Tom Brady questions Wayne Rooney’s ‘work ethic’ at Birmingham and hits out at the relegated squad in the new Amazon Prime documentary series.
Brady spoke of his regrets over appointing Wayne Rooney as manager of Birmingham City in a new five-part series, Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues, set to release on Prime Video on August 1st.
Brady, who joined the club in August 2023, admitted that hiring Rooney after sacking John Eustace in October 2023 was a mistake.
At the time, Birmingham were sixth in the Championship, but Rooney, with a poor managerial record (38 wins in 139 games at Derby County and DC United), led the team to only two wins in 15 games, resulting in a 14-place drop and eventual relegation.
Brady noted warning signs about Rooney’s work ethic during a November 2023 visit to the club’s training centre, where he observed a lack of dedication compared to the standards set by his former NFL coach, Bill Belichick.
In a new Amazon Prime documentary series, due to air on Friday, Brady tells colleagues: “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic,” before adding: “I mean, I don’t know, I don’t have great instincts on that.”
Business manager Ben Rawitz replied: “Comes across as lackadaisical.”
Brady, who also calls players “lazy and entitled” in the series, made his comments about Rooney following a visit to the club’s training ground in November 2023.
He said: “We were trying to make Birmingham a world-class team – but it’s been a s**t year. They were lazy and entitled, which doesn’t give you much chance to succeed.”
Filmed conversations between the former quarterback and then manager Rooney looked awkward.
In one exchange, Rooney told his employer: “Why they’re playing in the Championship and not the Premier League is because… we’ve all passed a ball, kicked the ball and run, but it’s a focus, concentrated for 90 minutes.”
Afterwards, a scene shows Brady watching a training session, saying: “We’ve got a long road ahead.”
Rooney was sacked after 83 days, but the damage was done, contributing to Birmingham’s relegation, with Wayne saying at the time that he did not feel 13 weeks was “sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed”.
During the series, Birmingham supporter Paul Collins speculated that the decision to appoint Rooney was based on a desire by the ownership to hire “one of the most recognisable English footballers of the last generation” in order to “put a load of eyes on Birmingham City”.
Collins questioned: “What qualifies Wayne to manage Birmingham City? Nothing.”
Brady also spoke on the owners’ disastrous first season in charge: “There was some good advice that I got that was like, ‘listen, don’t go in there and make these big, sweeping changes – you guys have time. And of course we make sweeping changes.”
During the series, Brady on where things went wrong: “Well we’ve already changed the coach, so it’s really the players because the coach doesn’t go out there and put the ball in the goal,” he says.
“They were lazy, they were entitled and when you’re lazy and entitled, you don’t have much of a chance to succeed.
“We’ve got to change all the people that are associated with losing, so I think this summer there’s going to be a lot of people gone.”
Brady said to talkSPORT on why he took so long to sack Rooney after his first impression of meeting him: “Well, at different times, you always want to give people opportunities to succeed.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Wayne and what he accomplished. He’s one of the greatest players that’s ever been on a pitch.
“At the same time, I have very high expectations for what leadership looks like.”
After Rooney’s departure, Tony Mowbray came in, but was later forced to step back from the role on medical leave, so then Gary Rowett was named as as interim manager for the last eight games of a 2023/24 season.
Blues went on to get relegated to League One for the first time in nearly three decades, but they bounced back to the second tier at the first attempt, under new manager Chris Davies, by winning the League One title.
Brady added: “I really felt like in the time that I had that we have to give everything we can to the players in terms of our time and energy and our commitment to seeing them succeed.
“We found that in Chris, in our second season, who’s done an incredible job as manager.
“He’s been a great leader for the organisation, and I’m very excited to see how he continues to build on what he’s already accomplished last season, going into the year, because the reality is this year is very different and two years ago was very different from last year.
“This year is going to be very different from last year, and the work to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish is all about what you’re doing today, not about what you did two years ago or five years ago.
“It’s about what you do today and moving forward every single day.”
Brady spoke on the expectation for Birmingham this season: “I want these players to know that they have all the support they need for them to out there and accomplish their goals.
“The only people that really can get things done are the people that are within that locker room. The staff and those players, they’re the ones that are going to decide the fate of this season.
“It’s our job and opportunity to help solve problems for them and to put them in a great position to succeed.
“So it’s not going to be anything I say here in late July that matters. It’s going to be about what they do when they show up to training, how they recover, how they eat, the individual choices they make, whether they win or lose.
“Do we learn from our mistakes? Do we show up the next day with a competitive attitude to be successful? Does the manager continue to think and study different tactics week in and week out because every week is something different. You’re going against different teams that have different strengths and weaknesses.
“Then ultimately, can those players go out and execute under pressure? And that’s what we’re trying to find.
“The people that are doing that, they’re going to be in this club for a long time and the ones that aren’t, they’re going to have to find other places.
“That’s the reality of sports. That’s what I realised as a sportsman. You got to show up every day with a great attitude to be successful and if you don’t, there’s other people that are there that are trying to take your job.
“If you have ambition to play at the highest level, the competition is within yourself. It’s about what you bring to the table. It’s not about what someone else does.
“If you show up every day with a great winning competitive attitude and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make the team successful, I promise you there’s going to be a place for you.”
On the thought process behind being different to other football-based TV shows, he added: “That’s the creative team behind the project that really understands what Birmingham is all about.
“I think when you see the contributions from a lot of people that are in the doc, certainly someone like Steven Knight, he’s got a great understanding of what this city and culture really is.
“I think there’s an edge to it. I think it brings out the heart and the values of the community of what the supporters really are, how much they believe in the club.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to all go out there and continue to build on what’s happened in the last few years.
“We’ve been capturing stuff for the last few years, since we were able to make the investment in the club,” he continued.
“We’ve wanted to document all these things, certainly from the fans so that they understand the commitment that so many people have made in our making to try to make Birmingham City as successful as possible.
“So it’s been a really great journey. We’re kind of back to where we started, but hopefully the club’s in a much better place in terms of process and infrastructure, and it’s going to be a great season ahead.
“I can’t wait to get started.”
