Birmingham chief Tom Brady warned he will live to regret his documentary dig at Wayne Rooney during Man Utd legend's ill-fated managerial stint by Wrexham icon

Former Wrexham manager Dean Saunders has claimed NFL great and Birmingham stakeholder Brady will regret commenting on Rooney's professionalism. The 48-year-old is seen casting doubt over the United and England legend during a scene in the ‘Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues’ documentary, saying: “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic.”

Rooney's spell in charge of Birmingham was an unmitigated failure, winning just two of his 15 matches in charge from October 2023 to January 2024. The 39-year-old followed that up with a similarly ill-fated time in charge of Plymouth that lasted only 25 games and now looks set to enjoy a punditry role on Match of the Day for the foreseeable future. He has now been defended by Saunders, who admitted he was disappointed by Brady's comments.

Saunders told OLBG: "What I will say is, talking about Wayne Rooney's work ethic, I bet he's sorry he said that. It's the worst thing anybody could say to you I think in any walk of life to question your work ethic.

"But I like Wayne Rooney, he's a winner and he's a normal lad. He has his way of doing things and I'm not going to question him but I would be reluctant to go on a documentary and criticise any manager if I owned another club. So he probably shouldn't have done it."

Birmingham brought in Steve Spooner, Tony Mowbray, Mark Venus and Gary Rowett for brief spells in charge after Rooney's departure before finally getting it right with the appointment of Chris Davies. The Welshman led City to promotion back to the Championship, where they have taken four points from their first two games of the 2025-26 season.

While Rooney sits back and enjoys his punditry role, Birmingham are next in action when they host Oxford United in the Championship on Saturday.