John Eustace never stood a chance. He had all the brand power of Wayne Rooney’s sock. Less probably. Winning games as a result of assiduous, hard work is too prosaic for Birmingham City’s new ownership. Successive victories, sixth in the table. Sorry son, your vision for the club does not match ours.
Tom Wagner, an American hedge fund speculator, did not acquire Birmingham for his love of the club, despite jumping up and down at the way end with supporters, or even the sport, but for a share of a booming market. Birmingham tick all the boxes, big city club, undernourished, cheap as chips, huge earning delta.
Of course, everything is predicated on landing in the Premier League. But Wagner is not interested in incremental gains. He wants Birmingham to make a noise, to create interest, to attract attention. He is essentially creating a portfolio for big investors, selling a future of global expansion and commercial opportunity.
All-American NFL legend Tom Brady is already on board and buying beers in the local to drum up drama. Rooney’s appointment is bang on brand, a Manchester United icon, one of England’s greatest players, a name that resonates about the football world. He’ll do.
That he has been a manager less than three years, that there is insufficient evidence on which to judge Rooney’s competence weighs lightly against the cult of Rooney, the brilliant footballer, the huge personality, and what the Rooney brand brings.
The “dear John” note to Eustace was risible. Misaligned ambitions and goals. Per-lease. His ambition was to win games for Birmingham, his goal promotion. Sadly he has never moved in power circles, would not shift the needle in his native Solihul, has no association with Paul Stretford, the super agent with whom Birmingham chief executive Garry Cook has had a long association.
Poor, unfashionable Eustace was likely gone when the Wagner takeover was completed in July. It was simply a question of timing and finding the right status symbol. Rooney is a gamble. He won friends for his steadfastness and loyalty to the players in difficult circumstances at Derby, a club scuppered by the overreach of another business type with eyes bigger than his belly.
There are, of course, examples of former players doing well in management. Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta would be obvious examples. Zinedane Zidane didn’t do badly either, despite having nil coaching experience when he stepped into the dugout at Real Madrid.
Rooney comes from a different place and tradition. And the precedents among his English contemporaries aren’t great. Two of his England colleagues who entered management similarly credentialed, fellow members of the golden generation, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, have both experienced their first sackings.
Gerrard is presently helping Saudi Arabia make football a significant contributor to the kingdom’s GDP. Lampard is out of work. Their achievements on the pitch could not save Gerrard from the displeasure of the Aston Villa supporters or Lampard from the wrath of Roman Abramovich. Yes Gerrard won the title with Rangers in Scotland but few supporters at Ibrox lamented his departure for Villa Park.
Like Gerrard and Lampard, Rooney understands the game. Few have delivered more of the kind of excitement Birmingham seek than Rooney. But knowing how to do stuff is not the same as getting others to do stuff. Knowledge of the game is not knowledge of men.
Rooney might end up the best coach in the world, better even than guru Pep. The point is Wagner and Co cannot know this. His body of work is too small. They are taking a punt, investing in the idea that a little bit of Rooney gold dust might just rub off on the players.
In Rooney’s defence, he cannot be blamed for the folly of profit seekers who see football as fair game. He loves a challenge as much as he loves kicking a ball. Cook’s missive following the removal of Eustace read like an election manifesto full of utopian ambition and soaring pledges, promising fans a vision the like of which Birmingham City have never seen.
As a player, Rooney travelled along a heightened plane. That goal against Arsenal for Everton, the hat-trick on his Champions League debut for United, breaking Bobby Charlton’s England scoring record, all the stuff of dreams. If Rooney the coach could pick Rooney the player it wouldn’t matter who was manager. Instead he is inverting the mythological code, a footballing god whose destiny is now in the hands of mortals.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/AKC64ZF
Post a Comment