"That's the irony" - Sky Sports pundit questions Birmingham City owners over Wayne Rooney call | OneFootball

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Wayne Rooney's time at Birmingham City so far has been nothing short of a nightmare, with just one point picked up out of a possible 15.

A prolific striker in his heydey for England and Man United, Rooney's managerial career hasn't been so successful, yet Birmingham's new owner American hedge fund manager Tom Wagner - who took over during the summer and also added NFL legend Tom Brady to the board in August - took a chance on the 38-year-old to replace John Eustace in the dugout at St. Andrew's.

It was a decision that was highly questioned by Blues fans and neutrals alike, and the results that have followed have only served more criticism for Rooney up, and has left people questioning the decision-making of Wagner and his team.

Why was John Eustace replaced as Birmingham City manager by Wayne Rooney?

Despite Eustace having Birmingham in sixth position in the Championship table going into the October international break, it clearly did not matter to Wagner, Brady and CEO Garry Cook, who decided that after talks with the 43-year-old he would be dismissed from his job.

In a statement that followed the decision, Cook revealed that it seemingly became clear that after numerous meetings over the months since Wagner's administration officially took charge that the ambitions and vision for the club that Eustace had were different to that at boardroom level.

That is why the trigger was pulled, but for now it looks to have been the wrong move, although more judgment can surely be passed once Rooney has shaped the City squad into the one he wants.

Should Birmingham City's new owners take blame for their recent form?

One of Sky Sports' regular EFL pundits Don Goodman, who played for Midlands clubs such as West Brom and Wolves as a striker in the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's, believes that Wagner, Brady and co need to take some responsibility for the change of manager, which has clearly not worked as of yet and looked like an unnecessary move at the time.

Some ownership groups always have an idea in their heads that they want their own manager in the dugout, but considering Eustace was potted after back-to-back wins and seeing the form the club have been in under Rooney so far, it looks to have been the wrong move.

"The irony is, this club had such a bad owner prior to these guys. That's the irony," Goodman told OLBG.

"It couldn't have got worse as the previous owners were running the club to the ground. It was so depressing to see and I felt sorry for the fans.

"The new owners have come in, spent money on the stadium, they're investing, they're ambitious and they're going to finally put money into the club.

"They're trying to get into the Premier League, and that's the irony. The fans finally have ambitious owners but they've been too impatient. "You've got Craig Gardner at the club, who you’d hope would have been honest with the owners that their first fixtures were going to be very tough. "The buck stops with the owners as they're the ones who make the decisions.