Wayne Rooney: Criticism from Birmingham minority owner Tom Brady ‘very unfair'
NFL great Brady, who became a minority shareholder at Birmingham in August 2023, said he was 'a little worried about our head coach's work ethic' during a documentary after visiting Blues' training ground the following November.
Tom Brady, right, became a minority shareholder at Birmingham in August 2023 (Nick Potts/PA)
Former England captain Rooney said he was 'really disappointed' at the seven-time Super Bowl winner's criticism.
Speaking via his new show on the BBC, the ex-Everton and Manchester United striker said: 'I think Tom came in once, which was the day before a game where the days are a little bit lighter anyway, and I don't think he really understood football that well.
'But what he does understand is – he's a hard worker – we know that.'
Rooney added: 'Football is not NFL – NFL works for three months a year. Players do need rest as well, so I think he's very unfair, the way he's come out and portrayed that.'
Wayne Rooney was sacked by Birmingham after 15 games in charge (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Birmingham were bought out by American consortium Knighthead Capital Management in the summer of 2023 and Brady became a shareholder two months later.
Rooney was sacked following 15 matches after Blues had slipped to 20th in the Sky Bet Championship and the club were relegated at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Under current boss Chris Davies, Birmingham bounced straight back to the second tier as League One champions last season with an English Football League record points tally of 111.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
5 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Bullish Bob MacIntyre shushes American crowd after BMW Championship rescue mission
The Scot is battling to keep his lead at the Caves Valley Golf Club Defiant Scheffler sent a message to the noisy American crowd as he battles it out with Scottie Scheffler for the BMW Championship. The Scot has put in an impressive performance this weekend to surge to the top of the leaderboard at the Caves Valley Golf Club. Going into Saturday, the 29-year-old backed up a career-best round of 62 on Thursday with a flawless 64 at Caves Valley Golf Club on Friday to reach 14-under-par to sit five strokes ahead of world No. 1 Scheffler. Things didn't totally go to plan on Saturday - but MacIntyre pulled off an eye-catching escape to make par from the rough at one stage to maintain a four shot lead at the top of the table. And after saving par on 14 he turned to the punters backing the the top player on the globe to silence them. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
The Guardian
6 minutes ago
- The Guardian
ESPN drops Spike Lee's docuseries on Colin Kaepernick, network and filmmaker say
Director Spike Lee's multi-part documentary series for ESPN Films about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a national debate when he protested racial injustice nearly a decade ago, will not be released, the filmmaker and ESPN said. 'ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences,' ESPN said in a statement to Reuters on Saturday. 'Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.' Lee told Reuters on Friday that the series was not going to be released. 'It's not coming out. That's all I can say,' Lee said on the red carpet ahead of the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner, a fundraiser for cancer research and treatment, in Beverly Hills, California. Asked why, the Oscar-winning director declined to elaborate, citing a nondisclosure agreement. 'I can't. I signed a nondisclosure. I can't talk about it'. Kaepernick ignited a national debate in 2016 when he knelt during the US national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality. The 37-year-old has not played in the NFL since that season. Many experts believed his political activism, which triggered a movement that drew the ire of Donald Trump, was the key reason teams were wary of signing him. He later filed a collusion grievance against team owners, which was settled with the league in 2019. Representatives for Kaepernick did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Production on the series began in 2022, with Walt Disney-owned ESPN touting it as a 'full, first-person account' of Kaepernick's journey that would feature extensive interviews with the player. Last year, Puck News reported the project faced delays amid disagreements between Kaepernick and Lee over the direction of the film. I'm grateful to be able to work with the legend Spike Lee on my docu-series. Thank you @jemelehill for being a part of our incredible team. It's time for the narrative to be corrected. The series is co-produced by Jemele Hill, a former ESPN reporter who was suspended by the network in 2017, after she suggested that fans who disagreed with criticism of NFL players taking a knee from the owner of the Dallas Cowboys should boycott the team's advertisers. A month earlier, she had enraged the White House when she tweeted: 'Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.' The network's decision to drop the series comes as the Trump administration has sued broadcasters that reported critically on the president and pushed private businesses and schools to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that the government now defines as unlawful discrimination against white Americans. In December, Disney's ABC News agreed to pay $15m to a foundation and museum to be established by Trump as part of a settlement in a defamation lawsuit Trump filed against the network.
Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Bill Belichick refuses to take part in college football tradition as 73-year-old nears first game with UNC
has decided he won't take part in a traditional requirement of North Carolina 's football head coach this season. It has been announced that the eight-time Super Bowl winner won't participate in the Tar Heels' traditional coach's radio show throughout the year. Belichick, 73, will appear on the first episode of the season on August 27 but will not be on the show again. Instead, he will be replaced by the Tar Heels' general manager Michael Lombardi. He will be joined by various assistant coaches and players throughout the season. The show was previously known as 'Mack Brown Live' after the former head coach but now it has been rebranded to 'Carolina Football Live', owing to Belichick's decision to not be a regular guest. The plan is for the show to still be aired on a weekly basis from Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery near the school's Chapel Hill campus. A coach's weekly radio show is common across college football and gives fans an opportunity to ask the team's leader some questions. The premise of the shows has changed in recent years, going from live phone calls with coaches to fans sending their questions in via text or email. Some coaches have appearing on a weekly radio show written into their contract but there was no such demand added to Belichick's deal. It emerged earlier this week that the influence of Belichick's 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson is now spilling over into the recovery methods of the team. Belichick stunned football fans with his strength and flexibility earlier this year when he was pictured hoisting Hudson into the air during a beach date with his girlfriend. And now it's emerged that the legendary coach is using yoga to help his UNC players prepare for the new season. The 73-year-old is in his first ever college football role after joining the Tar Heels back in January. His tenure has so far been dominated by his relationship with Hudson and the 24-year-old's perceived influence on Belichick and UNC football. The couple went viral in March after Hudson shared pictures of them performing acrobatics on the beach. In one image, the 24-year-old could be seen lying horizontally on her boyfriend's outstretched legs. Belichick later joked that he is simply 'trying to stay young'. And this week, the six-time Super Bowl winner opened up on how yoga is now helping his players get in shape ahead of the new season. 'Yoga is a recovery technique. It's not really a training technique,' Belichick said. 'We use it more for recovery, and there are a lot of benefits to it. 'It's a good way after a couple, three, four days of practices to give the body a chance to recover, stretch, get the blood flowing, and so forth.'
