[Football] Birmingham Sack Rooney (02/01/2024)

[PeterT]

They were doing very well when they sacked Eustace weren’t they? Time is not something I see anyone getting in that job

The legend of Eustace has grown over the last few months. Many fans wanted himout anyway, there had been several winless runs and 4 poor away defeats on the trot, and his style of football was very basic. He then won 2 games in a row which put them 6th but that was only 3 points above something like 16th so it was a bit misleading. Because of the 2 wins, he had started to get popular and then got sacked in favour of the CEO’s mate Rooney, and it was the way that was done, more than the fact the Eustace was doing a good job, that was unpopular

 

[The Hermit Kingdom]

Lampard next in? Gerrard? Sol Campbell?

 

[PeterT]

Dodgy tie up with Gary Cook who is CEO of Birmingham.

He was trying to buy Derby, and when he wasn’t successful Rooney resigned from there as well.

I think there is more than a bit of truth in that, Cook signed Rooney up to Nike as a teenager and they have been good mates ever since. It did smack of nepotism.

 

[HangletonGull]

It’s offical gone

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I saw a bit of his post-match interview with Jules B saying everything would be OK once they got players in. But they were the same players that got the club to near the top of the table. And, if they stayed the same group, but were led by a capable manager, they probably would climb up again!

Football is bloody weird sometimes. Concrete proof that some of the people running clubs don't have a scooby how to run them properly!

 

[Flounce]

The legend of Eustace has grown over the last few months. Many fans wanted himout anyway, there had been several winless runs and 4 poor away defeats on the trot, and his style of football was very basic. He then won 2 games in a row which put them 6th but that was only 3 points above something like 16th so it was a bit misleading. Because of the 2 wins, he had started to get popular and then got sacked in favour of the CEO’s mate Rooney, and it was the way that was done, more than the fact the Eustace was doing a good job, that was unpopular

Interesting, confess I just looked at where they were when he was sacked but have zero knowledge of style of play or anything else.

 

[mikeyjh]

Dodgy tie up with Gary Cook who is CEO of Birmingham.

He was trying to buy Derby, and when he wasn’t successful Rooney resigned from there as well.

Kind of, he was facillitating the take over by Chris Kirchner (look him up) - Birmingham won't end up in a good place with him at the helm, he's very good at spaffing other people's money up the wall and little else. I can't blame him for most of what happened at Derby but he was part of a process that very nearly ended in the worst case scenario. He also failed on his due dilligence of Kirchner!

As for Rooney, this was inevtitable, he needs a football brain alongside him - I've said before he's an incredible motivator and leader and coupled with the right person could be successful but was an appalling choice for Birmingham.

 

[HangletonGull]

Rooneys statement he’s fuming

 

[Weststander]

Dumb owners.

 

[PeterT]

Dumb owners.

Cheap shot. I would say they appear to be very good owners with a long term plan for the club, the stadium, the finances etc which the club hasn’t had for a generation. But they made a poor decision in appointing Rooney.

 

[Questions]

I couldn’t believe he is only 38……. How old is Milner ?

 

[FIVESTEPS]

Board said he was sacked because he"didn't meet expectations"funnily enough he completely met mine.

 

[bhafc99]

I couldn’t believe he is only 38……. How old is Milner ?

Rooney let himself go to pot years before most professional sportsmen or women.

 

[portlock seagull]

Was damned inevitable I say.

 

[Easy 10]

Cheap shot. I would say they appear to be very good owners with a long term plan for the club, the stadium, the finances etc which the club hasn’t had for a generation. But they made a poor decision in appointing Rooney.

But accurate.

The biggest decision they had to make, and they dropped the ball. Pretty dumb.

There was absolutely nothing in his managerial track record to suggest he would be a success. The owners got all starry-eyed though, no doubt egged on by Rooney's Great Mate Garry Cook, and the rest is a 15 game history.

I don't think its an exaggeration to say that pretty much EVERYBODY knew that this would be a terrible appointment. Everyone except thre senior management at BCFC.

They may have had the best of intentions. But it doesn't detract from the fact that their first big decision, they've royally f*cked up. Much egg on faces.

Dumb.

 

[Billy the Fish]

The legend of Eustace has grown over the last few months. Many fans wanted himout anyway, there had been several winless runs and 4 poor away defeats on the trot, and his style of football was very basic. He then won 2 games in a row which put them 6th but that was only 3 points above something like 16th so it was a bit misleading. Because of the 2 wins, he had started to get popular and then got sacked in favour of the CEO’s mate Rooney, and it was the way that was done, more than the fact the Eustace was doing a good job, that was unpopular

I heard a Birmingham fan on Talksport saying very similar the other day. Said the football was really bad under Eustace but he managed a few points early in the season which pushed them up the table.

Seems to be a common football case of reputation being enhanced by not playing/managing!

He also said Rooney was clueless defensively and couldn't organise the back four, so bad all round by the sounds of it, just in opposite ways.

 

[PeterT]

But accurate.

The biggest decision they had to make, and they dropped the ball. Pretty dumb.

There was absolutely nothing in his managerial track record to suggest he would be a success. The owners got all starry-eyed though, no doubt egged on by Rooney's Great Mate Garry Cook, and the rest is a 15 game history.

I don't think its an exaggeration to say that pretty much EVERYBODY knew that this would be a terrible appointment. Everyone except thre senior management at BCFC.

They may have had the best of intentions. But it doesn't detract from the fact that their first big decision, they've royally f*cked up. Much egg on faces.

Dumb.

Debatable that this was the biggest decision they had to make. An important decision no question, but off the field the stadium hasn’t had a kick of paint in anger for 25 years, two stands closed, the ground sold off to a third party by asset stripping owners and its status as a cultural asset removed (sound familiar?), two sanctions already for FFP and a perilous financial position that was not sustainable under the previous ownership. I would say buying the ground back and shoring up the financial position was far more important, progress on the pitch of course is very important but not more so than risking the very future of the club. I’m surprised any Albion fan would think differently, perhaps only if they didn’t know the full picture.

 

[peterward]

Kind of, he was facillitating the take over by Chris Kirchner (look him up) - Birmingham won't end up in a good place with him at the helm, he's very good at spaffing other people's money up the wall and little else. I can't blame him for most of what happened at Derby but he was part of a process that very nearly ended in the worst case scenario. He also failed on his due dilligence of Kirchner!

As for Rooney, this was inevtitable, he needs a football brain alongside him - I've said before he's an incredible motivator and leader and coupled with the right person could be successful but was an appalling choice for Birmingham.

You mean like our mutually respected Liam Rosenior, doing a great job at Hull?

It was Rooney that took the plaudits for the difficult job at Derby, and generally exceeding expectations in terrible circumstances but I did wonder how much of that was actually Rooney and how much his silent partner/right hand man Rosenior?

 

[Hamilton]

Potter will think himself above Birmingham imho, and with clueless Ten Hag flailing, inviting the ridiculous speculation Jim Ratcliffe might fancy him, I'd guess he will continue his gardening leave in hope of Old Trafford hotseat.

That’s interesting. I still think Potter has some integrity. I think he would see Birmingham as an interesting project.

 

[PeterT]

You mean like our mutually respected Liam Rosenior, doing a great job at Hull?

It was Rooney that took the plaudits for the difficult job at Derby, and generally exceeding expectations in terrible circumstances but I did wonder how much of that was actually Rooney and how much his silent partner/right hand man Rosenior?

I think that is a widely held view!