Championship

JOBE BELLINGHAM will follow his brother  Jude  into  the  England  team.There is no doubt the Real Madrid superstar’s younger sibling will make it to the top of the game.
Jobe Bellingham has been a revelation for SunderlandCredit: Getty
Jude Bellingham is already one of England’s best playersCredit: Getty
And it will not be long until we see only the third set of brothers since the Second World War to play together for the Three Lions.
Jobe’s performances this season for Sunderland have been nothing short of scintillating — he is the best young player in the entire EFL.
Bellingham has been key to the Black Cats’ superb start to the season. It’s only because of the  phenomenal brilliance of Jude that Jobe has gone under the radar in comparison.
Both players made their senior debut for Birmingham while they were 16.
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Jude went on to establish himself as a first-team regular in his first season, clocking 44 appearances, virtually unprecedented for a 16-year-old.
But Jobe also went on to cement his place in the Brum side last term, his second as a pro, with 23 appearances — pretty good for a 17-year-old.
And it is unbelievable that Birmingham went on to sell him for just £1.5million in the summer to Sunderland.
Already he has gone on to become one of the first names on Tony Mowbray’s team sheet by playing in all 12 of the Black Cats’ games so far.
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Bellingham — barring injuries — should get a full season of Championship games under his belt at the Stadium of Light and he only turned 18 last month.
He is 18 months behind where his brother was — but already Premier League clubs are sending scouts to the north east to check him out.
His performance for the England Under-19s against Montenegro on Thursday was impressive.
He pretty much ran the Young Lions’ midfield during their Euro qualifier in Podgorica, which they won 2-0.
Surely Lee Carsley needs to promote him to the England Under-21 squad because he is far too good for Under-19 level.
That in itself is scary when you think he only made his Under-19 debut last month!
But it should come as no surprise. Although Jobe does not like to be compared to his brother, which is understandable, he is equally as mature beyond his years.
The younger Bellingham brother recently starred for England’s Under-19sCredit: Rex
He has performed a number of different roles for Sunderland alreadyCredit: Reuters
His attitude to training, his confidence around the Sunderland squad and his intelligence, both as a footballer and a person, are said to be second to none.
One Black Cats player told me you would not know he was 18 — just like you would never think Jude is just 20.
Boss Mowbray says he even wants to win every small-sided game at the training ground.
One of the great things about Jobe is his versatility. He has already played a number of roles for Mowbray.
Often he was the team’s most advanced player when they did not have a senior striker early in the season and notched a couple of goals.
But he has now dropped back into a deeper midfield role, where he has been first class.
Jobe is clearly driven like his brother and has a plan to follow him to the top, which is demanding excellence from everything he does.
But he wants to do it at his own pace and in his own way.
And you can see an example of that with the name he wears on the back of his shirt.
Rather than Bellingham, he has Jobe emblazoned across the top of it because he wants his own identity.
He does not want to be known as Bellingham 2.0.
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If Jobe continues on his current trajectory he will be a Premier League player by the age of 20 and surely an England international within a year or two of that.
And in doing so, the Bellinghams could become the 15th set of brothers to play together for England in 151 years — following in the footsteps of the Nevilles and Charltons.
Jack, left, and Bobby Charlton, right, both starred for EnglandCredit: Getty More

