Wayne Rooney has been sacked as Birmingham City manager after less than three months at the helm and says it will take him “some time to get over” his dismissal.
The former England and Manchester United captain took over from John Eustace on 11 October on a three-and-a-half-year deal and has overseen just two wins in 15 games during his 83 days at St Andrew’s.
His team have lost nine of those matches, leaving the Championship club 20th in the table, six points above the relegation zone.
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City were sixth and in the play-off positions when he became manager.
Birmingham suffered a 3-0 defeat at Leeds on New Year’s Day, prompting the club to dismiss Rooney and first team coach, Carl Robinson.
City’s chief executive Garry Cook said: “We are committed to doing what is necessary to bring success to St Andrew’s.
“Unfortunately, Wayne’s time with us did not go as planned and we have decided to move in a different direction.
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“The search for a successor begins with immediate effect and we will update supporters when we have further news.”
Rooney, 38, was the first managerial hire by new Birmingham owner Tom Wagner and his Knighthead Capital Management group, which bought the club in August.
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Image: Rooney scored more than 250 goals for Manchester United. Pic: AP
Rooney said in a statement that “football is a results business – and I recognise they have not been at the level I wanted them to be.
“However, time is the most precious commodity a manager requires and I do not believe 13 weeks was sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed.
“Personally, it will take me some time to get over this setback. I have been involved in professional football, as either a player or manager, since I was 16. Now, I plan to take some time with my family as I prepare for the next opportunity in my journey as a manager.
“I would like to thank Tom Wagner, Tom Brady and Garry Cook for the opportunity to manage Birmingham City FC and the support they all gave me during my short period with the club.
“Finally, I wish Birmingham City FC and its owners my best wishes in the pursuit of their ambitions.”
Speaking after Monday’s defeat, he said: “I’m a fighter and I get football fans’ opinions.
“I have to draw on my career, my playing career wasn’t always about success. I was in a relegation battle with Everton, I believe in myself.”
Image: Rooney during his time as Derby County manager
Birmingham was Rooney’s third club as a manager, following spells at Derby County and Major League Soccer (MLS) side, DC United, initially as player-manager.
He made 883 appearances in a playing career stretching over almost two decades, 119 of them with England and totalled 366 goals, including 53 for his country, officialwaynerooney.com said.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
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Image: Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.