Graeme Souness believes that Wayne Rooney has hit the “lowest point of his football career” after the Manchester United legend was sacked by Birmingham City.
Rooney, who broke his silence over his sacking at Birmingham City, left DC United last October after the Washington-based side failed to make the MLS Cup play-offs.
The 38-year-old former United striker was appointed Birmingham City manager after John Eustace was controversially axed from the Championship club in 2023.
However, Rooney’s ill-fated spell at Birmingham City lasted only 83 days and he was dismissed from his post after a 3-0 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road.
Birmingham City were sixth in the Championship table when Rooney first arrived, but the Blues dropped to 20th in the league table under the United legend’s reign.
Rooney was in charge of 15 matches for the Championship club and suffered nine defeats, with Steve Spooner replacing him as interim manager at the time.
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Souness on Rooney’s time at Birmingham City
Birmingham City on Monday announced that Tony Mowbray had succeeded Rooney as manager and will lead the club for the clash against Swansea City on Saturday.
Souness, who endured his own struggles as a manager, said that Rooney would be “hurting” over his setback at Birmingham City and would be “questioning himself.”
Speaking in his column for The Daily Mail, he wrote: “Wayne is clearly a highly motivated individual.
“The fact he has taken challenging jobs beyond the Premier League proves that. The further down the pyramid you go, the more likely you are to be frustrated with your players.”
Souness added: “He’s a big boy. This is not his first rodeo. He knows how the football world works.
“But I assure you he will be hurting. Questioning himself. Wondering where he goes from here.”
Souness expects Rooney to bounce back
Rooney acknowledged that results were not in his favour at Birmingham City and admitted it would take him “some time” to climb back from his major setback.
However, the former United and England captain insisted that he would continue to pursue his career as a manager after taking some time to reflect on what happened.
Souness claimed that Rooney is now in “utterly alien territory” after his sacking, but the Liverpool legend has tipped him to return as a manager at some point.
“Management is now testing him like nothing ever has in football,” he said.
“This will, without [a] doubt, be the lowest point of his football career. From the age of 16, when he got in the Everton team, to when he retired as a player, it was one accolade after another. Now he’s in utterly alien territory.
“This will be making him think long and hard about what the future holds for him. Is there a way back into management for him? Only he knows the answer to that.
“But I speak from experience when I say that an involvement in the game is like a drug.
“It takes a lot to extinguish the kind of competitive spirit that made Wayne such a player. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back.”
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