A look at the factors leading to Birmingham City’s relegation from the Championship

National World - LocalTV

What went wrong for BCFC this season?

Transcript

00:00 Charlie, starting with Birmingham City now obviously incredibly relegated to League One,

00:07 something that they didn't see coming at the start of the season.

00:10 If we go through it chronologically of what went wrong,

00:14 obviously it's an incredibly poor result to end up as a League One side for next season.

00:21 But are there any standout moments for you of why it sort of happened

00:26 and when the sort of cracks started to show this season at Birmingham City?

00:32 I think the moment that even the rumours of Wayne Rooney coming in started to arrive,

00:36 I think that is the moment.

00:39 It's a pretty obvious one, to be honest,

00:41 but fans were concerned because of what happened many years ago

00:45 when Gary Rowett left and Jadon Francozola came in.

00:48 Rowett was doing such a good job.

00:49 It was slightly different circumstances because he was linked with the move away anyway.

00:53 But the fact they were up and into playoffs and fighting for that

00:56 and then Zola comes in and hardly any wins over multiple months.

01:01 There was a lot of concern about exactly what happened under Wayne Rooney.

01:04 In the end though, Rooney didn't even last as long as Zola did.

01:08 He was booted out at the start of January after a loss away at Leeds United.

01:12 And then just a lot more uncertainty as to who was going to come in.

01:15 Mowbray in the end, I think was a fantastic appointment.

01:19 So much experience, the likes of West Brom, Blackburn, Sunderland.

01:22 And I think he was the man who can probably get them back into top half contention.

01:27 But unfortunately, we couldn't have expected.

01:30 Medical issues for Tony Mowbray meant that he had to take a step aside.

01:33 And then Mark Fiennes, his assistant, as much as he trusts him

01:36 and he's worked with him a lot in the past, he's not a manager.

01:39 He's an assistant and he just wasn't the right man.

01:42 In the end, when they brought in Gary Rowett for the last eight matches,

01:44 I think it was a little bit too late maybe, but you can't really blame him for that.

01:49 Uncertainty, was Mowbray going to come back soon?

01:52 What was going to happen there? No one really knew.

01:55 In the end, Rowett, I think, did a decent job.

01:57 Got a few wins at home towards the end of the season against Coventry, against Preston,

02:01 of course, against Norwich on the final day.

02:03 But the away form was there, Hullersfield and Rotherham in the end, so costly.

02:09 And they were relegated.

02:10 So I think just the fact that there were so many different managers over the course of the season,

02:15 if they just stuck with John Eustice, who knows what would have happened?

02:18 I think he would have been happy to stay.

02:19 He loved the fans.

02:20 He loved the club.

02:21 Of course, being from Birmingham himself, as soon as that decision was made to get in Wayne Rooney,

02:26 they set themselves up for disaster.

02:29 Just quickly, what do you think they need to ensure that they're coming back up?

02:33 Because, you know, looking over social media, the fans are still quite happy with the Aerons,

02:37 despite a relegation.

02:38 It seems like the future is bright and they are sort of selling it to the fans.

02:44 A lot of positivity with Tom Wagner and Nighthead and the promises of improved facilities

02:48 and a new stadium over the next few years, buying the site at the old wheelsite in Borsley Green.

02:53 So there's plenty of positives.

02:55 Obviously, the relegations are a massive negative,

02:58 but there's hope that they can bounce back pretty immediately,

03:00 that the future of the club can be strong.

03:03 They just need some stability and a new manager coming in if Mowbray isn't going to be around.

03:07 We need answers really on Mowbray.

03:09 It's a difficult one.

03:10 It's a sensitive situation.

03:11 All the best, of course, to Mowbray, whether he needs to recover away from football,

03:15 whether he can come back, it awaits to be seen.

03:18 But I think Blues fans, the players, everyone associated with the club needs a bit of clarity.

03:22 So hopefully we can get that over the next few weeks.

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