SUMMARY
- Birmingham City sacked Wayne Rooney after just 83 days as manager in 2024.
- In the online leak, Kai Rooney, Wayne Rooney's son, explained the reason behind his father getting sacked in an Instagram chat.
Wayne Rooney was among the biggest headlines at the start of 2024 when Birmingham City sacked the former England international as the manager of the club just after 83 days in charge. The sacking raises eyebrows among fans and experts as different parties point fingers at the situation.
Among the discussion, an Instagram chat of Kai Rooney, Wayne Rooney’s eldest son, has leaked online which has added another layer to the sacking. In the chat, Kai was heard in a voice note explaining the reasons behind the sacking of his father.
Wayne Rooney’s son Kai explaining his dads sacking at Birmingham City… pic.twitter.com/0dKyBn6asK
— UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) January 2, 2024
The 14-year-old raised some question marks about the quality of the players at Birmingham City. He pointed out that the goalkeeper, John Ruddy, is overweight, and the two center-backs, Dion Sanderson & Lee Buchanan, are awful at their positions. Kai was heard stating in a voice note: “Sometimes you put it on the players as well, because fucking they are sh*t, the keeper overweight and the two center backs are absolutely awful.”
Kai Rooney added: “Some games they are playing good football like against Ipswich, Leicester but the rest of the games they are playing sh*t and some of the tactics they don’t listen, it takes time to adapt. So sometimes, you got to look at the players as well. It felt a bit unfair that they didn’t give him enough time because he got 13 weeks, that’s it.”
In the leaked chats, there were also some text messages where Kai revealed that Wayne Rooney planned to bring in 12 players in the January transfer window, including five Premier League players. Among the five Premier League, Raul Jimenez of Fulham was named as a potential recruitment.
Wayne Rooney criticized Birmingham City’s board after sacking
It is unclear whether these statements about 12 players are true or just paper talks, but 13 weeks is indeed a small amount of time to change the trajectory of the club. In 15 games in charge of the club, Rooney suffered nine defeats, which pushed Birmingham City from sixth to 20th in the Championship.
Wayne Rooney has been sacked by Birmingham after just 83 days 😬 pic.twitter.com/zUX8s4pckb
— GOAL (@goal) January 2, 2024
Rooney revealed that he was hurt after the sacking by Birmingham City and believed that 83 days wasn’t enough time for him to make a change at the club. The former Derby manager stated: “Football is a results business – and I recognize they have not been at the level I wanted them to be. However, time is the most precious commodity a manager requires and I do not believe 13 weeks was sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed”
Rooney stated that it will him some time to get over this setback. He will take some time off with his family before taking up the next opportunity in his journey as a manager. Rooney took only three days off after moving on from D.C. United before being appointed by Birmingham City. The break might be a much-needed change of pace for Rooney, who has yet to manage a club for more than 100 games.
As for Birmingham City, the Championship side face a long season ahead as they face the threat of relegation from the second tier of the English soccer pyramid. The English side is without a win in their last five games, with their last win coming away at Cardiff on December 14. Birmingham City are six points clear of the drop zone but need to pick up its form to avoid the drop.