Birmingham City supporters may never forgive Tom Wagner and Garry Cook for big call if the worst happens: View | OneFootball

As we approach the final weekend of Championship action, Birmingham City are in a perilous position, and will need to defeat Norwich City on Saturday afternoon in order to stand a chance of second tier survival.

Defeating a Canaries side who have all but secured a play-off spot is a tough enough task for the Blues, but the St Andrew's outfit will also need other results to go their way if they are to maintain their Championship status.

Even a win on Saturday could see the Blues condemned to relegation if Plymouth Argyle win, and both Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers are able to avoid defeat.

While Argyle face a Hull City side who are vying to sneak into the play-offs, both Wednesday and Rovers face favourable fixtures, as Danny Rohl's men travel to a Sunderland side who have no relegation or promotion permutations, while John Eustace's outfit play Leicester City, who have already been crowned Champions, and will be in party mode which could be something Blackburn will look to exploit.

Blues supporters will face a nailbiting Saturday afternoon, but the 2023/24 campaign was not always pointing in this direction for the St Andrew's outfit and could have promised so much more.

Blues fans may never forgive Eustace decision

The Blues are heading into a last day relegation scramble which is ultimately out of their own hands, but there was no need for their season to have finished like this.

It will seem like a distant memory to supporters of the club now, but when Birmingham began the season with now Blackburn manager Eustace at the helm, they were a solid Championship side who were thinking about play-offs more than relegation.

In fact, the Blues defeated West Brom 3-1 on Friday 6th October, and following that triumph over a Midlands rival, the St Andrew's outfit occupied a top-six spot.

But despite the positive direction the club were moving in under Eustace's stewardship, club chairman Tom Wagner, and CEO Garry Cook made the decision to sack the manager, who was replaced by former Derby County boss Wayne Rooney, just three days after victory over the Baggies.

Rooney's tenure in the dugout was underwhelming to say the least, and the Blues' decision to sack Eustace and replace him with one of football's biggest names is an eerily similar event to when the club decided to sack Gary Rowett in December 2016, and place Gianfranco Zola in the hotseat, a decision which very nearly cost the club their Championship status.

Ironically, it is now Rowett who is tasked with keeping his club in the second tier during his spell as interim boss, but if the Blues are relegated, fans will surely never forgive the club's decision to remove Eustace from his managerial post.

Rooney's spell at St Andrew's was disastrous

The Blues lost their first game of Rooney's tenure to Middlesbrough, courtesy of an 89th minute winner for Boro scored by Morgan Rogers, now of Aston Villa.

Unfortunately for the former England striker, this would set the tone for his managerial tenure with the Blues, as he would go on to lose three of his next four games after the Boro defeat, drawing 2-2 with Ipswich Town on 4th November after his side held a 2-0 lead.

Rooney's first victory with the Blues came on 25th November against Sheffield Wednesday, who were rooted to the bottom three at the time, but this win would be followed up by a 4-2 loss at Ewood Park.

The Manchester United legend would earn just one win for the St Andrew's outfit in December, before they were hammered 3-0 by Leeds United on New Year's Day, a result which ultimately cost the 38-year-old his job as he was sacked just a day later.

During a disastrous stint at St Andrew's, Rooney dragged the Blues from sixth to the relegation zone, a woeful spell which has set the tone for the rest of the campaign for a side who are staring down the barrel at relegation.