Birmingham City: 5 things on Wayne Rooney's to-do list at Blues | OneFootball

Highlights

Wayne Rooney will be chomping at the bit to enforce his managerial worth and match the lofty standards set by John Eustace at Birmingham City.

He's got a lot to prove after enduring a mixed spell in the Derby County dugout and replacing Eustace, who is held in glowing regard in these quarters and had Blues in the top-six at the time of his controversial dismissal.

It's a testing gig, and one that you feel will either make or break his reputation as a manager in English football.

With that in mind, these are the five things that he'll be looking to action after taking the job.

Start off strongly

You can't underestimate the importance of Rooney getting off to a flying start.

Amid the Eustace controversy, his arrival hasn't exactly been met with elation from supporters, so it's vital that he gets the ball rolling in style early on.

Birmingham have headed into the international break in fine form after claiming big victories over Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion, and they face some stern tests in the next month.

First off is a daunting trip to Teesside to visit a Middlesbrough side that have been revitalised as of late, before hosting Hull City - who've lost just twice to date - straight after.

Then, they've got an unenviable triple-header on the agenda where they'll face off against Southampton, Ipswich Town and Sunderland.

The Saints possess pedigree and firepower that sticks out like a sore thumb in the second-tier and while results generally haven't matched that notion, they've certainly picked up more recently - whereas Ipswich and Sunderland have both been mightily impressive thus far.

It's a baptism of fire to say the least, but Rooney needs to face up to it the best he can and chalk as many points on the board as possible.

All things considered, a seven-point return would probably reflect well on him, but if he struggles, then he may find it hard to reinstall momentum after the five-game period.

Continuing John Eustace's success

An extension on the introduction really, as Rooney will be perennially compared to Eustace and, in many ways, defined by his predecessor.

He's given Blues fans the barometer for success and Rooney will have to live up to them, so getting kick-started with continuity will be a big port of call.

It won't be straight-forward, but he'll want to have them in a similar league position by the time January rolls around and he gets the opportunity to enhance his squad.

Make the most of the January transfer window

Birmingham are now able to navigate the transfer window differently following their Stateside summer takeover, and it seems as though Rooney will be granted the necessary financial tools in January to ensure that they remain competitive for the duration of the campaign.

Speaking of Rooney at his opening press conference on Thursday afternoon, CEO Garry Cook explained: "With risk comes great reward. We know that as a board and we're not backing just Wayne, we're backing ourselves.

"I've known Wayne since he was 16... and since then I've always stayed in touch.

"One thing you'll always find with Wayne is he'll demonstrate his aspiration and his hunger for success. We saw that when he was playing, and we're seeing that as a manager.

"But in management, you have to have all the right support, you've got to have the right owners, the right players, the right infrastructure, the right performance facilities and we will provide that for Wayne."

It's not yet clear just how significant the transfer warchest will be, but one suspects that Rooney will have more than enough cash to play with and he'll need to optimise that.

The squad still needs work in some areas and Birmingham's new ownership will want to flex their muscles in the window with exciting captures, so it'll no doubt prove a crucial juncture of his tenure.

On the flip side, he'll need to stay on the right lines of the EFL's over-spending regulations, which they could be hamstrung by if they're not careful.

Win supporters over

Going back to Eustace now, this is something he did to much success and it's crucial that Rooney follows suit.

Building a connection with supporters doesn't just come from winning matches, it's also generated through giving them the style of football they want to see, the way you speak, the way you celebrate after games and so on.

Granted, he's up against it with fans from the offset given how gutted they all are about Eustace's sacking - and you can't blame them - but he'll need to put that aside and build bridges with them quickly if he's to be a success at St Andrew's.

Get the best out of Siriki Dembele

There's a school of thought that Dembele holds the key to Birmingham's fortunes on the pitch this term.

The versatile winger arrived in the summer from Bournemouth as one of a number of ambitious acquisitions and has justified the palpable excitement by scoring three times in his first seven outings, including a brace to inspire their recent 4-1 rout of Huddersfield.

He's a goal threat at this level, that's for sure, but he also marries it with spectacular one-v-one dribbling that very few attacking players outside of the Premier League can rival.