Braced for turbulence
It was a bumpy landing for Rooney at Derby and DC United — and he won’t get an easy ride in Birmingham either
IF, as expected, Wayne Rooney ends up in the seat vacated by John Eustace at Birmingham City yesterday, the former Manchester United and England star won’t be put off by a little turbulence as he lands back in the English midlands.
Rooney shouldered enough of the burden during a tumultuous 18-month spell in charge of Derby to cope with any dissent over City’s decision to show Eustace the door with his side lying sixth in the Championship table following back-to-back wins.
No sooner had Rooney confirmed over the weekend that he was leaving DC United than Birmingham axed Eustace and said that ‘a new first-team manager will be announced in the coming days who will be responsible for creating an identity and clear “no fear” playing style that all Birmingham City teams will adopt and embrace’.
Rooney certainly ticks the ‘no fear’ box. He played without it and has coached without it during a fledgling managerial career. During his first job at crisis-torn Derby, Rooney proved to be a force of nature.
Amid points deductions and a nine-month period in administration, he did an excellent job of keeping the players and supporters on board. The siege mentality he created among the squad meant Derby never threw in the towel during the 2021-22 season, even though relegation was a virtually certainty with the Rams carrying a 21-point penalty for financial breaches.
Derby took punch after punch yet still Rooney would drag them off the canvas, with his steely performances in public going down well with fans.
He was hugely popular with his squad and coaching team, too, emerging as the figurehead the club needed in one of its darkest periods. Yet a personality as powerful as Rooney’s can also bring challenges for the club he manages. Birmingham’s statement yesterday stressed the importance of the ‘board of directors and football management’ being ‘fully aligned’.
If he disagrees with a club policy, Rooney won’t be afraid to make his feelings known.
He is expected to be joined at St Andrew’s by assistant manager Ashley Cole and first-team coach John O’Shea, team-mates from his playing days with England and United, respectively. O’Shea is currently assistant to Stephen Kenny with the Republic of Ireland.
They will be hands-on alongside Rooney, who preferred a more conventional managerial role at Derby where his assistant Liam Rosenior — now in charge of Hull City — led the majority of training sessions.
It is the type of dynamic Rooney was used to during his 13-year career at United playing under Alex Ferguson, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
If Rooney’s first foray into management was a baptism of fire, his second back at DC United has only been marginally easier. He took over a team sitting second from bottom in the MLS Eastern Conference and finished bottom of the table last season.
Rooney inherited a divided dressing room in the US capital but rebuilt the team by drawing heavily on young players, just as he did at Derby.
However, when DC missed out on the play-offs again this season, the four-time MLS winners decided to part ways with the 37-year-old. For Rooney, it means he can return to England to be with his family.
Wife Coleen and their four boys moved out to America with Wayne when he played for DC United, but remained in the family’s Cheshire home after he took over as coach in July last year.
‘I just feel like it’s the right time for me to go back to England, first to obviously see my family — I haven’t seen them for a long time,’ he said at the weekend.
Birmingham is an altogether shorter commute after chief executive Garry Cook — a lifelong Blues fan and once Manchester City CEO — made the move for Rooney on behalf of the club’s American owner Tom Wagner, who completed his takeover in the summer and has backing from NFL superstar Tom Brady.
Cook has been the driving force behind the deal, using his connection with Rooney’s long-time representative Paul Stretford.
It has come at a price for Eustace, who saved City from relegation last season and leaves them in the play-off places despite working against a backdrop of unsuccessful takeover bids and the threat of points deductions.
As he departs after 15 months in charge, City fans could be forgiven for fearing a re-run of what happened seven years ago when the unfashionable but popular Gary Rowett was axed with his team in seventh place.
Rowett was replaced by a bigger name in Gianfranco Zola who quit four months later after winning two of his 24 games.
It explains why there have been some murmurs of dissent over Rooney becoming City’s seventh manager in little over six years.
As he prepares to take charge of the third club of his managerial career, Rooney won’t be losing any sleep over that.