Soccer legend Rooney dismissed from manager in three weeks

English soccer legend Wayne Rooney (photo) was fired as manager of Birmingham City due to poor performance 15 games after taking the position.

“Despite our best efforts, we are not satisfied with the results,” Birmingham City said, announcing the news of Coach Rooney’s dismissal on Tuesday. “We decided change was the best way.”

Rooney was named to lead Birmingham City in October last year. At that time, Birmingham City, which was in 6th place with 18 points (five wins, three draws, three losses) out of 24 teams in the second division, assigned Rooney the team with the goal of promoting the team to the first division of the English Premier League (EPL) next season. However, Rooney recorded two wins, four draws, and nine losses in 15 games, dragging down the team's ranking to 20th place and ultimately being dismissed.

As a player, Rooney played in 120 international matches for the England national team and scored 53 goals. The number of games played and the number of points scored rank second in the history of the England national team. He also scored 208 goals in the EPL, ranking third all-time. Birmingham City entrusted Rooney with the team, thinking he had a killer instinct to win, but when his performance plummeted, they decided to look for another manager in less than three months.

“I know I did not deliver the results that we wanted,” wrote Rooney on his social media account. “But three weeks is not enough time to achieve desired results.”


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com