To all supporters,
On 11th October last year we, the Birmingham City Board of Directors, appointed Wayne Rooney to the position of manager of the first team. The appointment was made with the best of intentions and we completely believed that the change in manager would be beneficial to this great club in the long-term.
On reflection we realise that sometimes even decisions made with the very best of intentions can sometimes not work out in the manner expected. Whether this was due to the timing being wrong, the expectations being too high, the personnel not being right, or an under-appreciation of the previous manager's achievements will probably always be a matter of conjecture.
This statement does not set out to address the reasons why the decisions made failed to produce the results expected, and discussions around those reasons will always remain within the club.
As of today, Wayne Rooney and his immediate coaching team have left the club. The club has adopted and believe in, a philosophy of looking forward and will not comment further on this decision except to acknowledge the efforts of Wayne and his team and to thank them for the positive changes they have brought to the club.
In the short-term it is vitally important that the Board of Directors immediately address the worrying league position and current run of disappointing results. To that end we have made an appointment that we believe fast-tracks areas that can sometimes take time to address and build.
On the basis of achieving instant confidence and commitment amongst the playing staff, a working knowledge of the football club and the goodwill of the fans we have decided to re-appoint John Eustace to the postion of first team coach on a 5 month contract. John's salary and that of his staff, will reflect the uncertainty that we acknowledge such a short term contract can cause.
The terms of said contract will be reviewed 2 weeks before the end of the season when we can reflect fully on how performances and results have changed. If successful then the contract will be extended by another 6 months and then, if later extended again, will become a one year rolling contract.
John's success will be measured in the first 5 month's purely on results gained and the points/game statistics achieved.
The club still believes that the long-term success of the club lies in a change of playing style but acknowledge that the move to that may be better served through "evolution" rather than "revolution".
There will be no further statements until two weeks before the end of this current season.
Good luck John
Keep Right On.
Now this obviously isn't true - but it's how i'd handle the situation. It gives the club a way out without admitting they made a complete balls up, without getting bogged down in a complete media scrum, and without having to actually change their philosophy about playing style.... and gives time to re-assess whether JE can build on his past over-achievement without yet committing to him long-term. It also gets us out of the current mess in the quickest and neatest way possible.
RagsTo all supporters,
On 11th October last year we, the Birmingham City Board of Directors, appointed Wayne Rooney to the position of manager of the first team. The appointment was made with the best of intentions and we completely believed that the change in manager would be beneficial to this great club in the long-term.
On reflection we realise that sometimes even decisions made with the very best of intentions can sometimes not work out in the manner expected. Whether this was due to the timing being wrong, the expectations being too high, the personnel not being right, or an under-appreciation of the previous manager's achievements will probably always be a matter of conjecture.
This statement does not set out to address the reasons why the decisions made failed to produce the results expected, and discussions around those reasons will always remain within the club.
As of today, Wayne Rooney and his immediate coaching team have left the club. The club has adopted and believe in, a philosophy of looking forward and will not comment further on this decision except to acknowledge the efforts of Wayne and his team and to thank them for the positive changes they have brought to the club.
In the short-term it is vitally important that the Board of Directors immediately address the worrying league position and current run of disappointing results. To that end we have made an appointment that we believe fast-tracks areas that can sometimes take time to address and build.
On the basis of achieving instant confidence and commitment amongst the playing staff, a working knowledge of the football club and the goodwill of the fans we have decided to re-appoint John Eustace to the postion of first team coach on a 5 month contract. John's salary and that of his staff, will reflect the uncertainty that we acknowledge such a short term contract can cause.
The terms of said contract will be reviewed 2 weeks before the end of the season when we can reflect fully on how performances and results have changed. If successful then the contract will be extended by another 6 months and then, if later extended again, will become a one year rolling contract.
John's success will be measured in the first 5 month's purely on results gained and the points/game statistics achieved.
The club still believes that the long-term success of the club lies in a change of playing style but acknowledge that the move to that may be better served through "evolution" rather than "revolution".
There will be no further statements until two weeks before the end of this current season.
Good luck John
Keep Right On.
