Wayne Rooney says Birmingham City fans ‘did not accept him’ from the start of his ill-fated three-month stint in charge at St Andrew’s.
The former England and Manchester United striker was appointed as the new Blues boss in October 2023 as the club’s new American owners moved to replace incumbent boss John Eustace, despite the club sitting sixth in the Championship table.
After earning just one point from his first five matches in charge, Rooney saw City slump to 18th place in the table before his first win came at the end of November against bottom-placed Sheffield Wednesday.
Rooney was relieved of his duties at the start of 2024, with the Blues having won just two of his 15 matches in charge, sitting 20th in the Championship table.
The former Derby County and DC United boss has now admitted that supporters found it hard to accept him as boss, given what a good job Eustace had been doing.
“Birmingham City fans didn’t accept me from day one,” Rooney said on the Stick to Football podcast. “John Eustace had done a good job, to be fair to him, but they made the change and asked me to go in. I went in, but I knew straight away that I wasn’t accepted by the fans.
“I think it was more because John Eustace had done well. They were in sixth place when he got sacked. If you’re a Birmingham fan, the last ten years they’ve had, and they are touching the Play-Offs – I know it was early in the season – and then the manager gets sacked. They had the situation with [Gianfranco] Zola a couple of years ago, and that comes back into the minds as well.”
Zola was appointed to the Birmingham City job in 2016, replacing Gary Rowett and immediately oversaw a decline in results, with the former Chelsea great earning just two wins in his 24 matches in charge.
City appointed Tony Mowbray to replace Rooney in the dugout and after leading the club to four wins in his first eight games, the club announced that the 60-year-old would be temporarily stepping back from management duty as he undergoes medical treatment for an unnamed illness.
Wayne Rooney was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet
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