John Eustace made a number of changes to the playing group, which affected the results, but the Blues got off to a great start this season.
Birmingham was making an impression on a lot of people and appeared to be a team that could make the playoffs. The club’s management, however, decided they would take a different approach and fired Eustace, appointing Rooney in his place.
In addition to being tasked with instilling confidence in the team, Rooney’s arrival was intended to enhance the football club’s legacy.
However, as the weeks passed, the results improved significantly, as evidenced by the nine losses in 15 games. Initially, it appeared that this would not be an easy fix.
Rooney’s career came to an end on New Year’s Day when Birmingham lost 3-0 to Leeds United, leading Birmingham to fire the 38-year-old.
Although several names were floated for the position, the club ultimately chose to go after Tony Mowbray. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract on Monday, making his appointment official.
The club’s first goal under Mowbray will be to get them out of the relegation zone after their recent performance saw them fall all the way to the bottom of the table. Birmingham’s next opponent is Swansea City, and they are currently six points above the relegation zone in 20th place in the table.
| Championship Table (As it stands January 8th) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 26 | -9 | 32 |
| 18 | Plymouth Argyle | 26 | -2 | 29 |
| 19 | Stoke City | 26 | -7 | 29 |
| 20 | Birmingham City | 26 | -11 | 28 |
| 21 | Huddersfield Town | 26 | -18 | 25 |
| 22 | Sheffield Wednesday | 26 | -19 | 22 |
| 23 | QPR | 26 | -16 | 21 |
| 24 | Rotherham United | 26 | -26 | 18 |
Birmingham is hoping that Mowbray’s arrival will help them avoid relegation while also providing the spark needed to propel the team to the top of the table. They will, however, also be hoping that Birmingham can emulate his time at Sunderland, particularly with regard to allowing younger players to make the starting squad.
Birmingham is actually hoping that Mowbray’s arrival will help them hold onto forward Jay Stansfield until the end of the season.
Tony Mowbray’s arrival could boost Birmingham City’s chances of keeping Jay Stansfield
In recent years, Tony Mowbray has established a solid reputation for developing younger players, particularly during his tenure at Sunderland.
Young talents such as Dan Neil, Trai Hume, Jack Clarke, and even Amad Diallo were signed by the Black Cats. Even though they were all relatively inexperienced in the Championship, Mowbray persisted in starting them and gave them minutes, and ultimately, the club and he benefited from it.
Birmingham hired Mowbray due to his experience in this league and his managerial skills, but they will also be evaluating his work with the younger players to see if he can continue that during his tenure with the Blues.
Birmingham actually hopes that Mowbray’s arrival will aid them in their efforts to hold onto Jay Stansfield for the remainder of the month.
Ipswich Town and Sunderland are reportedly interested in signing the Fulham striker this month, but Birmingham will make every effort to keep him through the end of the campaign, as was decided back in the summer.
Stansfield has started 21 of his 23 Championship games so far this season. He has scored seven goals in those games, giving him an expected goal rate of 4.90 according to SofaScore.com.
In addition, the forward averages 0.3 goals per game and has a goal frequency of 247 minutes. He also has 2.3
shots each game, of which 0.7 were on goal. Stansfield has a 13% goal conversion rate while wearing a Blues shirt and has squandered three excellent opportunities.
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