There was a certain inevitability to the sacking of Wayne Rooney as Birmingham City manager. The only real surprise is how swiftly the end came. Rooney lasted just 13 weeks – all of 83 days – in charge. He won only twice, picking up a grand total of ten points, and suffered nine defeats in 15 games. The 3-0 loss to Leeds on New Year’s Day proved to be the final straw. It left Birmingham 20th in the Championship table and just six points above the relegation places. The club’s chief executive, Garry Cook, who brashly promised an era of ‘fear-free football’ under Rooney, seems to have changed his tune: ‘Unfortunately, Wayne’s time with us did not go as planned and we have decided to move in a different direction.’
Rooney appeared less than impressed, claiming that he wasn’t given enough time: ‘I do not believe 13 weeks was sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed’. It is hard to feel much in the way of sympathy given the dire run of results, and giving Rooney more time would only have made a bad situation even worse.
There is simply no disguising the fact that most superstar English ex-footballers haven’t got what it takes
The turn of events is a personal and professional setback for Rooney but also a huge embarrassment for Birmingham’s new American owners Knighthead Capital, who bought the Championship club in August. Rooney was their marquee managerial signing, a globally-renowned superstar who embodied the club’s broader ambitions. It appeared to be of little consequence that there was nothing in Rooney’s two earlier spells in football management, at Derby County and MLS side DC United, to suggest that he was a sure bet to deliver success on the pitch. As a result, Birmingham’s owners have been handed a well-deserved lesson in the harsh realities of football. Profile and playing reputation count for nothing in the dug-out. Any supporter could have told them as much for free.
The bigger question is whether Rooney himself has learnt anything from this debacle. He plans to take a break from the game but says that he is preparing ‘for the next opportunity in my journey as a manager.’ This reveals a worrying sense of entitlement: what exactly has he achieved in management to be so sure of another opportunity?
Rooney is not the first of English football’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ to believe that a stellar playing career means that it is their rightful destiny to manage the big clubs. Is it any wonder that so many have already failed? Steven Gerrard lasted less than a year at Aston Villa before being sacked. Villa‘s subsequent improvement under Unai Emery, using broadly the same players, only serves to underline Gerrard’s failings. Frank Lampard was sacked after a dismal spell at Everton, only to turn up as caretaker manager of Chelsea last season: he won just one game. Gary Neville had a brief disastrous spell as manager of Spanish side Valencia, winning just three La Liga games, before being sacked. He returned to television punditry. His Manchester United team mate, Paul Scholes, arguably one of the greatest midfield players ever, has had brief and undistinguished managerial spells at Oldham Athletic and Salford. He is now a TV pundit.
Star players from an earlier generation of footballers, the likes of Alan Shearer, have fared no better. Shearer had a short spell managing Newcastle in the 2008-2009 season, winning just one of his eight matches in charge. He too now sticks to punditry.
There is simply no disguising the fact that most superstar English ex-footballers haven’t got what it takes to be a great manager, yet somehow continue to insist that they are – or will be – a perfect fit to manage the big clubs they once played for. It remains a mystery why the owners of clubs continue to indulge the fantasies of football’s big names – offering jobs to the likes of managerial rookies like Wayne Rooney – rather than taking on experienced coaches who may not have the same profile but have worked their way up through the leagues. The latter have the advantage of understanding what it takes to build teams, as well as some inkling of what it takes to manage and motivate players of widely differing abilities. What can any superstar former player offer in comparison beyond a sprinkling of stardust?
The ultimate responsibility for this failure to recruit the brightest and best football brains, rather than the merely famous, lies with club owners who are too often clueless about what it takes to succeed in football management. Birmingham City have had to learn this the hard way.
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