Former Blues player discusses what it’s like to play under Wayne Rooney

The Birmingham City players will need to be patient and should expect to experience some anxiety when watching Wayne Rooney’s Blues, but Curtis Davies is adamant that it will be worthwhile in the long term.

The 38-year-old was chatting to BirminghamLive’s new Keep Right On podcast on his time working with Rooney at Derby County a few seasons ago. He is scheduled to make his international debut for Sierra Leone on Tuesday night.

While at Pride Park, Rooney developed a siege mentality with a close-knit team fighting against the club’s financial difficulties and a significant 21-point deduction that ultimately cost the Rams their position in the Championship. Davies, who also played for Blues between 2011 and 2013, remembers this.

Rooney sought to execute the spacious, possession-based playing style he mentioned at the press conference last week at Blues while also overseeing some successful outcomes with Derby. Davies attempted it with the Rams squad and claims that while it was nerve-wracking, it was also incredibly pleasurable.

“All I ask of you is stick to the game plan,” he says, but Davies explained that Wayne is more likely to remove brave players from the lineup or drop them altogether. “Let’s say he asks us to play, and I’m the center half. If I just kick the ball up the pitch, the rest of the structure surrounding it won’t work, so I won’t play.

He certainly offers you creative control, so of course you’ll know when the appropriate time is to make a short pass or a longer pass because you’re an experienced player. But he would rather that his players follow the game plan and make an effort to play as much as they can.

“But if he is to apply it successfully, he needs to spend some time with his Blues group and figure out everyone’s skills and shortcomings first and foremost. Having already faced Blues twice this year, I believe Blues has players available to them.

It will be entertaining and wonderful to watch football because he’ll undoubtedly make some things happen with that club and the way you play. However, there may be occasions when you’ll be on the edge of your seat, urging the other team to “Just kick it up the pitch!” But I believe you should exercise patience with it. You’ll be excited, and the Blues will have a fantastic time, in my opinion.

In contrast to some of his predecessors, Rooney, according to Davies, will take a more passive role in coaching sessions and instead keep an eye on the players as Ashley Cole, John O’Shea, Pete Shuttleworth, and Carl Robinson work with them in the backroom.

If I’m being completely honest, I’d say Wayne is more of a manager than a coach. When we would be working on anything, he would come in and state what he needed, remind everyone of the standards he expected, or perhaps take a little closing session. It goes without saying that it’s a terrific example to follow when it comes to the small finishing, a passing session, or something similar.

“Wayne’s ability to handle people is a strength. Now that he has coaches at Blues, he will just be the one to watch players, notice players’ moods, determine why a player is depressed, embrace the player, and sometimes give someone a small boost by calling them off. That’s his skill set now.

But at the same time, he must intervene and offer his expertise as a top player of the highest caliber. In a position to do so.