Let's Judge Wayne Rooney For His Managerial Ability, Not Buzz Words
No fear are two words on the lips of every Birmingham City fan at present. We don't need to judge Rooney on them.
It's the Sunday evening after Wayne Rooney's first game in charge.
I don't check the #BCFC hashtag - I'd need paying to put myself through that. Thankfully, I have friends on social media that do and it means I'm often alerted to discussion points amongst the fanbase.
Matchday one for Rooney and his team didn't go as planned and there has been bickering on the timeline.
There is part of the fanbase that have seen enough already. It's not good enough. We've made a really bad decision.
There's another part of the fanbase that is the other side of the argument, happy to claim we were poor regularly under Eustace and that we should back the owners decisions.
Yeah, this is why I don't check the hashtag.
As ever, the answers lie in the middle of the loud minorities on both sides of the argument.
At the centre of the debate is two words: No fear.
These were the words Garry Cook used in the statement confirming the sacking of John Eustace.
"A new First Team Manager will be announced in the coming days who will be responsible for creating an identity and clear ‘no fear’ playing style that all Birmingham City teams will adopt and embrace."
This was discussed more in further statements by Cook, Tom Wagner and Rooney himself.
Cook: "The Owners and Board Members are ambitious. They are driven to help make Birmingham City a football powerhouse. It will not happen overnight. It is a step-by-step approach. Our intent is to be judged over what we do in the years to come and be ambitious with the new story that we are writing."
Wagner "Wayne is a born winner. We believe, with the support of his coaching staff, the Club, and our supporters, he will take Blues forward on the next stage of our journey. His playing philosophy will help to realise the ambitions we have set for Birmingham City."
Cook: "We are confident that his appointment, supported by his hand-picked coaching staff, will culminate in a young, attack-minded team that will excite our fans."
Rooney: "We have some exciting young players in the squad, and some who are still to break through into the First Team, alongside a core of experienced senior professionals. I have a clear way that I want the team to play, and my coaching staff and I will work hard to implement it. We will create a winning culture here with an identity that gets Blues fans on their feet."
We can acknowledge the obvious benefits to friendships and commercial deals but the board have put it out there that through conversations with Rooney (which deeeeeefinitely didn't happen before John Eustace lost his job *wink wink*) that they believe the process of improving the football club's standing on the pitch will speed up with Wayne Rooney as manager because of his playing philosophy and winning mentality.
Yet those two words keep getting thrown around: No Fear.
I asked the question on social media and the NTT20 squad.
What does "no fear" mean to you from a footballing perspective?
Answers included having lots of the ball; playing from the back; vertical passing; high tempo possession; aggressive pressing; pushing high up the pitch; full-backs in the box; trying to score again rather than defend a lead; taking risks; going toe to toe with opposition regardless of strength sticking to Plan A; lots of shooting; always attacking; being plucky underdogs; whatever Keegan's Newcastle did; whatever Klopp's Liverpool do; whatever Roberto De Zerbi coaches; whatever Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Sunderland are doing.
In short - it means a lot of different things to different people. It can't mean all of them.
I understand why Garry Cook made the comment. He had undertaken a huge decision and wanted fans to be positive about the change. No fear is the kind of brand slogan that sticks in the mind and it has worked. Being fearless is seen as a positive thing.
But those two words also mean very little. No fear to one person can mean something completely different to another, as proven above. It's like asking people what happiness or success is - everybody has a different answer.
Intended or not, Cook has put pressure on Rooney to deliver a style that incorporates a concept that means different things to different people. And even if Rooney's team start to showcase a style that he sees as fearless, people may not agree and use it as a stick to beat with him - especially if results don't follow.
I don't feel too sorry for Rooney.
He was talking to the club while another man was employed and making a case for why he would be better. It happens all the time in football (I don't doubt Eustace had similar conversations while Lee Bowyer was still manager) and everybody that does it deserves their comeuppance. And when you're getting into bed with powerful agents and CEOs, you have to expect big statements and pressure (admittedly nothing he's not already used to).
He also agreed to take the job when he did. He wanted to complete the MLS season with DC United before taking the job and has accepted the role with a third of the campaign already played. As a top-class footballer, he will understand how important pre-season is for both camaraderie and tactical blueprints and he's chosen to step in before he can oversee that.
Still, I do have sympathy in regards to how he will be judged.
