Wayne Rooney responds to Tom Brady's scathing criticism - 'Very unfair'

Wayne Rooney has hit out at Tom Brady’s “unfair” comments about his work ethic during his doomed spell with Birmingham City. The Manchester United icon spent a short period with the Championship side during the 2023/24 season.

But his spell only lasted a disastrous 15 games before he was sacked by the club’s American owners. But before Rooney was jettisoned, he was the topic of particularly scathing comments from part-owner Brady.

Speaking on the Amazon Prime documentary Brady & The Blues: Birmingham City, the NFL icon was filmed saying to business manager Ben Rawitz: “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic."

In reply, Rawitz said: “Comes across as lackadaisical.” And now, Rooney has responded to Brady’s comments for the first time.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney show, he said: “I think it was a very unfair comment. When I went into Birmingham, they were in a mess really. Hence the fact that, the players weren’t really the players who could take the club forward.

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“We knew that and I think, Tom come in once which was the day before a game where the day is a little bit light anyway and I don’t think he really understood football that well at the time, maybe he does now…

“But what he does understand is, he’s a hard worker, we know that, so that’s why I’m really disappointed with the comment because football is not NFL - NFL works for 3 months a year, players do need rest as well, so I think he was very unfair the way he’s come out and portrayed that.

“Listen, I respect Tom Brady massively, he’s one of the greatest - if not the greatest athletes - of all time and Birmingham do look like they’re getting it right now, which is good.

“I think what they have done is got the players out they need to get out because when I was there, you had Tony Mowbray, Gary Rowett after me who also struggled as well… but yeah bit disappointed but nothing too serious so move on.”

Since Rooney’s departure, Birmingham have suffered relegation to League One, only to bounce back at the first attempt under current boss Chris Davies. Rooney’s managerial career has however stuttered following another sacking by Plymouth Argyle after just 25 matches and he has yet to return to the dugout since.

Watch, listen and subscribe to The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport’s YouTube channel, BBC Sounds, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website & app from 6am on Friday 15 August.

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