- Wayne Rooney still had to win a game as Birmingham manager before Saturday
- Jordan James’ winner came within three minutes of replacing Juninho Bacuna
- Within Ange’s tracks: Listen to It’s All Kicking Off about how he transformed the club
Wayne Rooney has finally hit the ground running in Birmingham after a late winner from substitute Jordan James handed the former England captain his first win as boss.
The Blues had collected just one point from their first five games under Rooney after sacking John Eustace when they were sixth in the Championship.
So when Sheffield Wednesday – who had claimed just one point on the road all season – took the lead through George Byers just seconds before half-time, the crowd was ready to turn on Rooney.
But Juninho Bacuna’s injury-time equalizer lifted the fans’ spirits and three minutes after replacing Bacuna, James tapped in the winner from close range after his original shot was saved.
Chief executive Garry Cook and the Blues’ American owners – including NFL great Tom Brady – have bet the farm on Rooney and failure to succeed here would have left them with serious questions.
Jordan James secured a late victory for Birmingham after his goal from the bench in the 81st minute
James’ strike secured the first win under Wayne Rooney in his first games at the club
Rooney’s side secured an all-important win at home against struggling Sheffield Wednesday
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As for Wednesday, improved performances under new coach Danny Rohl have not yielded better results and a long winter lies ahead.
Wednesday’s away record should have reassured Rooney’s team but it had the opposite effect as the visitors looked more dangerous throughout the first half and Dion Sanderson did well to block an early attack from Byers.
Then John Ruddy was caught in possession by Mallik Wilks and the Blues goalkeeper was relieved when Wednesday’s man fired wide of the near post.
That caused some boos from the home fans and shortly afterwards young Emanuel Aiwu made a crucial intervention to prevent Anthony Musaba’s cross from reaching a teammate.
Dressed in his long black puffer jacket and baseball cap, Rooney became irritated with the fourth official when a few marginal calls went against his team.
Yet referee Rebecca Welch was spot on when she booked Josh Windass for a ridiculous dive when it would have been smarter to shoot.
Windass then volleyed wide as Barry Bannan’s superb pass across the field left him unmarked eight yards from goal, and at the other end Bambo Diaby produced an equally impressive ball to prevent Jay Stansfield from turning in Siriki Dembele’s cross.
With half time in sight, Wednesday took the lead. Windass’ free kick hit the post and fell perfectly for Byers, who was able to turn the ball into the empty goal.
At that point, Birmingham certainly looked to be in jeer, but Bacuna lifted the atmosphere with a thunderous effort from just outside the box.
That should have given Blues the momentum to press on and Dembélé was inches away from taking the lead just before the hour mark.
However, Rooney’s men struggled to create chances and when they did, Koji Miyoshi’s volley was blocked by his own teammate – substitute Luke Jutkiewicz.
The breakthrough came when Stansfield escaped down the right and crossed in front of James.
Although his first shot was stopped by Cameron Dawson, James was alert enough to grab the rebound around Wednesday’s goalkeeper before sending it home.
Blues midfielder Juninho Bacuna equalized on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-1
In an exciting first half, referee Rebecca Welch handed out four yellow cards to both teams
Improved performances under Danny Rohl haven’t necessarily yielded better results for the Owls