Wayne Rooney’s brutal two-word assessment on Birmingham City spell, ‘give me a chance’

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Wayne Rooney has admitted he was ‘not a good fit’ at Birmingham City as he summed up his brutal time at St Andrew’s.

The former England and Manchester United ace turned manager had a horror spell with Blues in late 2023, controversially coming in for John Eustace who was sacked after getting the club up to sixth in the Championship.

Rooney won just twice in 15 Birmingham matches, leaving Blues in 20th. The club were subsequently relegated to League One for the first time since 1995, with many left completely puzzled by chiefs Tom Wagner, NFL legend Tom Brady and others’ decision to hire him in the first place.

The ‘Brady & The Blues’ documentary showed Brady questioning his work ethic while with the club, with Rooney later hitting back by calling the criticism ‘very unfair’. Now, he’s opened up on his spell in the second city once again.

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Wayne Rooney says Birmingham City spell was a ‘car crash’ and he was never a ‘good fit’

Speaking to his former Manchester United and England teammate Rio Ferdinand on Rio Ferdinand Presents, he said: “I went to Birmingham which was an absolute car crash from day one to honest. We played Middlesbrough away in the first game and we lost 1-0 in the 90th minute.

“Then we played Hull at home, I remember we walked out, my first game at St Andrew’s and I’m stood there, the players are shaking hands and there was a Birmingham fan behind me. ‘Get back to America you fat c***’ [he said].”

Ferdinand couldn’t help but laugh at how outrageous the comment was, before asking: “What a home fan? One of your fans?”

Rooney then nodded and said: “I know, give me a chance.”

“That was just never right at the time, when I went in it was just never… it wasn’t a good fit.”

Rooney went on to manage Plymouth Argyle, but left by mutual agreement in December last year with his team four points from safety, almost a year after he was dismissed at Birmingham.

What Wayne Rooney said about Birmingham after Tom Brady’s documentary comments

Speaking in August, Rooney told BBC Sport: “The Birmingham one was… everything was wrong about that, to be honest. The timing of it. I think the fans didn’t really give me an opportunity.

“We lost games, so I don’t think anything was right about that. It felt right at the time but looking back, nothing was.“

He also said Brady had only come in for one day to make his judgement on him.

“I think Tom came in once, which was the day before a game where the days are a little bit lighter anyway, and I don’t think he really understood football that well,” Rooney said. “But what he does understand is, he’s a hard worker, we know that.”

Rooney added: “Football is not NFL – NFL works for three months a year. Players do need rest as well, so I think he’s very unfair, the way he’s come out and portrayed that.”

Rooney is now working as a pundit for the BBC, with his own podcast and appearing on Match of The Day.