Tom Brady backed to ‘repeat’ NFL success with Birmingham City after learning from Wayne Rooney managerial mistake

A serious backwards step was taken by Brady and Co shortly after the American football legend was welcomed into the fold. A disastrous 2023-24 campaign delivered plenty of important lessons as relegation into League One was suffered.

Appointing Manchester United great Wayne Rooney as manager proved to be a catastrophic decision, as he lasted just 83 days at the helm, with Chris Davies eventually taking on a salvage mission that delivered the third tier title in record-breaking style last season. Birmingham are back to within touching distance of the Premier League.

Tony Pulis, who has spent time working in the Midlands with West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City, believes that Brady will be a success at Birmingham and that Rooney will be losing no sleep over his ill-fated stint with the Blues.

The ex-Premier League manager told Grosvenor Casino: “They tell me Tom Brady is a really, really energetic, purposeful person who is positive. For Wayne Rooney, it'll be water off a duck’s back. It happens everywhere. There's always people who know more than what you do. There's always people who are very, very good at being correct after the occasion. Tom Brady's been a fabulous sports person in America and now he will want to repeat that.”

Former Blues striker Cameron Jerome told GOAL recently when asked if Brady and Co will seek another so-called big ‘name’ in the future after having their fingers burned with Rooney: “When you are putting money in, the vast sums that they are putting in, they are going to want full control of who they are bringing into the football club - whether that is playing staff or managerial appointments or ambassadors, whatever role they see fit.

“Perhaps they have learned from that [Rooney] a little bit. That is the learning curve for them, being in charge so early and wanting to go in their own direction, then realising this is not working for us so let’s reset and they got a bright young manager in Chris Davies who managed to achieve promotion last season, which we all expected them to do but ultimately you have to go out and win football matches and achieve your goals. They did that emphatically.”

Davis delivered on his remit in spectacular style last season, providing plenty of drama for the ‘Built in Birmingham: Tom Brady & the Blues’ documentary. More big money was invested in his squad during the summer of 2025.

Expectations at St Andrew’s are high, but the same can be said for many other teams competing in the Championship. With that in mind, Pulis added on the Blues’ ambition and what a highly-rated head coach needs to get right: “Birmingham have some good, quality players and have spent a lot of money. They will expect to be in the top six. They need to tidy up defensively and be a bit stronger.

“The manager has the opportunity to become better this year, playing better opposition. He has to work out ways to be defensively better organised and stronger, and gain clean sheets. Going forward, they have very exciting players who can open up the door and score goals. There is a little bit of concern about the defensive set-up, but I'm sure this will be a great experience for him.”

Birmingham returned to action after the October international break with a dramatic 3-2 defeat at Hull City. That result has left them 17th in the table, five points clear of the relegation zone, heading into a clash with Preston North End at Deepdale on Tuesday.