Now this obviously isn't true - but it's how i'd handle the situation. It gives the club a way out without admitting they made a complete balls up, without getting bogged down in a complete media scrum, and without having to actually change their philosophy about playing style.... and gives time to re-assess whether JE can build on his past over-achievement without yet committing to him long-term. It also gets us out of the current mess in the quickest and neatest way possible.
Oh god no.
And he wouldn't come back anyway
Rags
Oh god no.
And he wouldn't come back anyway
1.. On Wayne's salary (albeit short-term) he would
2.. He's not the sort to publicly gloat
3.. It gives him chance to completely prove and redeem himself
4.. It gives him the chance of a long term future at a top club going places
... and imagine the Netflix film (based loosely on reality) .... local unknown manager is at club, well monied owners turn up and decide to sack him for national hero, things don't work out, local hero rides back into town and proves everyone wrong. It's already a classic, well worn, script
Yeah no chance he comes back after the way the board went about his sacking.
Just got to bring someone in with experience to steady the ship til the summer then reassess.
Yeah no chance he comes back after the way the board went about his sacking.
Just got to bring someone in with experience to steady the ship til the summer then reassess.
Who has more experience of over-achieving with this squad (we've seen the level they are at without a good manager) ? ... who already has a bond with the players and the trust and respect of the players ? .... who needs almost zero time adjusting to the role ?
Remember - we are only committing to 5 months to see how he does whilst he steadies the ship (again) and keeps us up (again)
Thats not what you'd do if you actually had to make the decision in the real world
Thats not what you'd do if you actually had to make the decision in the real world
It is actually what i would do - but then i've never shied away from massively controversial and seemingly mad decisions. There is complete justification for it in the short-term
He'd walk back in, not be allowed to comment on it, be welcomed by the players and from the first minute of the first match we would see our competitiveness, commitment and organisation increase massively with players willing to give everything for the bloke.
Not disagreeing with any of your points there but he won’t come back after the way he was treated and I don’t blame him.
Better off going all out for Cooper.
Not disagreeing with any of your points there but he won’t come back after the way he was treated and I don’t blame him.
Better off going all out for Cooper.
We would have 5 months to make a decision on a new manager rather than rushing things and hoping for the best - and Eustace would have 5 months to put himself into contention for another 6 months, then a year
That statement gives the Board a chance to re-emphasise that they made the original decision for the good of the club, and are making this new decision for the good of the club - they minimise the amount of "egg on face".
It saves Cook having to explain himself
It shows positiveness and putting the current situation above all else short term
It doesn't change the long-term, previous statement about changing the football style - it keeps that message
What happens in your hypothetical scenario if the Eustace we got back was post World Cup slump Eustace from last year and it turns out the players just aren't consistent enough?
Do they then commit? Do they sack Eustace again and hire another manager?
Maybe after time, certain managers can return, but not that soon.
I'd rather stick someone like Darren Carter in temporary charge if we want a short term solution.
Too much humble pie for Cook.
They’ll go for someone else entirely
What happens in your hypothetical scenario if the Eustace we got back was post World Cup slump Eustace from last year and it turns out the players just aren't consistent enough?
Do they then commit? Do they sack Eustace again and hire another manager?
Maybe after time, certain managers can return, but not that soon.
I'd rather stick someone like Darren Carter in temporary charge if we want a short term solution.
No need to sack him - he'd be on a 5 months (inflated) contract. If it didn't work out in terms of anything positive to hang our hats on to long-term then they just don't renew it (no compensation needed this time) and appoint someone at the end of the season - giving them a full pre-season to have a tilt at.
You can't deny that from the players' point of view this gives us the "new manager" bounce and will make us organised enough to at least stay up this season.
What i always come back to is Kidderminster being termed the non-league Barcelona. He obviously agrees with and supports the long terms playing style ambitions of the Board - just a difference of how long it make take to achieve it. They wanted it "NOW !!!", he told them it was something that needed to be worked towards and evolve.
Bizarrely we have much lower possession stats under Rooney than we had under Eustace.
Too much humble pie for Cook.
They’ll go for someone else entirely
My statement allows Cook to retain ownership of the decision making process - both in terms of why he did it originally for the right reasons and why he's making this new decision for the right reasons
The world's gone mad.
Keep taking the tablets.
Get behind the manager and the players instead.