Sheffield Wednesday legend and EFL pundit Carlton Palmer believes that serious questions could be asked of Birmingham City boss Wayne Rooney if the side don’t win their next three games.
Rooney was always going to be facing an uphill battle upon taking over from John Eustace at St. Andrew’s as the side were sitting sixth in the Championship and had just beaten West Bromwich Albion in the West Midlands derby.
However, after five games, Rooney has guided his side to merely one point which came from a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town, where Birmingham City were two goals to the good heading into the final 20 minutes of the game before throwing away the lead late on.
Nevertheless, the former Derby County boss has some winnable fixtures on the horizon, including two home matches against relegation battlers Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham United, as well as an away trip to Blackburn Rovers.
Speaking to Football League World, ex-Leeds United star Carlton Palmer has admitted that failure to win the next three games could cause the Birmingham City board to ask questions of their new appointment:
“He has faced a tough run of fixtures in his defence, Southampton, Ipswich, Sunderland, all these teams have been bang in form.
“After the international break, they will face Sheffield Wednesday at home, Blackburn away and Rotherham at home,” he continued.
“He will need wins against these teams to keep the loyal Birmingham fans on his side.
“Two of those teams are in the bottom three, and if he fails to get wins in those games, there may be some serious questions that need to be asked by the people at the top.”
Writer’s View
Given how eyebrow-raising and colossal the decision to dismiss Eustace and appoint Rooney was, sacking the latter after a poor run of results seems unlikely.
The Birmingham City hierarchy are in a situation where they need to stick with their new man and give him money to spend in January to improve the squad for the second half of the campaign.
Deputy Head of Writing
