Former Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney has said Tom Brady’s criticism about his work ethic was “unfair.”

NFL legend Brady, who is also a part-owner of Birmingham, said he was “worried about [Rooney’s] work ethic” in a recent Amazon Prime documentary about the club.

Rooney was appointed Birmingham manager in October 2023 before he was sacked in January 2024 following a poor run of results.

The documentary showed the pair meeting for the first time, before Rooney held a team meeting with the players, watched on by Brady, after which the American star highlighted his concerns about the coach.

“I think Tom came in once, which was the day before a game where the days are a little bit lighter anyway, and I don’t think he really understood football that well,” Rooney said on his BBC podcast “The Wayne Rooney Show.”

“But what he does understand is, he’s a hard worker, we know that.”

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady became a minority owner of Birmingham in August 2023 following Knighthead Capital Management LLC and American financier Tom Wagner’s takeover of the club.

“Football is not NFL; NFL works for three months a year. Players do need rest as well, so I think he’s very unfair, the way he’s come out and portrayed that,” Rooney added.

The former England and Manchester United forward took over from John Eustace, who was sacked by Birmingham with the club in contention for promotion to the Premier League.

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They were eventually relegated to League One at the end of the season.

“Listen, I respect Tom Brady massively,” Rooney said.

“He’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest athletes of all time and Birmingham do look like they’re getting it right now, which is good and I think what they have done is got the players out that they needed to get out.”