‘I’m an ex Birmingham City player and John Eustace spoke to me after his sacking from Blues’

Wayne Rooney has endured a tough start to life as manager of Birmingham City.

The former England and Manchester United captain has lost his first two Championship fixtures since taking over from John Eustace. Eustace was sacked as Blues boss despite guiding the St Andrew’s club to sixth place in the division.

Rooney was booed off the field after his home Birmingham City managerial debut following a second successive defeat in charge of the club, with some fans frustrated that Eustace was sacked despite his side’s good form.

Rob Burns, who runs the Birmingham City fan pub The Roost in Small Heath along with his partner Hollie, previously played for Birmingham between 1997 and 2001 and he briefly played with Eustace in the youth team.

Eustace departed to sign a professional contract for Coventry City, while Rob signed for his boyhood club Birmingham but the two still kept in touch over the years. Rob’s Blues career came to a premature end after he suffered a season ending knee injury and wasn’t offered another contract after.

But over the last 12 months he has helped to raise the profile of The Roost and turn it into the city’s primary pub on matchdays for Birmingham supporters, attracting the likes of new Birmingham owner Tom Wagner and NFL legend and new Blues investor Tom Brady.

He occasionally still keeps in contact with Eustace, with the two meeting at the Roost back in May. In an interview with Birminghamworld, Rob said he messaged Eustace after he was sacked from the club at the start of October, giving him his best wishes. Rob said Eustace told him he appreciated the message and thanked him for his support.

Rob also revealed that he is friends with the likes of former Birmigham players Andrew Johnson and Geoff Horsfield. Horsfield is a known regular at The Roost and Johnson the godfather to his children. “I go back a long way with them, about 25 years,” Rob said.

The Roost may appear like any other community pub from the outside, but it has attracted a number of famous faces over the last couple of years. Thanks to the pub’s links with Birmingham City, two of the biggest stars in the world in Ed Sheeran and Tom Brady have also both been inside the Brummie boozer in recent times.

What did Rooney say after being booed off the pitch against Hull City?

After the 2-0 defeat to Hull, Rooney was booed by a section of the home support and told the media: “Listen, [the boos] are part of football,” Rooney said in the post-match press conference.

“You need to win football games to change that and of course, the former manager was very popular and did a very good job. It’s what you want in terms of do you want the club to be where it’s been the last 10 years or do you want to move forward. Sometimes there’s a bedding-in period.”