Wayne Rooney, now awkwardly labeled a “first-time manager,” is on the verge of a first in club history. A dishonorable one, of course.
Rooney’s team, Birmingham City, will be looking for their first win when they host second-place Ipswich Town in the EFL Championship at 12:00 a.m. ET on May 5.
Since Rooney’s arrival, Birmingham City have yet to win a game. They are winless in their last three games. Defeats to Middlesbrough (10th), Hull City (7th), and Southampton (4th) have left them in 14th place in the league.
A loss would be their fourth straight. According to the BBC, Birmingham City have never lost four consecutive games with a new manager in their history. This has never happened in the club’s 151-year history.
There is a good chance that this record will be broken. Their opponent is Ipswich, who are second in the league. The fact that they have scored 29 goals, the most out of 24 teams, and have only lost one game in 13 matches is a concern for Rooney.
“It’s only been a few weeks since I’ve been here,” Rooney said ahead of the game. We know it’s a difficult game for us and we know we’re playing against a good team. “We know it’s a difficult game for us, we know we’re playing against a good team, but we know we can win it,” he said, adding that it’s an insurance policy. With four consecutive defeats in the first four games, it was an understandable position to be in.
Will Rooney accept the ignominy of becoming the first Birmingham City manager in history to lose four games in a row on his first day in charge? Rooney will need to turn 바카라 things around in this game, which could be a ‘marker’ for the rest of his managerial career.