The Sun, a British media outlet, reported on the 29th (Korea Standard Time) that “Wayne Rooney is caught in the crossfire due to his poor performance in the team.” Rooney took office in Birmingham in October, but has been showing a report card of 2 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses in 13 games for about 2 months.
The fact that Birmingham maintained good performance before the inauguration of the team is even more painful for Rooney. Coach John Justus, who took the helm before Rooney, led Birmingham to sixth place with five wins, three draws, and three losses in 11 matches, allowing the team to seek promotion. After Rooney stepped down, Rooney took the helm and saw his team’s performance plummet to 19th place. Promotion for this season is almost over.
“Rooney’s remarks after losing 1-3 to Stoke City on the 27th are causing anger among fans,” the Sun said. “I wanted to replace all the 11 players I started in the first half at half-time,” Rooney said in a press conference after the game.
After all, the patience of the Birmingham club’s management seems to have run out. The Sun reported that the club is targeting Steve Cooper, who was recently replaced by Nottingham Forest, as Rooney’s replacement. This is the complete opposite of what happened when Rooney was appointed as manager. The new owner of Birmingham, Nighthead Capital, recruited Rooney as its manager because the owner himself was a big fan of Rooney and wanted to appoint a former famous player as manager for his business profit.
However, as his team’s performance was not followed, the team seems to have considered replacing Rooney. An unnamed club official who interviewed the Sun said, “Rooney is running out of time. If his current performance continues, the club will seek to replace Rooney and increase his performance.” 안전놀이터 추천
The team is also in a bad mood. “Rooney’s remarks after the match against Stoke City suggest that there is a lack of harmony with the team,” a relevant official said, signaling that Rooney’s dominance in the locker room is problematic. “Rooney was a controversial designation from the beginning,” he said. “Fans are also hoping for Rooney’s departure.”
“Cooper has attracted many fans and is one of the respected coaches for his performance in Nottingham,” a club official said. “Currently, when Cooper was appointed to Nottingham in the past, the club management sees Nottingham and Birmingham as the same level of clubs. Currently, the club believes that Cooper will be able to achieve this because he is aiming to be promoted to the Premier League within two to three years.”
As soon as Cooper joined Nottingham, which was in the Championship’s relegation zone at the time, in 2021, he ranked fourth in the final place of the season. Having advanced to the promotion play-off, Nottingham finally overcame all the obstacles and won promotion to the Premier League. After 23 years in the club’s history, he has successfully returned to the top flight. In other words, there are quite a few similarities between Nottingham then and Birmingham, which is currently experiencing ups and downs.
