Sorry, Tom Brady! Wayne Rooney has players that ‘can’t’ play ‘no fear’ football demanded by Birmingham board

The Manchester United and England legend is two games into his latest coaching role. Rooney has returned to his homeland following a spell in charge of MLS side D.C. United. He has previously worked in the Championship with Derby.

He has not got off to the best of starts at St Andrew’s, with back-to-back defeats suffered against Middlesbrough and Hull City, with Rooney yet to put his stamp on a squad that had reached the play-off places under his predecessor John Eustace.

A change was made in the dugout as NFL legend Brady – who is a now an investor in the club – and his fellow board members wanted to deliver a more exciting brand of football. Rooney is buying into that, but has said of those at his disposal: "We're asking them to play more front-footed when you're probably more a bit on the back foot. We're asking them to try and take the ball. Too many players are too happy to pass the ball and let their team-mate deal with it. That needs to improve. We have to put teams under pressure for longer periods. But the Middlesbrough game and this one have helped me see that some players can't do it, which is fine. It helps me in terms of understanding and adjusting a bit. I'm not asking them to change too much from what they are doing but we have to be patient. It's a big change for them. We created a lot of problems for ourselves. We give the ball away too cheaply. But the really disappointing thing for me was that after Hull got the second goal I didn't see a reaction. That can't happen again. They're aware of that."

Birmingham have slipped to 12th in the Championship table, but are only two points adrift of the top six. They will be back in action on Saturday when taking in a trip to Southampton – with testing outings against Ipswich and Sunderland carrying the Blues into the next international break.