Wayne Rooney sacked: supporting Birmingham City is hard
An appointment that seemed doomed from the get-go, Birmingham City have, once again, shot themselves in the foot.
After a shaky start, some fans were willing to give Rooney time, many willing to wait for a transfer window, few Bluenoses believing the team would be sucked into another relegation battle.
However, yesterday’s 3-0 defeat to Leeds United meant everyone shared the same opinion. Rooney needed to go.
https://twitter.com/BluesFocus/status/1741878813745619187
The season before Rooney’s arrival
We’re in January and Birmingham are 20th in the EFL Championship, six points clear of the relegation zone. Rewind to October and Blues were in 6th place, heading into an international break after a 3-1 win against local rivals, West Brom.
John Eustace was the head coach at the time, somebody from the area who had took Birmingham to their best league finish in seven seasons.
Eustace wasn’t a big name in football, perhaps not the best coach in terms of tactics, but he understood the club. He got the fans. He got the players playing with pride for the shirt, playing in a way that wasn’t the prettiest to watch, but got results with every player fighting for each other.
Eustace arrived in the summer of 2022, when the club were owned by a different regime.
This regime had left the club to decay, running the club using a bare-bones budget. Blues were barely staying afloat, getting by using loan players and free transfers. Then, the Americans arrived.
BREAKING: Birmingham City announce American financier Tom Wagner has purchased a 45.64% stake in the club. pic.twitter.com/9Ry1egk8z6
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 8, 2023
Tom Wagner and Knighthead Capital invested an extortionate amount of money to try and revive the club.
This news felt like the dawn of a new beginning, especially because there was open communication coming from the hierarchy, something Blues fans hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Take the CEO, Garry Cook for an example. A man who took up a similar role at Manchester City at the start of their meteoric rise to glory. Someone who has represented Nike, the UFC and the Saudi Pro League, Cook could talk the talk.
This united the Blues fans and a positive start to the season got the fans thinking something special was on the horizon. Then, a big call was made.
The huge decision
Wayne Rooney had become the new manager of Birmingham City.
The first major on-field choice the new board had made.
In a club statement after the dismissal of Eustace, Cook said Birmingham were brining in a new manager that would ‘be responsible for creating an identity and clear ‘no fear’ playing style.’
Good player vs good manager
There’s no doubt that Rooney is one of the best players England has ever produced. Manchester United’s all-time top goalscorer, second in goals for the national team. But, being a good player and a good manager are two very different things.
Many of England’s golden generation have failed to make the transition to management. Rooney joins a list including Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Sol Campbell of players from the England team of the noughties to try their hand in management to no real success.
Losing identity
The ‘no fear’ playing style expressed by Cook in his statement aged terribly.
The fear was coming from every angle. The players feared the new instructions set out, the fans were fearful of all the space in a defence which only conceded less goals than Leicester City before Eustace left, and the manager was fearing for his job after a run of two wins in 15 games.
It was very fitting that the manager and players were wearing all black in the game yesterday.
The fans mourn the team that looked to be on the rise three months ago, with players such as John Ruddy and Dion Sanderson consistent performers in months gone by, but now completely devoid of confidence and conviction in what they are doing.
Same old story
Since Rooney’s appointment, no team has picked up less points than Birmingham in the league, going from 6th to 20th in a downfall fans of the club are all too used to.
There are so many statistics that showcase how hard it is to support Birmingham.
Worst goal difference in the last ten years*
1️⃣Huddersfield -177
2️⃣Morecambe -156
3️⃣Birmingham -155
4️⃣Crawley -141(*since january 1st 2014, top four tiers, league games)#htafc #htfc #terriers #MorecambeFC #shrimps #bcfc #kro #TownTeamTogether #CrawleyTown
— FootballRates.com (@fbrates) December 27, 2023
The team concedes lots of goals.
Most league games lost in the last ten years*
1️⃣Queens Park Rangers – 202
2️⃣Crawley – 198
3️⃣Morecambe – 197
4️⃣Birmingham – 196
5️⃣Crewe – 196(*since january 1st 2014, top four tiers)#qpr #TownTeamTogether #CrawleyTown #MorecambeFC #shrimps #bcfc #kro #CreweAlex
— FootballRates.com (@fbrates) December 27, 2023
The team loses a lot of games.
EFL teams that have gone longest without promotion
(last promotion in parentheses)1️⃣Colchester (2006)
2️⃣Derby (2007)
3️⃣Walsall (2007)
4️⃣Stoke (2008)
5️⃣Birmingham (2009)
6️⃣Swansea (2011)#ColU #dcfc #dcfcfans #saddlers #walsallfc #StokeCity #scfc #bcfc #kro #swans #swanseacity— FootballRates.com (@fbrates) December 27, 2023
The team hasn’t been promoted since 2009.
Most home games lost in the last five years*
1️⃣Birmingham – 50
2️⃣Queens Park Rangers – 49
3️⃣Forest Green Rovers – 47
4️⃣Stoke – 46
5️⃣Cardiff – 44(*since January 1st 2019, league games)#bcfc #kro #qpr #fgrfc #WeAreFGR #StokeCity #scfc #cardiffcity #Bluebirds #CityAsOne
— FootballRates.com (@fbrates) December 29, 2023
I think you get the idea.
Keep Right On
The club anthem seems truer than ever in what seems to be the most challenging time as a Birmingham City fan in my lifetime.
Even with new players, new managers, new staff, new training ground, new seasons, new owners, the story stays the same.
The womens team are flying high though, top of the Barclays Women’s Championship, so shout-out to them for showing the mens team how it’s done.
Also, the work the club are doing off the pitch is fantastic. The ‘Blue Nose Day’ set up to help children in the community was great to see, one of the few things currently that makes me proud to support the club.
https://twitter.com/BCFC/status/1738289554589893017
How to cope
In testing times, you have to hold on to what makes you happy and brings you peace. For me, I think about what made me fall in love with the club.
The aforementioned win against West Brom was a high point and looking back further, you’ve got the players produced and the trophies won.
Here you’ve got arguably the greatest England player of our generation to grace St Andrew’s and no, I’m not talking about the one on the right.
And the Carling Cup final, the best day of my life.
There are videos I look back on for inspiration when things get tough and this is one of them.
2-0 down against Bolton with 12 minutes to go. Birmingham needed a draw to stay up in the Championship. Nikola Žigić scores in the 78th minute and with seconds to go, Paul Caddis does this.
Here’s hoping the club get the next appointment right on a long, long road, where there’ll be joys and sorrows too.
