Manager Wayne Rooney was mocked by Coventry fans and Birmingham fans after his side lose again, this time 2-0 against the Sky Blues.
Chants such as ‘there’s only one John Eustace’ and ‘sacked in the morning’ could be heard mostly from the home support, then some within the away end joined in.
The defeat meant Rooney has won just one of his nine fixtures since his appointment, and their eighth loss in a row on the road.
The Blues flying high before Rooney came in, John Eustace guiding the club to 6th place in the Championship before the board wanted to change things up in October. They now find themselves 16th, with 23 points from 20 games, and are now 7 points from safety.
When Eustace took charge, Birmingham had been among the favourites to go down, but he managed to keep them up with a 17th place finish.
Absolute meltdown in the Birmingham away end last night 😂😂😂pic.twitter.com/QugaqLgSDi
— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) December 9, 2023
Callum O’Hare gave a man of the match performance with his first goals since April 2022 to seal a win for Mark Robins’ side.
It was the 25 year old’s second start of the season, having been sidelined for 10 months until October by a serious knee injury.
His first strike came on 30 minutes, and then doubled Coventry’s lead after shuffling across the box and hit home with 13 minutes of the 90 remaining.
Coventry boss Mark Robins said on another clean sheet: “Brad Collins was really faultless, and he played the ball out when he needed to pretty well, gave it away once or twice but that’s understandable that’s what happens but the I thought the two centre halves were good and I thought the two fullbacks did pretty well.”
On Callum O’Hare’s performance: “I think he has been incredible because I mean looking back at Boxing Day last year and to see him was heart-breaking after the injury and then to see him come to terms with the injury and then go through that.
“The journey that he’s been on this this year has been really tough and lonely and we’ve given him space. We’ve given him time he’s worked really hard in between those times but he’s deserved a little bit of time off.
“He’s been away on holiday a couple of times where he’s just recharged and got ready again to go for his next phase of training.
“The way he is around the place is really infectious and effervescent and he really deserves that.
“As a group, it’s bringing them together. It’ll bring them together and it knits everything together and it helps them to progress.
“Callum sort of typifies the Coventry City spirit and the way that we want to go about the job and he’s been a link between midfield and the forward since he’s been here but tonight was outstanding.
“He deserves everything and all the plaudits he’s going to get.”
Reflecting on the performance: “I think we played some really good football right from the start. I’m delighted with everything; result, performance, everything was really good in spells.
“It was a typical Derby game. It was a bit open at times, from our point of view and we gave them a little bit too much space at times.
“We started the game pretty well. First half we didn’t give them too many sites of our goal and when we did, Brad’s made some good saves, or they’ve hit it over the bar or put it wide. “But they’ve got some really good players in their team, and they’ve got some injuries that they’ve made them have to change.”
Wayne Rooney said: “I thought we started the game quite bright but the decision-making wasn’t the best. It was something we’ve been working on, playing in the opposition’s half and trying to create better chances. That needs to be better from us.
“The first goal is a poor goal from our point of view. I felt like we were still in the game, we were trying to get an equaliser and they get the second goal from our corner. We’re getting punished when we make mistakes and ultimately we need to cut that out, but throughout the 90 minutes Coventry deserved to win, they were the better team.
“We let ourselves down with the goals we conceded and that’s my responsibility, it’s my job to get the players performing better and picking up more points than we have done, we’re working extremely hard to try and do that.
“We’re in a difficult place, we know we are, with the run of results, the points we’re losing and the big thing is the goals we are conceding are very poor goals, so we have to figure it out, make sure we don’t give easy goals away which we seem to be doing at the minute.”
“We have to start picking up results. It’s as simple as that”
Wayne Rooney says Birmingham City have to ‘dig in’ after a difficult period 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/hwvQE31nQC
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) December 8, 2023
Twitter users gave their reaction with Wayne Rooney mocked by Coventry and Birmingham fans after his side lose again…
@PageDcfc: Once a ram always a ram, top job Rooney
@dharvey4: You can’t move forward until Rooney is sacked, your owners need to accept they made a huge mistake.
@Jce9990Edwards: Potter, Mowbray, Rowett, Eustace, Warnock – all managers currently not in a job that I much rather have in charge of Blues than Rooney. Let me know when he has gone.
@Adamsbcfc: Thank you Garry cook! What a masterstroke of an appointment this has been thus far
@kensdavies: Rooney utterly out of his depth – simply not manager material
@LeeW1875: Never is our night, is it? Whether he was right or wrong to say it… Rooney isn’t wrong about them lot nothing having a pair…. you can argue its how they are managed but still, footballers should be able to do the basics. Gutless and spineless every one of them 🖕
@DavidRao_Bcfc: No shame in making a wrong decision as long as you learn from it. The club needs to part ways with Rooney immediately, don’t jeopardise the rest of the season.
@keeprighton07: I genuinely feel that appointment of Wayne Rooney has been a terrible decision. All our fans want is a team showing passion and commitment. Eustace didn’t fit the narrative of the new owners but he made the club proud reconnecting the fans after years of atrocious ownership.
@adammchivers: Has he been sacked yet? #BCFC
@shellsmith91: It’s just how long it’s left to go on for before action is taken. I personally can’t watch much more of this. KRO Bluenoses! ✌🏼💙#bcfc
@jamesy4_: Just imagine how nice it would have been to have this new ownership project and all the off field stuff going on IF we had a team/manager that could win games. Oh to dream. #bcfc
@FMOutsideTheBox: I cannot fathom why Birmingham City sacked Eustace for Rooney. This could genuinely turn out to be one of the most catastrophic managerial changes in history of the Championship. Gone from a potential play-off push to relegation contenders in about 2 months #BCFC #KRO 🔵
@FINNBCFC: Rooney needs to go. He’s not gonna do anything. Atmosphere is rubbish, fans don’t seem to care as much anymore and we end up drawing to Rotherham at home. It’s getting ridiculous. #BCFC #UTFB #SOTV
@fhill_08: 4000 fans for a disgraceful performance yet again. The performances are disappointing week in week out. We haven’t got a point away since 19th August. That is disgraceful when people dedicate there lives to this football club. Rooney out and something needs to change fast #BCFC
@jackwilsonbcfc: Even if you take results out of it, he’s had nine games now. And every single game has looked like his first. Zero progress. Get him garn. #bcfc
@TiltonRoad19: I’ve not seen one thing tonight that makes me think this will change the players arnt having him are they only positive was Donovan not scared to want the ball and be positive looks a talent #bcfc
@thommo14: Why on earth did Birmingham City sack John Eustace? This has all the hallmarks of the Rowett to Zola scenario. Rooney isn’t a great manager & has no track record to boast. Madness. #EFL #BCFC
@IMRMEZZI: Tonight gave one clear thing. Coming out and saying players need to grow balls and publicly criticising them doesn’t produce performances. You know what who would have thought that hey. Oh only most sensible thinking people. Fucking clown of a manager #bcfc
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