Championship side Birmingham City beat arch-rivals West Bromwich Albion at their home ground last Friday, and managed to squeeze into the Championship play-offs after 11 rounds of matches. For a team that finished last season in 17th place, the team's form can be said to be quite hot. After the match, Birmingham
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John Eustace celebrated wildly and profusely around the stadium, slapping the team logo on his shirt to rally the fans, and it was easy to see how the 43-year-old England worldwide would be a great asset to the team.
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Very committed to coaching a team rich in history.
However, three days later, on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m., Birmingham President Garry Cook fired Eustace in front of him, just 45 minutes before Birmingham issued a press release to the public. It was all very sudden, and even Eustace himself was a bit confused, as he still had two more years left on his contract. Just as everyone was getting confused, news broke that Wayne Rooney, who left MLS for D.C. United, would be taking over as Birmingham's man-of-the-match.
Birmingham decided to fire Eustace in less than 24 hours when Wayne Rooney's departure from Washington was confirmed and will be looking to bring in Rooney, a former England captain who has a record of coaching Championship sides in the past, having spent two years in charge of Derby County between the 2020 and 2022 seasons, according to reports in the foreign press.
In a letter to fans written by Birmingham chairman Garry Cook, he explains why he fired Eustace:
"John (Eustace) has strong ambitions and goals for this season but unfortunately in a series of meetings over the last few months he has not been aligned with the management's goals and when that happens the best solution is to part ways".
Of course, everyone knows that's just an excuse. Eustace took over the team in the middle of last season.
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Eustace was fired just when the team was heading in a good direction. As for the reason for his dismissal, it can be said that Eustace could not escape from the power of capital after all, after the new American shareholders including NFL legendary quarterback Tom Brady joined the team, they decided to bring new "living water" to the team, that is, to hire a "world-renowned" coach, and they set their eyes on Wayne Rooney, who has experience in MLS coaching. After new American shareholders, including legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady, joined the team, they decided to bring new "living water" to the team, that is, to hire a "world-renowned" coach, and they set their sights on Wayne Rooney, who has experience in coaching in the MLS.
Many Birmingham fans expressed their dissatisfaction with this personnel change online, as Eustace, in their eyes, is a head coach who connects deeply with the team and the fans, and he even joins the fans in their joys and sorrows over the results of the matches, whereas Rooney, despite being a player of great renown, is a member of the team.
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Still to prove himself, after all, neither Derby County nor D.C. United have had a great record in the past. It's worth noting that many fans are reminded by this incident of the fiasco that occurred in 2016, when Birmingham replaced the original midseason
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Gary Rowett, welcoming the prestigious Italian
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Gianfranco Zola, but that proved to be a terrible decision and Birmingham were relegated to League One at the end of the season.
