Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham lost 3-0 at Leeds on New Year’s Day (Photo: Getty)
Wayne Rooney has labelled the chants involving Jimmy Savile’s name that were aimed at the Birmingham City boss as ‘unacceptable’.
Birmingham were thumped 3-0 by Leeds United at Elland Road on New Year’s Day to increase the pressure on the Manchester United and England legend.
Rooney has won just two and lost nine of his 15 games since taking the reins at St. Andrew’s in October, with the club slipping from fifth to 20th in the Championship table.
Fans are understandably furious with the manager, as well as the club’s board for their decision to hire him and sack the well-liked John Eustace.
Throughout the game, the away end called for Rooney to get the sack, while the home supporters also barraged the 38-year-old with taunts due to his connection to Leeds’ fierce rivals Man United.
While many of these chants were good-natured, there was one that went too far, with a small section of supporters allegedly signing: ‘It wasn’t Saville, it was Wayne Rooney.’
It is not clear however whether this came from the Leeds or Birmingham fans.
Rooney has won just two games since becoming Birmingham boss last October (Photo: Getty)
Regardless, Rooney was not impressed, saying post-match: ‘The only chant I didn’t appreciate really was the Jimmy Savile one. I just don’t think that’s acceptable.’
Asked whether he planned to persevere amid the growing calls for him to go, he added: ‘Of course. I’m a fighter. I get football is about opinions, I completely get that.
‘I’ve obviously spoken to the owners. That is private between me and the owners. We are going through a difficult period, there’s no denying that, and we need to do everything we can to come out of that.
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‘What’s clear is we need some players in. We need players to come in to help with the quality of the team but also some fresh faces in the building as well.
‘I believe in myself. We have a very young squad and it’s difficult for the players at the minute. We have to keep believing we will get through this.
‘This was always going to be a very difficult game for us. For 30 minutes, I thought we more than competed and created some good opportunities. The second half wasn’t good enough, but we have to keep going through the process to improve the team.’
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