Wayne Rooney has his say as defeat to Sunderland leaves his Birmingham side winless in five

Wayne Rooney has his say as the 3-1 defeat to Sunderland leaves his Birmingham side winless in five since taking over as manager.

Goals from Jobe Bellingham and Adil Aouchiche – as well as an own goal from Dion Sanderson – sealed a comfortable Black Cats victory at the Stadium of Light.

Rooney’s side suffer a new low as the visitors fell to a fourth loss in the five games since he took charge.

Jay Stansfield was the architect after cutting the ball back to Miyoshi, who finished perfectly to get the Blues level on 30 minutes, cancelling out Jobe Bellingham’s opener against his former club.

Sunderland took the lead for a second time with a well worked corner routine on 57 minutes before Sunderland substitute Adil Aouchiche clinched it from close range – just two minutes after coming off the bench to lift the hosts into the top six of the Championship, while Birmingham are five games without a win, leaving them 18th.

Birmingham’s Wayne Rooney said via Sky Sports:

“The opposition we’ve played have been very good teams. The first couple of games, I didn’t think we were good enough, but there was obviously a lot of information we were trying to get across to the players.

“It was a big change in what they’d been doing, and if you look at the last three games, then as a team, I thought there were positives from Southampton, a lot of positives from Ipswich and then certainly positives again here against Sunderland.

“I’ve seen improvements, but we obviously need to start improving the results, and I really believe we will. What I’m seeing in training, and what I’m seeing from the players in matches now, is really positive.

“I think this break will help, just in terms of getting the fitness work into them. That’s important in terms of how I want my team to play. We’re gradually seeing improvement in that, and it’s a good opportunity for us now to really spend some time with the players.”

“The lack of concentration has cost us” 😕

Wayne Rooney analyses his teams performance after a 3-1 loss to Sunderland pic.twitter.com/xMzGWkkCqM

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 11, 2023

Speaking to BluesTV, he added: “I am disappointed. I thought the performance was a good away performance and we caused Sunderland problems with how we pressed them. We won the ball back a lot of times and had good opportunities, maybe a little bit more care in the final third and we take a couple more of the chances.

“The goals are really sloppy goals from our point of view. I mentioned this to the players before the game about their concentration, especially on set pieces. In this league, set pieces are so important, and we didn’t defend them well enough.

“The lads will have a tough schedule in terms of working on their fitness, I think that is really important for us. They will do that and then prepare for the next game.

“We have got a really tough run after this international break, it is three or four months of back-to-back games, so we need to make sure we put the right amount of work in to make sure we are ready to come back.”

Sunderland’s Tony Mowbray: “It’s frustrating with Dennis, obviously, but it’s great for Nectar. I’m delighted that him coming in has worked out so well.

“Nectar’s an amazing young man. I don’t know whether he came over expecting to get straight into Sunderland’s team and play, but with Luke O’Nien and Dan Ballard doing so well, he’s had to sit on the sidelines.

“He’s playing with the Under-21s – we sent him to Southampton the other week and he spent seven hours on a bus travelling down there and then seven hours travelling back. Yet he does it all with a smile on his face.

“He knows he’s a young footballer who hopefully has a big future at this club, but he also knows where he is in the pecking order at the moment. For him to get chucked in two minutes before kick-off was amazing for him, and I’m so happy for him because he’s such a nice kid.”

🗣️ The Gaffer’s thoughts on today’s win at the Stadium of Light! #SAFC | #SUNBIR pic.twitter.com/giBmopHsI8

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) November 11, 2023

Twitter users reacted as Wayne Rooney has his say, with the defeat to Sunderland leaves his Birmingham side winless in five…

@JamesKelly2398: Marketing over Football, get him gone

@NEDerbyshireRam: Should’ve kept Eustace

@MattR90: 10 seconds is enough of that… ‘I thought it was a good away performance’ – What game was you watching!?

@mattivory94: Now down to 18th. This no fear football is class by the way 👏

@jon_pearce: The only thing we’ve pressed is the self destruct button.

@TopCat7155: Genuine question and I am not trying to Stoke the fire here, can WR and his coaches keep us in the division? If not at what point does the club act? Cooke has to walk as well.

@villafan8282: What an appointment. Blues are back 😍

@diane_harley1: From 6 to 18 speaks volumes I said I would give him a chance, chance has been given

@balboanorth: If anyone thinks Rooney can coach and improve a team, I challenge you to watch any interview with Mowbray, McKenna and especially Farke then listen again to this empty explanation from Rooney. If Gary Cook thinks he’s a good coach, you really have to question his judgement.

@carlosno1geez: I’m all for keeping the positives but that was a terrible performance, defence was awful, all over the place

@mrbluesky2uk: Garry Cook come face the fans. You made this catastrophe of an appointment. This is your doing and you take accountability for this utter shambles. This is Zola Mark 2. 1 point from 5 games is relegation form. He’s not up to the job. For goodness sake man GO!!

@Robbo555Paul: A good away performance?! We can’t play his style of football with the current squad and due to FFP we can’t bring in the amount of quality players he wants in the transfer window to turn suit his style. He’s too arrogant to see it isn’t working, he needs to go.

@briannaylor8: A Villa fan in peace. (I was there)… Birmingham were awful. I give huge credit to the fans who travelled and watched that. I love rivalry, it makes football what it is, but Rooney will take you down, the board should be ashamed. Especially being in the position you were in.

@N_Macca74: ‘Good away performance’… is he high

@KTics90: Didn’t think Kolo Toure reign at Wigan could be trumped… this donkey is giving it a good go

@53pkempy: How can you be seeing improvements, they are falling like a stone under your management. Clearly the players don’t want you there. The owner needs shooting for bringing Rooney in.

@TheRealAnthHunt: The problem with this rhetoric is that when he took over Birmingham, they weren’t struggling. They were 6th in the league. It’s not like they were at rock bottom. They’re now 18th. He’s taking them backwards.

@FPLAndrewsy: Haven’t they got worse since he took over? 😂

@rosscojmill: 3-1 and 4-1 wins the last results before he took over. Wish my school teachers had viewed ‘improvement’ through the same lens – I would have had a lot less letters home! 😂

@philtheoldmod58: Gone by Christmas