Birmingham City fire manager Wayne Rooney after just 15 games 

After just 83 days in charge of the Championship team, Birmingham City has fired manager Wayne Rooney.

With Blues sitting sixth in the standings, the 38-year-old was named manager on October 11th, following the contentious decision to fire John Eustace. After that, they dropped to 20th place; this past Monday’s 3-0 loss to Leeds was his ninth loss in 15 games.

Birmingham City, who also lost one member of Rooney’s backroom staff in former Wolves and Wales player Carl Robinson, has appointed professional development coach Steve Spooner as temporary manager.

“Football is a results business and I recognise they’ve not been at the level I wanted them to be,” Rooney said. “I would like to thank (co-owners) Tom Wagner and Tom Brady and (chief executive) Garry Cook for the opportunity to manage Birmingham City and the support they all gave me during my short period with the club,” he said.

“However, time is the most precious commodity a manager requires and I do not believe 13 weeks was sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed. Personally, it will take me some time to get over this setback.”

“I have been involved in professional football, as either a player or manager, since I was 16. Now, I plan to take some time with my family as I prepare for the next opportunity in my journey as a manager.”

In the FA Cup third round on Saturday, the Blues—six points clear of the relegation zone—will visit Hull City. Before the January transfer window closing, they have three important league games to play. The first two are away to Stoke and the other is at home to Swansea and Middlesbrough, two clubs that are slightly above them in the standings.

After the last transfer window ended, Rooney was appointed, and it was always expected that he would be granted access to the January transfer market to make amends.

In the 132-year history of the Blues, Rooney has now served as manager for the least amount of time. However, he managed to play two more games than Harry Redknapp, who departed Blues six weeks into the 2017–18 season after just 13 games, despite Redknapp’s ability to hold the team together.