Wayne Rooney responds to calls for ‘immediate’ Birmingham City sacking

Wayne Rooney was booed off the field after his home Birmingham City managerial debut and some fans have even called for a dramatic instant sacking following a second successive defeat. Blues looked uncomfortable as Hull City controlled proceedings and earned a 2-0 victory on Wednesday, prompting plenty of distaste from the home crowd.

The emotions ran high at St Andrew’s Stadium as supporters witnessed a host of mistakes and a lack of intensity caused by an audacious new tactical system. Rooney received a hostile welcome and there’s plenty to do in order to get the fans on his side, it seems. But the new manager insists change is needed to bring an end to the stagnation of the football club.

“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.

“We need to be patient with it and we’re playing good teams as well while we’re asking the players to do different things. Listen, it’s been two weeks! You’ve not had something good for the last 10 years and it’s been very difficult. There’s a clear way we want to move forward as a club and that’s not going to happen overnight,” Rooney explained.

The change of tactics has had a clear impact on the team’s confidence and the new boss has admitted he may have to slow down the rate of transition in order to find the right balance. The end goal is still there, though, and Rooney has made it clear the ‘no fear football’ target can still be achieved but it just needs patience from everyone involved.

“There’s been expectations placed upon myself within a time frame, which I accept and understand. I’m happy to face that but it’s not going to change within two weeks, especially when the players have been used to playing a different way. Listen, I can get players to boot it up the pitch and win second balls, that’s fine, that’s not an issue. But we need to get the balance right,” Rooney concluded.

Without a single goal or point in his opening two matches, the pressure is already mounting on Rooney and there’s no sign of it letting off. The fixtures are tough, too, with promotion hopefuls Southampton, Ipswich Town and Sunderland all to play in the next three. The ex-England captain will be desperate for an improvement this weekend as Blues take on the Saints.