Damning footage shows Birmingham City fans' furious reaction to Wayne Rooney as players make feelings clear in frank dressing-room meeting

Birmingham City fans already appear to have turned on Wayne Rooney after a second straight defeat.

The former Manchester United and England captain took the reins at St Andrews following the harsh dismissal of John Eustace from Knighthead Capital Management at the start of the month.

Rooney took charge of his first game on Saturday, with Birmingham losing 1-0 to a Middlesbrough side managed by his former teammate Michael Carrick.

They were hoping to bounce back on home soil against Hull City on Wednesday night but were beaten again courtesy of goals from Liam Delap and Jaden Philogene.

There were boos at half-time and full-time, with Neil Moxey of The Mirror reporting that there were chants of "F*** off back to America" directed from the main stand to the former Derby County and D.C United boss.

Footage doing the rounds provided video evidence of the toxicity towards Rooney, who clearly hasn't won over the fans yet.

Image: Getty

A big reason stated for the appointment of Rooney is the demand for "no fear football" from the owners but Wednesday's outing was far from it.

In fact, Rooney even revealed that his players spoke to him in the dressing room and told him that they were not comfortable with the shift in playing style.

The 38-year-old, backed by Ashley Cole and John O'Shea on his staff, wants his team to play out from the back.

Image: Getty

As per Birmingham Mail, Rooney said: "I spoke to the lads after the game and I asked them to be honest with me, because there’s a lot of changes.

"We are asking them to go from the back foot to being more front-footed. We are asking the two centre-backs, the goalkeeper and Krystian Bielik to try and play, and we didn’t look comfortable.

"This is what I said to the players, ‘Be honest with me, if you don’t feel comfortable you can tell me, we can adjust, we can adapt’. It’s something for me to look at, am I asking too much, too soon? Can we adjust slightly what we are trying to do?

“For instance, if you look at Hull, the goalkeeper and the number six dictate the game for them."

Topics: Birmingham City, Wayne Rooney, EFL Championship

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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