Birmingham City boss Wayne Rooney turned heads last week, but not necessarily for the right reasons.
Rooney’s poor Birmingham City tenure to date has been well-documented.
He’s so far taken just five points from a possible 24 in charge, watching his Birmingham City side drop from 6th to 15th under his watch.
Blues now sit seven points outside the top six and look a way off challenging for a play-off place anytime soon, especially after a drab, goalless draw vs strugglers Rotherham United last weekend.
And after that game, Rooney made the following comments which drew a strong, mixed reaction from fans online:
“I think some players in there need to grow a pair of balls, basically, because I’m watching what they do in training and the minute there is fans out there they become a different player, a different person. That is football. You are going to have to play in front of fans, wherever you play.
“It is okay doing things on the training pitch but you have to take that into the games. We are still a young team but then the leaders in the team.”
Alex Dicken says Rooney might feel ‘invincible’ at Birmingham City
Rooney, wherever he goes, carries a huge name; his playing career will always be one of the best of any English player to play the game.
Rooney though was often hot-headed. He was known for losing his cool as a player and it seemed like he might have lost it a touch after the Rotherham game.
And commenting on what Rooney said, Birmingham Live reporter Alex Dicken had this to say on the Keep Right On podcast:
“There’s two reasons that I think Rooney says that comment. One is that he feels invincible, he feels like he’s going to get this chance under the current owners, he feels secure in his position and that he’s going to outlast some of the players that he wants to get rid of, that aren’t going to fit his style of play.
“And the other reason is that he wants a big reaction, and that he’s really testing the waters.”
Is Rooney getting ahead of himself?
We don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. But given recent form and those above comments from Rooney, it could be safe to assume that things are so rosy right now.
Rooney played under some of the game’s top managers and he’ll expect the same level of input and maybe quality from his Birmingham City players.
But he’ll have to remember that this Blues side isn’t the Manchester United side he once played in.
He needs to have more patience and different methods of extracting the best out of this set of players, which only a couple of months ago was in the Championship’s top six.
Dicken’s comments are certainly interesting.
Rooney, despite his poor start, looks set to be given some more time yet, and so he may feel like he can say certain things, do certain things, and not pay the price.
But as an experienced name in the game, Rooney may well have said what he said because he knows it will garner a reaction.
Birmingham City take on Coventry City this weekend in what is another huge game for Rooney, who’ll want to see a huge reaction from his players.