Birmingham City: Wayne Rooney should go down amongst the worst gambles in EFL history | OneFootball

Birmingham City made the decision to sack manager Wayne Rooney on Tuesday morning, after the Blues' dismal run of form under the former Derby boss dragged them all the way down from the top six to the relegation scrap.

The Blues appointed Wayne Rooney on October 11th, after dismissing former manager John Eustace two days prior, despite the fact that Eustace had just earned his side two back-to-back wins and had the Blues sitting in the play-off spots.

Since then, the rapid demise of a side who were punching above their weight has unfolded, and under Rooney, the Blues were a mere shadow of their former selves, to say the least.

Rooney appointment was always going to be a gamble

The sacking of Eustace always seemed like a bad idea to all observers of the Championship, and especially to the Blues faithful after the former manager finally got the Blues playing top-six standard football in the second tier, following years of mid-table mediocrity and relegation battles.

It would have been a tough ask for any manager to arrive at St Andrew's and emulate the wonders performed in the West Midlands by Eustace, but Rooney was particularly unequipped.

His managerial record in the 2023 MLS season with DC United was far from exceptional, as his side finished 12th out of 15 in the Eastern table, and 23rd out of 29 in the overall supporters' shield.

There was no pure football reason as to why Eustace, who guided the Blues into top-six contention, should have been replaced by Rooney, who had recently endured an underwhelming period as manager of DC United.

It was very obvious that the Blues' ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management, had opted for Rooney due to his fame and the commercial value he would bring to the club, rather than his football management skills.

But unfortunately for the Blues' owners, including American Football legend Tom Brady, this is a gamble which massively backfired as the Blues now have next to no chance of sealing a top-six spot, and should in fact be more worried about keeping their heads above water, whereas under Eustace, the St Andrew's outfit were on course to mount a genuine play-off challenge.

Rooney's record was quite frankly abysmal, as he lost nine of his 15 matches in charge of Blues, and that slide down the table, along with bottom three side Sheffield Wednesday's resurgent form, was a recipe which had the potential to land the West Midlands side in League One.

After 26 Championship games, the Blues sit 20th on 28 points, just six points clear of the relegation zone. Rooney picked up just 10 of these points during a less than satisfactory stint in the dugout.

Rooney's appointment is one of the worst in EFL history

Not many managers boast the unwanted fate of arriving at a side who were pushing to the play-offs, and subsequently dragging them all the way down to the relegation dogfight, but that's exactly what Rooney has managed.

Somewhat ironically, one comparatively poor record is that of Gianfranco Zola's managerial record at the Blues, as Zola inherited Gary Rowett's team who, like Eustace, had the Blues in play-off contention.

Zola replaced Rowett in December 2016, and won just two of his 22 games in charge of the club, a record which saw him sacked in April 2017, as the Blues required some Harry Redknapp magic to keep them in the second-tier.

The Blues finished just two points above the relegation zone that season, having been genuine play-off contenders, almost midway through the season.

Given that Rooney's successor will have the January transfer window to bring in their own reinforcements, it is perhaps unlikely that this season will result in as much of a close call as that of 2017.

Furthermore, as per Eustace's record with exactly the same squad as Rooney, it is quite clear that the Blues' issues perhaps did come from within the dugout.

Eustace proved that this Blues team has the ability to occupy a top-six spot in the Championship, meanwhile Rooney didn't prove much apart from the fact that he was the wrong appointment.