Wayne Rooney is already in a 'last chance saloon' following Birmingham's decision to appoint the 37-year-old as manager earlier this week.
That's the view of former Liverpool star Graeme Souness, who believes Tom Brady and the rest of the Blues board have taken a major risk by hiring the ex-England skipper.
John Eustace was popular at Birmingham and has guided the club to sixth in the Championship table so far.
But Birmingham have opted to gamble by bringing in Rooney, who has previously managed Derby County and DC United.
Birmingham opted to sack John Eustace and replace him with Wayne Rooney earlier this week
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As a player, Rooney became a legend.
He mesmerised as a youngster for Everton and Manchester United, while also returning to Goodison Park and having spells at DC United and Derby prior to his retirement in 2021.
Yet Souness, writing for the Daily Mail, already thinks Rooney faces a fight to salvage a career in management.
"Wayne Rooney has not been awarded the Birmingham job on the strength of what he’s achieved in his coaching career so far," he wrote.
"He was a truly great player and there’s still time for him to become a great manager.
"But he is now in charge at St Andrew’s because he has 63 million followers across all social media platforms.
"That’s the football world we’re in, with the power of social media.
"That’s also what appealed to Birmingham’s new American owners, who have made a commercial decision, rather than a footballing one - just when the club looked to be getting their act together, for the first time in years. Wayne’s predecessor John Eustace paid the price of the new way of running football clubs.
"Wayne will be aware of the risks attached to this job.
"I view this as a last chance saloon moment for him in management, given that he has a win rate of 27.5 per cent spanning his time in charge at Derby County and DC United."
Souness does think, however, that Rooney can tap into the knowledge of Sir Alex Ferguson in order to be successful.
He spent nine years playing under the iconic Scot, who is regarded as one of the best managers in football history.
Rooney and Ferguson didn't always have a smooth relationship, with the former striker asking to leave United twice during their years working together.
But Souness thinks a bit of Fergie may have rubbed off on his former striker.
He added: "His 13 years working under Fergie at Manchester United will have taught him an immense amount.
"I don’t subscribe to the view that he will need to bring great tactical nous.
"I know what Fergie’s attitude was to that. He didn’t like to complicate things - and didn’t do so badly.
"Wayne was exposed to a creed of management which was about assembling a super group of footballers who were aggressive and worked their socks off as a collective.
"Put all those ingredients together and you will rarely get beaten. I discovered the same under Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Ronnie Moran at Liverpool.
"Wayne obviously knows what’s needed to be successful and win matches, but he has not yet managed to transfer that into the players he’s worked with.
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Graeme Souness thinks Wayne Rooney is already in 'last chance saloon' after Birmingham appointment
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"It can be tough making the transition from player to manager.
"You can accept that people have got different degrees of ability to yours.
"But it’s harder to accept them not having the attitude that ‘this is the most important thing in my life for the next 90 minutes.’
"Wayne was a warrior. Not every player he manages will be.
"He obviously wants to be a successful manager because he took himself off to America, sacrificing seeing his kids every single day of the year, which any young father would want.
"Promotion to the Premier League is certainly not out of the question for Birmingham this season but there is so much luck involved in management. Right time, right place. I wish him well."