Wayne Rooney has called for fans to be patient following his poor start at Birmingham City, during an interview with Sky Sports.
The Blues made the shock decision to part company with John Eustace earlier this month, despite the 43-year-old guiding the West Midlands club to their best start to a season in years. The 3-1 win over rivals West Bromwich Albion before the international break proved to be his last outing as Birmingham manager, and rumours of Rooney’s imminent arrival surfaced following his resignation from Major League Soccer outfit DC United.
It was a move that was met with disappointment from supporters, who had adhered to the former boss after years battling for Championship survival. The former Manchester United and England legend headed to St Andrew’s with the club in sixth and immediately faced a battle to win over his critics.
Almost predictably, he suffered defeat in his opening game against an in-form Middlesbrough, but it was Wednesday’s 2-0 reverse against Hull City which drew boos from the home crowd. Rooney, however, remains unfazed, calling on fans to give him time to implement his methods;
“My message to the fans would be to be patient,” he said. “I get it, they parted ways with a very popular manager, who did a good job in stabilising the club. I understand there’s a bit of frustration, of course I do.
“We need to realise where we’re trying to go, not where we are now. That’s our aim, that’s our ambition and it’s what we’re hoping to achieve.”
The former Derby County boss revealed that despite Eustace’s success, he wants to change the way the team play. This change, he believes, will stand the club in good stead in the future;
“The club has been in a position over the last decade where it’s had almost a way of playing which is why they’re still in the position they’re in.
“From my point of view, I want to move the club forward, and change the culture and identity of the club.
“If you look at the teams who get promoted, it’s the teams who play football. Very rarely, Luton are probably the exception, are teams promoted playing a style they’ve been playing.
“Of course you want to change how you want to play, I’m very clear on that, but I don’t want to put someone completely out of their comfort zone.
“The last two games, in terms of building out from the back, we have done that. It’s something for me to adjust, and through January and the summer we’ll start gradually building our squad for what we want, but that’s not to say the players now don’t have an opportunity to show me what they can do and that they’re on board with it.
“We just have to get a bit better more on game management, that needs to improve a lot.”
Successive defeats have seen Birmingham slip to 12th in the table, although they are currently just four points off third-placed Leeds United. They travel to a resurgent Southampton tomorrow, although three points would see them move above the Saints on goal difference.
Writer’s View
Everybody could see this situation coming a mile off. Middlesbrough was perhaps always a game in which Birmingham would struggle in, but the manner of their defeat against Hull has added to the pressure. We’ll never know if Eustace would’ve fared any better in those two fixtures and it could be argued that they were punching above their weight in the early stages of the season.
Tomorrow’s trip to the south coast will be a tough one, whereas there is a very real risk that Rooney could enter the international break later this month winless. Games against high-flying Ipswich Town and promotion hopefuls Sunderland follow, but there will be no free pass and he will need to pick up some points to keep the fans and media at bay.
Head of Writing
