Spotted: Wayne Rooney lashes out with pitch-side rage after what Daniel James did for Leeds United v Birmingham City

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Published on:

01 Jan 2024, 12:40 pm

Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney kicked out after Daniel James doubled the lead for Leeds United, according to pundit Aidy White.

James fired home for Leeds in Saturday's (1 January) 3-0 win at Elland Road, with Patrick Bamford and Crysencio Summerville scoring either side.

Former Leeds defender White, who was covering the game as a pundit for BBC Radio Leeds, shared details on how Rooney reacted to James' goal.

"Leeds capitalised on a sloppy Birmingham mistake," he said, as per BBC Sport's live blog [1 January, 03:50pm].

"I saw Wayne Rooney kick something - he must be so frustrated. Going in 2-0 down rather than 1-0 down is a lot different."

Poor

As a reminder, Birmingham City were sixth in the Championship when Wayne Rooney was appointed on 11 October.

Now, just under 12 weeks on, the Blues are down in 20th place and looking nervously over their shoulder at the relegation zone.

Birmingham looked poor against Leeds, with James taking full advantage when he scored late in the first half to basically kill off the contest.

It is clear to see why Rooney was so frustrated with his players as they were more than in the contest with just the one goal between the sides.

Exactly what the England playing legend booted was not clear to see, but it was likely a water bottle.

This match could have potentially been a banana skin for Leeds, but they navigated the fixture with ease to get back to winning ways.

An ideal start to 2024 for the Whites, then, while the less said about Birmingham's current form the better.

In other Leeds United news, Andy Goldstein named the Whites after being asked a "ridiculous" string of questions live on talkSPORT.

Leeds United

Birmingham City

Wayne Rooney

Aidan White