Birmingham hired Wayne Rooney for 'autograph hunting' in scathing sack review
Simon Jordan has slammed Birmingham City for appointing Wayne Rooney in the first place after the manager's sacking on Tuesday.
Former England captain Rooney was axed by the Blues after winning just two of his 15 games in charge. Their most recent defeat came on New Year's Day, as promotion hopefuls Leeds eased to a 3-0 victory against Rooney's side at Elland Road.
That result proved to be the final straw for Blues CEO Garry Cook, who called time on Rooney's spell with a brutal statement on Tuesday morning. News of the Manchester United icon's exit from St Andrew's was exclusively revealed by Mirror Football.
Birmingham were sixth in the Championship when John Eustace was sacked to make way for Rooney in October, with the team now 20th in the table and just six points ahead of Sheffield Wednesday in the drop zone. Relegation is now a real fear for Blues fans.
Jordan believes Cook and the rest of Birmingham's hierarchy must take responsibility for appointing Rooney. The former Crystal Palace owner thinks Rooney, who boasted a modest record in management before his appointment, was hired because of his name.
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"You're not employing an image, you're not employing a former player - they're all former players obviously - but you're employing a manager," Jordan told talkSPORT. "And a manager who's job it is to control everything in the football operations.
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"There was nothing about this decision that smacked to be me of anything other than some form of autograph hunting and perception. He may well have interviewed very well - and again I take no satisfaction from it - but there's nothing about this... that surprises me."
Rooney was one of the best English players of his generation, with five Premier League titles and the Champions League among his trophy haul. Yet he's failed to replicate that success in management after questionable spells with Derby and DC United.
Rooney was in charge of Derby when they suffered relegation to League One in 2022, although they did incur 21 points of deductions that season due to a financial crisis. His win percentage at Major League Soccer outfit DC United was just 26.4 per cent.
Jordan said: "One of the thing that new owners are often criticised for is not having football nous around them, not having people in their ears that can give them (advice). 'Who are they listening to?' (Graeme) Souness regularly says."
Cook was Manchester City's CEO between 2008 and 2011. Jordan added: "You've got the former chief executive of Man City sitting in situ advocating for a manager that's got a 27 per cent win record in the MLS and about the same in the Championship.
"What do you do as an owner when your chief executive - who's supposed to give you the football and intellectual capital - is advocating for an appointment that most people in football - most sensible observers - will go, 'What the hell was that about?'"
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