Speaking to Birmingham Live, Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney says he doesn’t have time to be concerned about the Blues’ lack of points at the moment.
The 37-year-old was under pressure ahead of his first game as Blues manager, with the club’s decision to fire predecessor John Eustace proving divisive at St Andrew’s.
Many of those who wanted Eustace to stay were opposed to Rooney replacing him, despite the fact that Rooney had previously done well at Derby County.
Despite this stint at Pride Park, he didn’t do enough at DC United to impress and secure a return to England until Blues called.
Some experts, including Darragh MacAnthony, have criticized the appointment, as have Birmingham fans.
Rooney, unfortunately, has not been able to silence his critics.
He lost his first game as manager 1-0 at Middlesbrough, which isn’t a bad result on paper given that Boro were on the rise at the time and this was the Manchester United legend’s first game in charge.
A 2-0 home loss to Hull City immediately after disappointed many fans, and they were unable to bounce back with a win over the Tigers, losing 3-1 at Southampton.
Despite the fact that they return to St Andrew’s this weekend, the Blues face Ipswich Town, who are presently second in the league after a fantastic start to the season.
Birmingham, on the other hand, is currently 14th after three successive losses. That will be a significant disappointment for them, given that Rooney’s predecessor, Eustace, left the club in sixth place when he left.
To be fair, the table is still relatively tight at this point, but the slide will be distressing for Blues fans.
Despite his disappointing start at St Andrew’s, Rooney hopes things will improve eventually.
“This is not the time for me to be concerned about not picking up points,” he remarked.
“I knew the fixtures were tough when I first came in, and I know how I want to play, and I know it will take some time, of course.”
“It’s a process which we’ll keep working on, keep trying to improve and I have no doubt that will happen.”
You believe the Blues require someone to rise up, shine, and let others to follow him in order for results to improve.
Jay Stansfield, who has played well this season and will be fearless as a young player, could be that man.
Because he is a young player, he is likely to be a sponge, soaking up Rooney’s instructions and adapting to a new system.
It remains to be seen whether others will follow him.
But he’s someone Rooney should consider using after proving his worth at St Mary’s last weekend.
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