ROONEY FUMES!
Wayne hits out at subs as Harness grabs draw
BIRMINGHAM manager Wayne Rooney had his first win stolen from his grasp by high-flying Ipswich as Marcus Harness grabbed two late goals.
Rooney blamed his subs for the calamity, claiming they let the side down after his starting XI gave them a two-goal lead with only 11 minutes of normal time left.
The mood at a rain-soaked St Andrew’s was in stark contrast to his only other home game when Rooney was booed off after defeat to Hull. Here he looked destined for his first win thanks to a firsthalf goal from Jay Stansfield and an own goal from Cameron Burgess, only to see Harness, sent on by Kieran McKenna in a triple substitution, score twice. ‘There were lots of positives but the one thing I can fault is that some of the lads that came off the bench didn’t do enough,’ Rooney said.
‘If you aren’t in the starting XI, and I make this point to players all the time, you need to be ready to come on. The lads worked extremely hard to put us in the position we were in and when you come on off the bench you need to do better than a few of them done.’
Rooney made four changes to the side beaten by Southampton. And when the dust settles on this result, it will be the breakout day for WazBall, or whichever moniker fans give it. He avoided the ignominy of becoming the first manager in Birmingham history to lose their first four league games and now has a platform from which to build.
For McKenna it’s 16 away games unbeaten in all competitions. ‘I really enjoyed the second half, how we played and the spirit we showed’ McKenna said. ‘If we’d have nicked a third goal, fantastic, and if they’d have scored a third goal, c’est la vie because I enjoyed it.’