All the Birmingham City headlines from BirminghamLive as attention turns to the resumption of the Championship
Tom Brady, Former NFL Quarterback interacts with Birmingham City Mascots prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Leeds United (Image: Getty Images)
Welcome to BirminghamLive’s coverage of all things Birmingham City on Thursday, November 23.
Shape up
Birmingham City are back in action this weekend against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday.
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Blues host the Owls at St Andrew’s looking to curb their poor run of form under new manager Wayne Rooney. Rooney has taken just one point from five games in charge since replacing John Eustace in October.
Wednesday have been easy pickings this season and Danny Rohl’s side were thumped 4-0 by Millwall last time out. The Owls have failed to score in eight of their last nine Championship games and haven’t won on the road all season.
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Our Blues writers have selected their starting line-ups for this weekend and explained their working out. Check out their selections below…
Bruce on Brady
Steve Bruce says promotion is ‘a season too soon’ for Birmingham City after their recent dip in form.
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Blues were among the early pace-setters in the Championship before Wayne Rooney replaced John Eustace. Five winless games under Rooney have seen Blues drop from sixth to 18th in the table.
Promotion this season is now a big ask on paper, albeit not impossible. “I think it’s a season too soon for Birmingham, but you never know what’s going to happen,” says Bruce. “They were right up there a few weeks ago.”
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Speaking to the Gambling Zone, Bruce added: “The club has been in a dark place ever since David Sullivan left. I think David left around ten years ago, and there’s been no real stability at the top.
“I would assume, and hope, that Tom Brady and the American investors bring in a bit of stability. They wanted to bring in a new manager and they’ve done that with Wayne Rooney. There’s no bigger box office name than him!
“He hasn’t had the best of starts, though. I’m sure they’ll have something in place. They have to get St Andrew’s fixed, and I’m sure the training ground will be expanded. You’d expect Birmingham to do good things with Wayne and Tom Brady involved.”
Max factor
Birmingham City will have to spend some money to build a team in Wayne Rooney’s image.
The new manager is currently making do with players signed for John Eustace, which inevitably means that forthcoming transfer windows will be used to transform the make-up of the squad. A clear-out might have to wait until next summer when 12 players are out of contract, but there could be room for a deal or two in January – on the condition that Blues remain within the Financial Fair Play parameters.
Just two weeks ago Rooney admitted there are players he would like to sign. While the manager can’t be expected to divulge those names publicly, we can all hazard a guess at the positions Blues need to prioritise.
Come next summer, if out-of-contract duo Scott Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz are not retained, and Jay Stansfield returns to parent club Fulham, Blues will not have a senior striker on their books. The lesser spotted Tyler Roberts will be the closest thing to a centre-forward.
Signing a new striker before Blues are left without one at all would make sense. Players who are capable of scoring goals in the Championship don’t come cheap though, and they aren’t all that easy to find.
Blues are well stocked in most other positions, but in order for Rooney’s system to work a new midfielder wouldn’t go amiss. Whilst Blues have ample defensively-minded types, Rooney is missing a ball-playing midfielder who can start attacks.
In Max Bird, Rooney played his part in developing one at Derby County. Bird broke through at Pride Park whilst Rooney was still a player and learnt some tricks of the trade from one of England’s all-time greats.
England and Manchester United legend Rooney replaced the more pragmatic John Eustace in the St Andrew’s hotseat last month and results have deteriorated. Blues have failed to win in Rooney’s first five matches and face bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
The new manager is overseeing a change in playing style to make Blues possession-based, in contrast to the counter-attacking philosophy Eustace instilled. Ex-Blues boss Rowett – who has eight top 11 Championship finishes to his name – thinks the quality in the league is making it tough to transition.
During an exclusive interview with the Keep Right On podcast, Rowett also highlighted the importance of midfield duo Ivan Sunjic and Krystian Bielik to Blues’ early season form. Millwall held Blues to a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s in early September when Rowett was their manager.
