Wayne Rooney has responded after team owner Tom Brady criticized his coaching tenure at Birmingham City, questioning the England star’s work ethic.. Rooney coached Birmingham City for 83 days, overseeing 15 games, nine of which resulted in losses. Birmingham fell down the table to 20th in the Championship before he was dismissed in January of 2024. Birmingham would eventually be relegated to League One during that season before bouncing back after the last campaign.
Rooney took over just eight weeks after Brady bought a stake in the club, but it wasn’t a pairing that would bear fruit for the Blues.
«I’ve seen that either this week or last week from Tom Brady, and I think it was a very odd comment. I mean, when I went into Birmingham, they were in a mess really, hence the fact that when I went in, the players weren’t really the players who could take the club forward,» Rooney said on a BBC podcast. «I think Tom came in once, which was the day before a game where the day is a little bit lighter anyway, and I don’t think he understood football all that well at the time, maybe he does now. But what he does understand is, you know, he’s a hard worker, we know that, so that’s why I’m really disappointed with the comment.»
After leaving Birmingham City, Rooney would go on to coach Plymouth Argyle in the Championship from May of 2024 until December of 2024, departing as manager with the club rock bottom of the Championship. That would lead to another relegation to League One for a Rooney-coached club. In that same season, Birmingham City secured a record points haul of 111 points to win League One and seal their return to the Championship.
Brady and Manager Chris Davies have been able to oversee a revival of Birmingham City with the addition of investment into the club, but there will still be a long way for them to go if they are to return to the Premier League. The gap between the Championship and the top flight is widening by the year, with all three promoted clubs being relegated in two consecutive seasons but even for Birmingham to make it to the top of the Championship, further investment will be needed.
