Wayne Rooney challenged some of his players to ‘grow a pair of balls’ in an angry press conference following Birmingham City’s defeat to Rotherham United on Saturday.
The Blues manager was upset after a lackluster performance in front of owner Tom Wagner and investor Tom Brady, who traveled from the United States to witness their team. The Blues were fortunate that Rotherham were unable to exploit their defensive foibles to inflict greater damage.
Since Rooney took over for John Eustace in October, the Blues have one victory, two draws, and five defeats from eight games, putting them at the bottom of the Championship’s form table. And the former Derby County and DC United manager is tired of the Blues’ players not translating their encouraging training ground performances onto the pitch.
“I think some players in there need to grow a pair of balls, basically, because I’m watching what they do in training, and the minute there are fans out there, they become a different player, a different person,” said Rooney. “That is football. You are going to have to play in front of fans, wherever you play.
“It is okay to do things on the training pitch, but you have to take that into the games. We are still a young team, but the leaders in the team—that’s where Jukey (Jutkiewicz) has been brilliant. He is frustrated; he doesn’t play all the games, but you can see he is a leader; he is talking in there.
“But there are some players who have enough experience to stand up and be leaders. They are trying, but it’s silly errors and decision-making. Game management is a big part of the game we need to improve on.”
While angry and irate, Rooney conveyed his messages calmly in the press conference. He has also appeared calm on the touchline in difficult circumstances during his brief Blues tenure.
Lee Buchanan reveals frustration among Birmingham City players
Buchanan, who is familiar with working under Rooney as the pair were both at Derby County a few years ago, has revealed that there is frustration among the current Birmingham team as their performances can be much better than they are.
Buchanan told Birmingham Live: “We know we can play a lot better than that, so it’s frustrating. The first 20 minutes were good, but when Ethan (Laird) went off, we stopped playing. I think we got dragged into their game a little bit too much. They wanted a stop-start game, and that’s what it ended up being.”
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