Birmingham City suffered yet another defeat in midweek, losing away at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.
After Wayne Rooney got his first win as Birmingham City manager last weekend, Blues returned to losing ways in midweek, suffering defeat at Ewood Park.
Rovers put four past Birmingham City; all four goals coming in the second half, with Siriki Dembele scoring twice to leave the score 4-2 in the end.
At the start of the season under John Eustace, Birmingham City were an impressive defensive outfit, but under Rooney it’s a different story.
So far under Rooney, Birmingham City have conceded 15 goals in seven Championship games, keeping no clean sheets since his appointment.
Emanuel Aiwu ‘isn’t the answer’
Emanuel Aiwu joined on loan from Cremonese in the summer.
He’s since made six appearances in the Championship and he’s started the last five for Blues, playing at centre-back alongside skipper Dion Sanderson.
But Aiwu’s recent form was summed up after he was substituted on the hour mark vs Blackburn Rovers, with journalist Alex Dicken suggesting after the game that Aiwu ‘isn’t the answer’ to Blues’ current defensive woes.
Sanderson, although he’s been poor of late, remains the first centre-back on the teamsheet, with Marc Roberts having been the first centre-back on the bench.
The position is particularly light this season, though, and Kevin Long’s current absence isn’t helping Rooney’s cause.
Kevin Long’s Birmingham City absence
The 33-year-old has missed the last three match days now, having only featured in Rooney’s first two games before being dropped to the bench.
Long is currently sidelined with a calf injury and his return date isn’t clear, though it seemed like the Irishman quickly became unfavoured by Rooney.
He was dropped despite being one of the first names on the teamsheet under Eustace and despite playing a key role in what was a watertight defence in the early parts of the season.
Alongside Sanderson, Long provided some key experience in what was an otherwise youthful and fairly inexperienced defence at the start of the season, so it might not be any surprise that Blues’ defence has fallen apart at the same that that Long has been missing.
His eventual return could be a blessing for Rooney who needs to do something drastic to get this backline tight again, with pressure persisting on Rooney following a poor start.
Up next for Birmingham City is a home game vs Rotherham United this weekend.