major League Soccer, he was brought back to England charged with bringing a ‘no-fear’ football philosophy to Birmingham.
From his 15 matches in charge at the club, Rooney won two, drew four and lost the other nine
NFL legend Tom Brady (left) is one of Birmingham’s minority owners after the club was taken over by Tom Wagner’s Knighthead Group in July
Poll
Did Wayne Rooney deserve to be sacked by Birmingham?
- Yes 309 votes
- No 51 votes
The Blues were taken over by an American consortium Knighthead last summer, a group of which NFL great Tom Brady is also a part.
But the Rooney experiment has been hugely embarrassing from start to finish and the credibility of the new owners will rest on what they do next.
Rooney’s long-term future in management now appears unclear.
Rooney believed he should have been granted more time to effect change.
In a statement released on Tuesday morning, he said: ‘I would like to thank Tom Wagner, Tom Brady and Garry Cook for the opportunity to manage Birmingham City FC and the support they all gave me during my short period with the club.
Rooney confirmed he will now ‘prepare for the next opportunity in my journey as a manager’
‘Football is a results business – and I recognise they have not been at the level I wanted them to be.
‘However, time is the most precious commodity a manager requires and I do not believe 13 weeks was sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed.
‘Personally, it will take me some time to get over this setback. I have been involved in professional football, as either a player or manager, since I was 16.
‘Now, I plan to take some time with my family as I prepare for the next opportunity in my journey as a manager.’
