Wayne Rooney admits taking Birmingham City job was a risk

The Birmingham boss, appointed as John Eustace’s successor earlier this month, faces Hull in his first home game tonight. Rooney, now in his third job after spells at Derby and DC United, lost his first match 1-0 at Middlesbrough on Saturday and feels many managers would find the division difficult.

“You’re not going to see top managers dropping down to the Championship because it’s tough and you have to adapt,” said the former England skipper, with Birmingham seventh in the table. “You obviously haven’t got the best players in the world, so you have to think outside the box at times. It’s a tough league.

“You need to be ready and it’s lot of work, of course it’s long hours, long travelling days, games.

“Learning is the wrong word because it would would be wrong for me to sit here as Birmingham manager and say I’m here to learn. I’m ready for this club and here to improve this club.

“The first time at Derby was really tough, DC United was more of a learning one for me, a different environment, different culture, different society, different languages.

“I wanted to see how I could communicate with players. I had to deal with a lot of issues there, players and off-the-field things as well. It was all part of my learning.

“Now, this is me saying: ‘Right, I want to win.’ I’ve had the two clubs before, I’m here to move this club forward.”

Rooney faces his former assistant at Derby, now Hull boss, Liam Rosenior at St Andrew’s.

He added: “Liam is a fantastic coach and was a big help to me at Derby.

“Whether he’s a friend or not we want to beat them. I look forward to seeing him after the game but ultimately we both want to win.”