‘Born winner’ Rooney is the new Birmingham coach, along with Cole and O’Shea

One of the first paths to ruin for a football club is to allow any American businessman to buy the stakes and take over. The jury is still on Todd Boehly from Chelsea and Kroenke from Arsenal, but other clubs like Crystal Palace, Burnley, Genova, Gillingham, Leeds, Lyon and Marseille are not that lucky. Even the biggest clubs, like Milan and Manchester United didn’t find much success with American owners in terms of titles and glory. And Birmingham City is another one on the list. US-based Shelby Companies Limited completed a takeover of Birmingham in July 2023 and soon afterwards seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady became a minority owner in the club. The first big thing to do was to sack the coach who was successful and appoint Rooney, who is not in form!

Coach John Eustace was in charge for only 15 months and lost his job despite guiding Birmingham to sixth place in the Championship this season. Now Rooney will be expected to oversee a push for promotion to the Premier League. And the level or football knowledge from the co-owner Tom Wagner was evident, when he sacked Eustace and called Rooney a ‘born winner’, obviously not knowing his managerial record: 137, games   39 wins, 34draws and 64 losses.

"Wayne is a born winner. We believe, with the support of his coaching staff, the club, and our supporters, he will take Blues forward on the next stage of our journey, His playing philosophy will help to realise the ambitions we have set for Birmingham City. Wayne has been preparing for an opportunity like this since he embarked on his coaching education whilst still a player at Manchester United. He and his staff have the full support of the Board and everyone at the football club" said Wagner.

’Sir Alex left as soon as he realized the club was in decline’

Of course, the ‘born winner’ was happy to go back to England, where he was in charge of Derby County, but was unable to stop Derby being relegated to the third tier in 2022 after the club were deducted 21 points for entering administration and financial breaches. He also failed to take DC United into the MLS play-offs this season.

"I am absolutely delighted to be joining Birmingham City at such an exciting time. It is very clear that they have a plan and are committed to realising their ambition for the club. We are fully aligned on what is expected. I have been building my managerial career, putting myself in challenging environments, to get me ready for this opportunity. It's a project that gives me a sense of purpose and I can't wait to get started" he said in a statement. Former players Ashley Cole and John O'Shea will be with him in the dugout. They were all great players in their time, now we will see what they are like as coaches.