What went wrong for BCFC this season?
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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.