THERE are plenty of people with Birmingham City at heart who are suffering mixed emotions this week — me included.We are gutted that an excellent manager — John Eustace — has been unjustly sacked.
Wayne Rooney has been appointed Birmingham City managerCredit: PA
Yet we are equally excited about what the appointment of Wayne Rooney means for the future of the club.
There are many Blues players who are very disappointed that John has been dismissed because he is a genuinely great bloke who worked wonders as manager and created a ‘no excuses’ culture at a club where there were thousands of excuses for failure last season.
If people knew everything that was going on there, it would blow their minds.
John is a friend of mine. He was my manager at Blues last season and was a former team-mate at Watford.
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I know that being sacked in these circumstances is a tough pill for him to swallow.
The last thing he’d want is sympathy — but the whole of football knows what a great job he did.
He left with Birmingham in the Championship play-off places and his stock could hardly be higher.
I’d like to see Rangers offer him their vacant manager’s job.
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John Eustace was sacked by Birmingham this weekCredit: Getty
But if he doesn’t end up at Ibrox, I’m certain he will have a decent offer from another Championship club before too long.
But as soon as Blues were taken over by their new American owners, Knighthead Capital Management, you suspected that they would bring in their own manager sooner or later.
And suddenly, there are two all-time greats of English football in the Birmingham dressing room — Rooney and his assistant Ashley Cole.
And this, just weeks after legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady joined the board in a hands-on role, which has seen him helping the club with nutrition and fitness.
It’s hardly recognisable from the club I spent the last two seasons at — where half of the St Andrew’s stadium was closed and the training ground was in disrepair too.
The club have been through s***-show after s***-show for more than a decade but suddenly they are headed in an upwards direction.
I can’t pretend that I don’t feel a little bitter that I’m not involved, as a lifelong supporter of the club and having worked there through some bad times.
It’s difficult to rate Rooney’s managerial career so far — he had a lot of goodwill on his side when he bossed Derby and he impressed people by almost avoiding relegation at Pride Park despite a huge points deduction.
Troy Deeney played under Eustace at BirminghamCredit: Getty
He has spent the last year or so in the MLS with Washington-based DC United, with limited success.
But I think this is the perfect job for him — at a club which is full of positivity, with ambitious new owners and with a team which John has left in very good shape.
If he wins promotion, he will have earned a Premier League job by right as a manager, not because of his name as a great player.
He will attract good players to the club and give it a higher profile.
When a former playing legend walks into the dressing room as manager, players will instantly respect him and give him a longer grace period — but in time he will have to prove himself to his squad, just like any other boss.
Blues fans will remember 2016, when Gary Rowett was sacked, with the club seventh in the Championship, and replaced by Gianfranco Zola.
That change went completely pear-shaped, so there are no guarantees.
But having said that, if I was still a Blues player, I would be treating this move as an almighty kick up the backside.
Birmingham are currently sixth in the ChampionshipCredit: Reuters
Those players will be thinking ‘I want to make sure I’m here for the good times because this club is really going places’.
I love the appointment of Cole. He’s an excellent hands-on coach who has just enjoyed success at the European Under-21 Championships with England as assistant to Lee Carsley.
That could open up the possibility of some great loan moves, as will Wayne’s links with Manchester United and Everton.
John O’Shea, who also had a fine career at Old Trafford and elsewhere, is also part of the coaching set-up.
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Birmingham City is a club on an upward trajectory at last.
But I also believe that John Eustace has a huge future in management to look forward to. More

THE daughter of former Southampton owner Markus Liebherr has revealed that her family had no idea how to run a football club when he took over.Swiss businessman Liebherr bought Southampton back in 2009, but tragically died of a heart attack the following year.
Markus Liebherr bought Southampton in 2009, but passed away in 2010Credit: Getty
Katharina Liebherr took over as the owner in 2010, even though she was completely new to the job and sportCredit: PA:Press Association
Katharina (L) is now married to Mustafa Chaban (R)Credit: Katharina Liebherr, Mustafa Chaban/CEN
His daughter, Katharina Liebherr, inherited the club and his £3billion fortune when he passed away.
However, she had no experience in running a football club – nor did anybody in her family.
Katharina said: “It was a shock when my father bought Southampton FC! As a family, we had no experience in this industry.
“He bought the club in 2009 and died in 2010. I have never seen him as happy as he was this year. Even though he wasn’t allowed to witness any of our ascents, he still fulfilled his lifelong dream.”
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Speaking about her father’s death, she added: “Those were dramatic days. When his death was announced, the next day there was a sea of flowers and football jerseys with his name in front of the stadium.
“It was an incredible experience to see how respected he was there. It shows that he did a lot of things right in the year he was there.
“The club would no longer exist without him. He dared the adventure and took the risk. He acted very quickly.
“And, very important to him, he immediately took over all of Southampton’s outstanding invoices to ensure that no small company anywhere could get into financial difficulties when the club was threatened with insolvency.
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Chaban is the head of the Dior branch in Zurich, SwitzerlandCredit: @chabanwasim/CEN
“And I will never forget the reaction of people. People who didn’t actually know him mourned for him.
“The people and the staff who hugged me with tears in their eyes – that’s what tied me to Southampton forever.”
Having never worked in football before, let alone been put in charge of a club, Katharina faced scepticism from thousands of fans.
Speaking about her experience, she explained: “I had stayed very much in the background the year before. The fans didn’t know what to expect.
“I was okay with the fact that I had to prove myself first. I think the most important thing is to accept that you don’t know anything about football unless you’ve been on the pitch for 30 years.
“You have to know what you can do and what you can’t do.”
Katharina remained the owner of Southampton until 2017, when she sold an 80 per cent stake to Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng.
The Swiss businesswoman has since admitted that she made the decision to sell up to prepare for “worse times”.
She said: “You need a lot of capital. Especially in the Premier League. The heights aren’t really a problem.
“With Ronald Koeman as coach and Ralph Krueger as chairman, we reached 6th place, and things went very well during the time that I was the sole owner.
“But it is important to prepare for worse times. We were looking for partners for this.
“My concern was always to find someone to whom I could pass the club into good hands.
“I always wanted to stay there, but above all because I have a strong emotional bond with the employees and can build a bridge to a new owner.
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“Mr Gao had similar values to my father. His daughter is the same age as me and she was also at the wedding. That would actually have been a good solution.”
Katharina is now married to Mustafa Chaban, the head of the Dior branch in Zurich, Switzerland. More

