Rooney raps his Brady bunch as misery goes on
FROM star dust to straw dust. The brave new era at St Andrew’s is yet to take off and not even the Tom Brady effect could press the starter button.
The American minority owner and former NFL star has been at Birmingham’s training ground this week, imparting his wisdom to Wayne Rooney and the players.
Unfortunately for new manager Rooney it was another afternoon of frustration and it could have been even worse but for a dramatic clearance from skipper Dion Sanderson.
Rotherham players were convinced Sanderson handled as he dived to divert Oliver Rathbone’s shot and caretaker manager Wayne Carlisle admitted: “I haven’t had an opportunity to see it back, but the boys said it was.
“It was a big moment in the game and if it is I will be disappointed.”
Rooney did not hold back afterwards as he conceded the Sanderson incident could have gone against his side.
He snapped: “It was not a good game from our point of view. The basics, heading, defending were not there today. We created a lot of our own problems.
“We were fortunate to come away with a point in the end and a lot of things for me to address.
“I haven’t seen it back but we could have conceded a goal, possible handball, maybe a player sent off for being sloppy. We were very bad for an hour and have to address it.”
Brady’s previous visit was on a warm summer’s day when all appeared sunny on and off the pitch.
He made all the right noises and Birmingham fans strapped themselves in for what they hoped was a roller-coaster ride.
Rooney was yet to arrive, of course, and that has affected the narrative.
Many supporters felt John Eustace should not have been dispensed with quite so quickly, but, hey, Wayne Rooney. Big name.
Since then, the new Birmingham manager’s record is five defeats in eight games, one win, two draws.
The victory, last week, was against bottom club Sheffield Wednesday.
Yesterday it was another South Yorkshire club – with an even worse away record than the Owls. And Sam Nombe could have scored twice in the first half.
Since the Wednesday match Rooney has seen his team thrashed at Blackburn and attended a fans’ forum.
Tellingly yesterday the fans chanted his name even though there were boos at the performance. BIRMINGHAM: Ruddy 7; Laird 5 (Drameh (23) 6), Sanderson 7, Aiwu 6, Buchanan 6; Bacuna 6 (James (58) 5), Bielik 7; Miyoshi 5, Dembele 7; Stansfield 6; Burke 5 (Jutkiewicz (58) 5) ROTHERHAM: Johansson 7; Ayala 7, Peltier 6 (Hugill (71) 5), Bramall 6; Rathbone 7, Tiehi 6, Odoffin 6, Revan 6; Lindsay 6 (Morrison (71) 6); Nombe 6, Appiah 6 (Lembikisa (56) 5) STAR MAN: Dion Sanderson – Led by example for Birmingham and produced a spectacular clearance to rescue his team. REF: Andy Davies 7