Tom Brady slammed over "baffling" Wayne Rooney decision

01 December 2023 , 20:58

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NFL legend Tom Brady became a minority owner of Birmingham City in August (Image: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Tom Brady and the Birmingham City owners have been criticised over the club's pursuit of 'no-fear' football.

Brady became a minority owner of the Championship club in August, where he was named as the chairman of the newly-formed advisory board. The NFL legend entered business with Birmingham's majority owners, Knighthead Capital Management LLC, and was in attendance for the second league fixture of the season against Leeds United at St Andrew's.

Just two months after Brady became co-owner of Birmingham, the decision was made to part with John Eustace as manager. A few days later, Wayne Rooney was hired as his replacement soon after his exit from his role as manager of Major League Soccer's DC United.

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Since Rooney has taken charge of Birmingham, the club have won just one of his seven games in charge. That run has also resulted in five losses and has seen the club fall from sixth to 16th place in the Championship table.

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At the time of Eustace's dismissal, the club's statement included a desire to play "no-fear" football under the next manager. "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," the statement read.

Former Wolves and West Brom striker Don Goodman has weighed in on the current situation at St Andrew's. The Sky Sports pundit has criticised the club for the decision to remove Eustace while being in a play-off spot at the time and has questioned the "no-fear" plan employed by the new owners.

"Wayne [Rooney] has alluded to being backed in the transfer market. He wants to play a possession-based game as he did at Derby and DC United," Goodman told OLBG. "I don't see him as being under pressure. The mess that Birmingham have got into is the owners' fault, not Wayne's."

Goodman added: "I feel for Wayne, as he's come in in the middle of this run and the crowd is on his back. You need results when you come into a new club, and it didn't happen. With that run of fixtures, it never was.

Wayne Rooney has won just one of his seven games as Birmingham City manager (Morgan Harlow/Getty Images)

"Wayne has been put under pressure by the timing and the owners. The 'no-fear' football statement is baffling. They're saying that Eustace got to sixth playing with fear! It made no sense and it was a poorly worded statement.

"The new owners have made a rod for their own backs. They've gone in with all guns blazing and they've displayed their ambition to get into the Premier League, but with that comes pressure.

"I feel sorry for Wayne as a small section of fans are starting to boo, but it's not his fault. I just want to put that out there. He is their man, and I'd expect he will get a bit of time."

Mark Wakefield