A shock announcement on Thursday afternoon confirmed that Garry Cook has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Birmingham City. The 62-year-old from Acocks Green had been CEO since the Knighthead takeover in July 2023 and remains as both a member of the Club’s Advisory Committee and as trustee of the Birmingham City Foundation.
After multiple years of circling the plughole, on Saturday afternoon it finally came. Despite winning against Norwich, Blues found themselves relegated after every one of their rivals also pulled a last day win out of the bag. What should have been a summer of excitement for the future ahead has for now become one of suffering brickbats in the media.
There are times when I wonder to myself why I put myself through the pain of being a Blues fan. Wednesday night in particular had me scratching my head as to why I let the results of a football team affect my mood so much and why I invest so much emotion in them.
Tuesday night saw Birmingham City hold their second Open House event which carried the theme of “Ambition”. The event was an opportunity for Chairman Tom Wagner and CEO Garry Cook to share plans for the club over the next five or six seasons including the outline of the move to the Birmingham Wheels Site.
After having threatened to do so for a few weeks, Birmingham City finally fell into the bottom three of the Championship following a 2-1 defeat away to Leicester. A late Leicester winner coupled with an injury time winner for Huddersfield conspired to ensure Blues now lie in 22nd place, one point from safety.
As Birmingham City enter the March break it feels almost a miracle that they remain outside of the relegation zone. A horror show of an error from Emanuel Aiwu gave away the only goal of the game in a 1-0 defeat to Watford on Saturday, and Blues only remain outside the bottom three due to Huddersfield’s failure to get more than a goalless draw out of bottom club Rotherham.
New Year, same old Blues. A 3-0 defeat away to Leeds on New Year’s Day was evidently the straw that broke the camel’s back for Tom Wagner and Knighthead, with Wayne Rooney receiving his marching orders less than 24 hours later. Blues now seek their tenth permanent manager in just over seven years, as once again the R word hangs in the air like a bad smell.
It’s been a couple of days since the Blues Open House event was held and much has been shared online by various attendees. The event appears to have been a success and the general mood online has been one of happiness with what has been achieved so far and excitement for what is to come in the future.
On Monday evening Birmingham City held their inaugural “Open House” session, outlining future strategy to more than 100 fans present. Various senior management staff gave talks on how departments were looking to progress following the takeover by Knighthead, while Club Chairman Tom Wagner and Garry Cook also gave keynote speeches.
Another weekend, another defeat. Saturday saw Blues lose 3-1 away to Sunderland, pushing the club down to the familiar situation of 18th place in the table. As to be expected, the reaction online has become ever more toxic with more fans insisting that Wayne Rooney and even Blues CEO Garry Cook must go.
