'We have to take ownership' - Tom Brady reflects on decision to sack Wayne Rooney as Birmingham boss as he reveals search to find someone who 'fits values' of club's powerbrokers led Blues to Chris Davies

Rooney lasted just a few months in the dugout at Birmingham, who were relegated to League One in 2024. Davies was appointed just over a year ago and guided the Blues back to the Championship at the first time of asking, ultimately justifying the board's managerial decisions. When asked about the Rooney stint, NFL legend Brady - who previously criticised the Manchester United icon's work ethic - said the club has to "take ownership" of the big calls they make, while heaping praise on current manager Davies.

He said on the Men In Blazers YouTube channel: "Our first season was a bit of a challenge and I think we have to take ownership of every decision that we made, and I think there's other times, where we realise okay, well we made the decision at the time and learned from it and moved on and we found someone that really fits the values of what Tom Wagner and I really believe. We found Chris Davies through an extensive interview process. He's been absolutely phenomenal in his role, and we have high expectations for him as we continue through this season.

"Every year as you make decisions you feel like you're making the right decision but I think it's really important, in the decision-making process, when you realise that 'Okay, we need to make a change based on production', we did it, and unfortunately we got relegated in our first year but we had a great season last year but listen, the reality of our first and second year mean nothing at this point."

Birmingham's ambitious American owners got off to a bad start, following the unpopular sacking of John Eustace, the hiring of Rooney, and their relegation. But they are now in a much better place and have desires to secure a second-straight promotion as they eye a Premier League spot in 2026.

Birmingham will hope to start life in the Championship with a bang when they begin their campaign against recently-relegated Ipswich Town at St Andrew's on August 8. Before then, they end their pre-season fixture list against Nottingham Forest at home on Saturday.