Birmingham City picked up their first win under Wayne Rooney yesterday, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at St Andrew’s.
Birmingham City made hard work of it; Sheffield Wednesday caused them problems throughout and looked like they were going into half-time with the lead.
But an impressive goal from Juninho Bacuna, followed up by a half-time ‘rollicking’ from Wayne Rooney saw Blues take the initiative in the second half, with Jordan James then scoring the winner late on.
There’s certainly room for improvement. But one impressive individual performance yesterday came from Lee Buchanan who made his return to the XI after spending time on the sidelines.
What’s been said about Lee Buchanan?
Many Birmingham City fans were eagerly awaiting Buchanan’s return to the side.
He impressed upon his summer move from Werder Bremen and his absence was certainly a blow for John Eustace and then Rooney.
But the 22-year-old returned to the left-back berth yesterday and earned a 7.5/10 rating from Birmingham Live, with Alex Dicken adding:
“Buchanan is among the very best left-backs in this league and was absolutely outstanding on his first outing in two months. His tackling, positioning and passing – most of the time – was first class. He is proving himself to be the most natural defender at the club.”
Buchanan has now featured eight times in the Championship for Birmingham City, with Blues losing just one of those games and and winning four.
Birmingham City with a win to build on
Although it wasn’t pretty, a win is a win, and it finally gets the Rooney reign underway after a tough start.
But the Blues boss will know that his side have to be much better when they go up against other teams in the league, with Sheffield Wednesday arguably one of the worst sides the Championship has ever seen.
Having Buchanan back though is certainly a plus.
He showed his class yesterday, making tackles and winning his aerial duels, whilst also contributing to the more attacking style of play that Rooney has been tasked with implementing.
Keeping him fit and firing will be key to any success Rooney has this season, so expect Buchanan to be monitored carefully over the next few weeks as he returns to Championship action.
Birmingham City are next in action away at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night in what will be a very tough away outing for Rooney and his players.