The Juxtaposition of Wayne Rooney & Birmingham City

Wayne Rooney has been appointed. The pressure has increased but it feels as though time will be granted.

So, Rooney has been announced.

On the face of it, I see why comparisons to Rowett and Zola have been made or a belief that the club have made an outrageous decision.

To cover the first claim, it's a different situation. This isn't people that are clueless about football making decisions. There is nobody in the boardroom asking Rooney for an autograph upon meeting him (thanks for that nugget, Mr.Ivery). No being starstruck. It's strictly business. Plus, despite Rowett's success, this squad is stronger than the one Zola inherited and inherited by a manager that has shown he can be flexible.

Unfortunately, this situation has never been about John Eustace. I hate the way he's been treated by the club and I've made my feelings clear on that. But I don't think Eustace was ever going to be seen as good enough. He would always be having to prove himself rather than being fully backed by those in charge. The club never named him in statements. Never showed obvious backing for him. And it has since come out that Rooney has been the name wanted since mid-August. Eustace was always simply warming the seat for the next man. The positive is that he's proven himself a quality coach and will land on his feet.

The reason Eustace was never going to be good enough is because he isn't a big enough name or personality. He was realistic and believed a process should be stuck to in order to progress the club. That no longer washes. Our owners and CEO aren't about to go about this in the Brentford, Brighton and Luton way. It's going to be like Leeds United and Nottingham Forest. Loud. Big names. Step up or get out.

The owners aren't messing around. Garry Cook is CEO and he won't mess around. The ground has been sorted immediately. The training ground is being rebuilt. Worldwide shirt sponsor. Changes to merchandise and advertising. It's what Cook did at City and Saudi Arabia and there are probably similarities to how Reynolds and McElhenney have run things at Wrexham. Make a splash, get us on Sky Sports, on the back pages and bring people's attention to the club.

That's where Rooney fits in. Not to mention his assistants, Cole and O'Shea. They are names known around the globe. All eyes are on Birmingham City.

The question is whether Rooney and Co fit the description of "World Class" and "no fear" as managers and coaches. And the biggest issue they face is that the language used by the club suggests we are going to see immediate change when everything else points to the opposite.

He has signed a three and a half year deal. They have referenced in his announcement that he is already working with Craig Gardner, who it seems will be sticking contrary to noises the other day, to improve the squad in January and the summer. The pressure isn't on him to be successful immediately and the belief is that Rooney will bring his "winning mentality" to the club over time.

The problem is that fans liked Eustace. Rooney will need to prove and endear himself to fans quickly with a braver style of play while continuing to earn results. That will ramp up further post-January when further additions are made.

The owners have done so much good work that they will receive time from fans around this decision. But expectation will increase quickly.

This is it now. The new era of Birmingham City is firmly in motion.