WAYNE ROONEY rocked up for training at 7am on his first day as Birmingham City boss and a security guard asked him: Who are you?The former England captain turned down several job offers – including a moneybags proposal from a Saudi Arabian outfit – to take over at the Championship club following the sacking of John Eustace.
Wayne Rooney has revealed the security guard didn’t know who he was when he arrived at Birmingham’s training groundCredit: Getty
The England legend was appointed as Birmingham manager on WednesdayCredit: PA
Rooney has not been able to sleep properly in recent days due to jetlag after flying back to the UK when he left his role last week with DC United in Washington.
And he decided to get to the training ground HQ before sunrise to begin work after signing a three-and-a-half year deal with the Blues.
Asked what surprised staff said when their new manager arrived so early, Rooney replied: “I don’t think he knew who it was!
“I couldn’t sleep! But I think it’s important as a manager, you set examples to the staff.
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“You want to be in, you want to be there, ready. There’s a lot of preparation as well that goes into the job.
“That’s part of the role and that’s something I’ve always done – get in early and make sure preparations are right.”
At the age of 37, this will be Rooney’s third managerial role, following a financial disaster with Derby County and then a poor display at the helm of MLS side DC United.
Garry Cook used to run the Saudi Pro League before becoming Birmingham CEO in June following the takeover by a US consortium at St Andrew’s.
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But during his time in the Middle East, Cook says he spoke with the ex-Manchester United forward about potentially moving to the oil-rich nation.
Rooney said: “This is no disrespect to any of the managers who have gone out there by the way.
“But for me, I felt my development, my pathway was a different way.
“For myself firstly to get back into English football is great. It’s what I’ve wanted to do.
“I’ve had opportunities over the last four to six weeks at other clubs as well to do that.
“But I think since speaking to Birmingham and seeing the ambitions of the club, where they want to go, where they want to get to, it excited me.
“I want to be successful. It’s clear this club wants to be successful and everything we spoke about really was very similar.
“It’s an exciting time and I’m delighted to be a part of it.
“I’m sure I will have a few sleepless nights. That’s part of the job. That’s probably why I’ve aged about ten years in the past two years.”
Rooney revealed he has barely slept since leaving Washington due to jet lagCredit: Reuters More

BIRMINGHAM CITY’S new manager Wayne Rooney revealed he had other offers before taking over at St Andrew’s.Rooney was announced as John Eustace’s replacement on Wednesday after leaving DC United.
🗣️ “The goal is to get this club back in the Premier League.”Wayne Rooney speaks for the first time as Birmingham City manager 🔵 pic.twitter.com/lkmDWbo0hp— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 12, 2023

Wayne Rooney had other offers before taking over at Birmingham CityCredit: Getty
And the Manchester United legend confirmed he was also approached by other clubs looking to snatch his signature.
However, the former Derby boss opted for the Blues because of their “exciting” ambitions.
Rooney said during his first press conference: “For myself, firstly to get back into English football is great.
“It’s obviously what I’ve wanted to do and to be honest I’ve had opportunities over the last four to six weeks at other clubs as well to do that.
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“But, thing is, speaking to Birmingham and seeing the ambitions of the club where they want to go to, where they want to get to excited me.
“I want to be successful, it’s clear that the club want to be successful. It was a very easy decision once I’d spoke to them.
“I’m coming into the club and I’m just really excited to get going. I’m happy to be back, bit jet lagged still…
“But just excited to get going and I’m really looking forward to the next game because we have work to do and my first training session with the players will be a bit different to what they’re used to.
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“But it’s an exciting time and I’m delighted to be a part of that.”
Birmingham co-owner and NFL legend Tom Brady had been in regular talks with Rooney over the position in the last few weeks.
The 37-year-old has brought in Ashley Cole and former United team-mate John O’Shea as coaches. More