Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Birmingham City are set to begin their latest season back in the Championship following promotion from League One with the title in the last campaign, the first piece of silverware Tom Brady and the owners have delivered since assuming control.
Things did not get off to a good start for Birmingham under the new owners, despite the promise and excitement that surrounded the club after their purchase.
Birmingham were relegated in their first season under the new owners, yet there was no panic as they reflected on their mistakes and laid out a new plan to push the club forward.
This will become evident in their new docuseries on Amazon Prime, when it is released this weekend.
- READ MORE: Tom Brady sends warning to Championship rivals with Birmingham City owner verdict, ‘I would never’
Tom Brady on the need to overhaul the squad at Birmingham City
At the heart of Birmingham’s relegation from the Championship in 2023/24 was their squad.
Tom Brady seemed to lay the blame at their door with his comments in the new docuseries on Amazon Prime, following their relegation from the Championship, as the club had six managers through the season, including those in interim charge.
He said: “Well we’ve already changed the coach, so it’s really the players because the coach doesn’t go out there and put the ball in the goal.
“They were lazy, they were entitled, and when you’re lazy and entitled, you don’t have much of a chance to succeed. We’ve got to change all the people that are associated with losing, so I think this summer there’s going to be a lot of people gone.”
Birmingham then brought in Chris Davies as manager and spent heavily, £30 million, on transfers ahead of the 2024/25 season, which is a monumental sum for a League One side.
These two factors were significant in Birmingham City breaking records on their way to the League One title last season and having them as outsiders for promotion to the Premier League this campaign, with the Blues opening the 2025/26 Championship against Ipswich Town.
- READ MORE: Blackburn Rovers should sign former Birmingham City starlet ‘hungry’ to realise World Cup dream
Brady’s opinion on Wayne Rooney
While Birmingham had started the season well under John Eustace, with the manager having them in and around the play-off positions, he was dismissed, and Wayne Rooney was appointed head coach of the team.
This proved to be a disastrous decision, and many fans and pundits point to this as the reason the club were relegated in 2023/24.
Now, Tom Brady’s opinion of Wayne Rooney during this period has become clear on the new docuseries.
He said: “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic.”
In the docuseries it is Rooney who attempts to point out to the owners the problems lie in the culture in and around the club, stating that the culture had to change for success.
Brady clearly came to see Rooney’s opinion as correct after their relegation and his sacking of the England legend with the squad overhaul in the summer of 2024.