The terminology used and the timing of the appointment have set him on the back foot. The employment of Rooney has split a fanbase that were as united as they have been for some time, liked Eustace (for the most part), believed the team were performing well and are still scarred by the Rowett / Zola fiasco. Meanwhile the national media are running stories from pundits talking about the need for Rooney to win now & many fans believe similar.
Perception can cloud reality. It's clear from subsequent statements that Rooney is being tasked with speeding the process up stylistically but that everything else - identity, winning, recruitment - will take time to implement. There will be teething and selection issues. Rooney and his staff will be working out who can drive the "winning" culture longer term. Barring a Zola-esque sequence of results, he will get time to make the changes he feels he needs to make.
The fairest way we can judge Wayne Rooney the manager is based on what Wayne Rooney says and how his team performs, rather than the noises that come from above or outside of the club.
Matchday one didn't go to plan. Not only were we beaten by Middlesbrough, but it could have been a lot, lot worse.
Boro had 60% of the ball. Their midfield made over 180 passes between them. We gave up 17 shots, 14 from inside the box and 10 on target. Boro had 12 corners and won more than half of their ground duels.
We had serious issues out of possession. I'm willing to let that be for now. My assumption is that Rooney has taken on the same decision as Neal Ardley at York City or Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace (named because they've spoken openly about it), focusing on patterns of play rather than what his team does without the ball. The expectation is likely to be that the players will communicate and put in the graft to understand what needs to happen out of possession in the early weeks.
The focus for now should be on what we do in possession. That's the change Rooney is trying to make here. He wants Blues to be brave with the ball and there was definite change in how we progressed the ball from defensive areas.
Under Eustace, progression from defensive positions was often achieved in two ways.
1) The "lopsided" 3-2-5. Buchanan tucks inside. Laird pushes on. Dembele/Anderson hold width on the other flank. The RW steps inside to support the 10.
2) The standard 4-2-3-1. Full-backs receive the ball. Central midfielder shows, a forward moves into the channel while another shows to feet.
In both instances, we build down one flank, draw the opposition on and look to attack the spaces starting to open on the other side of the pitch.
On Saturday, we saw Rooney's vision. This was more of a 2-3-5 in which:
- Centre-backs split
- Bielik creates a diamond shape between he, his centre-backs and goalkeeper
- Wide central midfielders show in half spaces in wide areas
- The full-backs provide the width on either flank
- The front stay narrow
The general build up worked as far as shape was concerned.
Middlesbrough's out of possession set up meant Ruddy, Sanderson and Long had the overload to build. We often shifted the ball to the left through Long and Gardner. Gardner tried to progress the ball but the option wasn't always on. When he went back to Ruddy, Boro had shifted over, meaning there was space for Ruddy to play to the right and Blues could build with Sanderson and Sunjic.
The main issue was less about shape and set up and more about quality and intelligence. We weren't always accurate with the forward pass. We didn't move it quick enough. We didn't make the right movements to create space in the centre of the pitch. We found players with their back to goal rather than the half turn. The players have a lot to learn about passing and receiving angles in order to make this work.
A notable aspect was the lack of long balls. Blues averaged around 70 long passes per game under Eustace with him happy to give Ruddy, Sanderson and Long the automony to clear their lines when they deemed it necessary. Blues attempted 50 long passes on Saturday - only five teams in the Championship are averaging fewer per game.
And from the ever brilliant @blues_breakdown:
"Really evident from the stats the change in style for Ruddy (season average in brackets)
Attempted passes: 50 (34.2)
Pass completition %: 80% (61.2%)
Touches: 57 (36)
Touches outside the box: 8 (4.3)
Goal kick length: 27.8 yards (51.6 yards)"
The style change is evident. The challenge is ironing out the teething issues.
Second guessing the next couple of months is difficult. Rooney has entered at a brutal point of the fixture list with games against Middlesbrough, Hull City, Southampton, Ipswich Town and Sunderland.
The starting XI could look very different come New Year too. Rooney name checked Jordan James and Juninho Bacuna in his post-match interview. Koji Miyoshi and Oliver Burke may receive a change this week. Ethan Laird isn't too far away. George Hall, Keshi Anderson, Lee Buchanan and Tyler Roberts are due to return from injury in the coming weeks.
It's way too early to make wholesale judgements. It will still be too early after this run of games. All we can do as fans is get behind him and the team, be constructive and supportive and hope we enjoy more highs than lows over the next few months as things change before our eyes.
Time is no longer a luxury for any new manager, need to win yesterday mentality.
It's brutal, but managers keep coming back for more everywhere.