Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney has sensationally ripped into his young squad, angrily stating to them to “grow a pair”, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
Rooney’s side were woeful in the dull 0-0 draw with Rotherham United on Saturday, with the result coming just a few days after a 4-2 defeat against Blackburn Rovers.
The Blues have recently struggled and find themselves bottom of the form table. In their last eight games they have just one win, two draws and five defeats, which includes a 2-1 win against bottom of the table Sheffield Wednesday. The pressure was heightened on the former Manchester United and England striker with owner Tom Wagner and investor Tom Brady in attendance for Saturday’s match.
The lacklustre West Midlands side looked disinterested for large parts of the game and were lucky not to lose the match despite managerless Rotherham winless in their last six matches. Birmingham now sit in 15th position in the Championship table, seven points away from both the play-offs and the relegation spots. The only silver lining is the fact Rooney’s side did get their first clean sheet in 10 matches but even that couldn’t cheer him up.
Birmingham were taken over by Mr Wagner in the summer and despite a brilliant start by ex-manager John Eustace, with the club sitting in the play-off positions, they relieved him of his duties back in October. It is the board’s prerogative to get in their own man however, and that’s the route they decided to take. Eustace had managed to acquire a staggering 18 points from just 11 games before his dismissal and is still without a club.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw, Rooney said:
“I think some players in there need to grow a pair of balls, basically, because I’m watching what they do in training and the minute there is fans out there they become a different player, a different person. That is football. You are going to have to play in front of fans, wherever you play.”
“I’m completely different as a manager to what I was as a player. You might see me on the side-lines quite calm. But the players know exactly what I expect of them, and if they are not doing it, they won’t play.”
“And by not playing, they won’t be at this football club. We will get different players in. The players are very aware of what I want from them and the expectations I have of them, my own expectations as well, so we are all aware of that.”
“We are trying to get better, we will get better, I have no doubts about that, but it is important the players know and understand like today when it’s not good enough. That is my responsibility. I have to make sure they are better than they were today so hopefully today was a one-off.”
Writer’s View
Rooney cuts a very frustrated figure, however this seems like the wrong approach with the Blues having such a young squad. The squad have an average age of just 25.1 years, so will still have occasional mistakes in them.
They now face Cardiff City and Coventry City in what must now be must win games for the under-pressure former Premier League legend
