Will Tom Brady & Birmingham seek another ‘name’ after Wayne Rooney flop? Ex-Blues star explains how lessons are being taken from Wrexham ‘fairytale’

In the wake of Knighthead Capital’s takeover at St Andrew’s, Manchester United legend Rooney was surprisingly appointed as head coach in October 2023. He lasted just 83 days and 15 games at the helm, with a questionable experiment in the West Midlands being brought to a close in January 2024.

Birmingham went on to suffer relegation out of the Championship in that campaign, but bounced back in style last season when claiming the League One title under Chris Davies with 111 points - fending off Wrexham in the process.

The Blues are looking to build their brand, with a documentary series dropping on Amazon Prime Video, and suggestions that they may look to another household name for inspiration in the dugout at some stage.

Quizzed on whether that will happen, former Birmingham striker Cameron Jerome - speaking in association with best crypto sports betting sites - told GOAL: “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.

“Looking at Wrexham, Birmingham is a little bit different in terms of the ownership group and what they are trying to do and where the football club has been. Wrexham is more of a fairytale story. It’s a success story in its own right, but I think Birmingham will look at that and try to mirror it to some extent but also look to kick-on and improve on that.”

Davies is tied to a contract through to 2028.  He has seen Birmingham make an unbeaten start to the 2025-26 Championship campaign, picking up seven points from three games, and will be back in action on Friday when facing Leicester, with their rivalry with Wrexham set to be rekindled when heading to North Wales on October 3.