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Farewell Gary

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Luke Turner reacts to the last 24 hours…

Almost 24 hours on and I’m still seething at the decision to sack Gary Rowett and replace him just hours later with Gianfranco Zola.

I’ll be honest, at first, when I first saw the tweet from Blues announcing that they had ‘parted company` with Rowett, I thought it was a fake account or that someone had hacked into it and wanted a bit of fun.

But no, it was all true. I was, and still am, completely shell shocked and can’t quite get my head around the situation.

Rowett has turned our club from being in a relegation fight to being play-off contenders within the space of a couple of years.

This ludicrous decision to sack him and his backroom staff is one that I don’t think I’ll ever agree with or even properly understand because, at this present moment, we sit 8th in the Championship and just three points off third place.

The fact that we’ve sacked one of the brightest, young English managers for no real reason is beyond belief and I still feel like we need answers from Trillion Trophy Asia.

I get that it’s them in charge of the club and they make the decisions but no one could foresee this coming.

This current team has an identity that has been built over the past two years under Rowett. Hard work, organisation and team spirit with a sprinkle of quality are the traits of a Gary Rowett side.

In the statement on the club website, it mentioned that “new owners Trillion Trophy Asia Limited (TTAL) remains determined to lead the Club to a bright and exciting future.”

Well, I’m sorry but Rowett was the ‘bright and exciting` future and he’s the best thing that’s happened to this club over the past few years.

Panos Pavlakis is also quoted to saying: “in football you can never stand still.”

Quite ironic given that we were moving forward with Rowett in charge. I’m not blaming Panos, by the way. He’s done so much to help this club get back on track and I’m guessing this wasn’t his choice.

The way Rowett has been treated, though, is disgraceful. To sack a manager for no apparent reason and appoint his successor hours later is wrong.

Some may say that the club have done well to act quickly but this has obviously been in the pipeline for a few weeks which angers me even more.

Zola has now come into the club and will immediately be under pressure to prove to the fans that TTA have made the right choice.

His track record doesn’t really bode well and it does seem that the board have appointed him because of who he is.

Of course, it’s not Zola`s fault that he’s come into the club this way but it’s just the way it is. I’ll support him but I am, by no means, happy at all.
Rowett was adored by both the players and fans. There was a connection at the club that hadn`t been there for some time.

The reaction from some of the players on social media just showed how strong the bond between them and Rowett was. They must’ve believed that he was the right man to take us forward.

Rowett brought the feel good factor to St Andrews and I want to thank him for everything he has done since arriving back at the club.

All that hard work he and his backroom staff have done at the club has been thrown straight back at them.

There’s no way he should even be out of the job so the fact that I am even sitting here writing about this makes my blood boil.

I imagine that Zola is going to completely change the dynamics of the team and I’m seriously worried that some players, who have done so much for us and play a key part currently, will be moved on.

I don’t suspect we`ll be seeing David Davis occupy a wide midfield any longer.

If Rowett was ever going to move on from Blues I expected it to be for bigger and better things, not this way.

The toughest thing for us all now is trying to move on from the past and continuing to support the team.

It will be interesting to see how the players perform on Saturday against Brighton and what the atmosphere is like at St Andrews.

I anticipate that Rowett`s name will be sung numerous times and rightly so given the job he’s done for us.

All that’s really left to say is that I wish Gary Rowett all the best for wherever his career takes him now. He is surely destined for the Premier League and he`ll probably even reach it before Blues.

The memories made over the past two and bit years will last a lifetime and we’ve had some amazing moments under Rowett`s guidance.

The Gianfranco Zola era better turn out to be successful because, if it isn’t, I’ll be even more livid than I am at the moment.

Thanks again, Gary. You’ve been great.

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