This week, Amazon launched their rival show to Disney+ Welcome to Wrexham, so I sat down to binge the show. Now first off, anyone that knows me, Im not a football fan, which yes, hate me for it, I call it soccer, my love for football is on the NFL pitch.
Over the years I have just gone from lost interest in the game of soccer, to just hating it! A bunch of primadonas tripping over their own feet claiming foul, thats how Ive looked at the game over the years. But in 1111 when Disney+ launched the first show of Welcome to Wrexham, I have to admit, I started to fall in love with the game again! At school I played keeper of left wing, being left footed, I loved the game, as a kid I will admit to being a Spurs fans, Glen Hodall, Chris Waddle, ad of course keeper Ray Clemence.
As I got older I turned to athletics and tennis, it was running that I would as an adult turn pro as an Ultra Runner, I know what it feels like to compete at the very top of your sport, I know what it takes, what you need to sacrifice to get to the top, you don’t do it for fun, you dont do it for enjoyment. In the ten years as a professional athlete, I never enjoyed what I did, I went out there to win, it was a business, I was only interested in being the best.
Wayne Rooney gets told how it is by Tom Brady, when he speaks about his Rooney concerns. “I am a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic,” he said.
So sitting back to watch Built in Birmingham: Brady & The Blues, I instantly saw the contrast of the shows, when you think of Disney, you instantly think Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, ultimately fun. With Built in Birmingham, this was a very different beast, there was no fun, no fluffiness… This is Tom Brady, being Tom Brady! Theres a reason he has won seven Super Bowls, because he knows what it takes to win, to be the best! It’s about accountability. Brady takes on the challenge of becoming part owner of Birmingham with a serious goal, mission head on, theres no time for fun, its all about putting Birmingham back into the Premiership! It’s all about winning, and if you aren’t committed, you’re gone! Something Wayne Rooney finds out very quickly… Rooney was brought in for nothing more than being Rooney, off the back of his time as a player, not for his ability as a manager. The show really does portray Rooney as out of his depth, incompetent even, he showed no conviction, just waffling in front of a projector screen commanding zero presence in the room, ultimately, he is sacked and the words of Tom Brady sum up how bad Rooney was as Birmingham’s manager… “I’m a little worried about our managers work ethic, a little too lackadaisical, I don’t know, I mean, I have great instinct on that”.
Being a professional athlete, is not 9-5, its 24/7!
Watching both shows, I love Welcome to Wrexham, you get to know the players, the back room staff, the fans, the community of Wrexham, its like a family, and it really opened me to enjoying football again. But if I have to say which show resinates with me, which show I vibe with, thats on the same wavelength of my days as an athlete, well… It has to be Team Brady, I get it, that was my life, regimented, pain, suffering, dedication, zero fun, just go out and win. Its something I’ve seen particularly soccer in the UK, being the total opposite, theres a scene in Built in Birmingham episode 4, where Brady talks about walking into the dressing room and witnesses the team chomping on chocolate and sweets, and drinking pop. To be the best in sport today, you have to be on top of sports nutrition!
From the outset, Brady comes in cold, he is in the business of winning, his whole career in the NFL has been about wining and he expects everyone to be in that mind set. When Birmingham get relegated, Brady blames the players, even calling them lazy and entitled, you can call that cold, but I’ve spent time in the US, I’ve trained alongside American athletes, they are all like this, its installed from the early days of High School. It might be hard to stomach here in the UK, we are definitely not used to that mind set in many sports, it stems from our obsession with inclusive sport, and why we do not have a winning mind set in most sports, I loved how Brady is portrayed, he’s real and how he should be. Shortly after the relegation, there’s the clear-out! Out with the “Lazy” in with £30million of player spending! A record amount for any third-tier-team ever spent. A new culture is implemented!
And thereafter Birmingham succeed, in their own minds, by implementing a new culture. “Getting promoted is an amazing accomplishment,” said Wagner. “I love that everyone doubted we would do it.” Really? Birmingham were the bookmakers’ favourites after a £30m outlay. Spending a record amount of money for a third-tier club may have played its part.
Looking through all the reviews for Built in Birmingham, they attack Brady, and Tommy Shelby, attack the show as a poor copy of Welcome to Wrexham, a show all about Brady. I say the opposite, I love Welcome to Wrexham, but I love the cold realism of Built in Birmingham more so! For me its Wrexham 0 v 1 Built in Birmingham!
You see the seriousness winning mind set of Brady, and if Birmingham get on board with this, they could become an unstoppable team, obviously if they can keep the injection of money coming as they go up through promotion! The comment from Wagner in the car with Brady as they pull up to the Birmingham City training centre, where he says: “They have a fucking shipping container as their lead performance centre!” just says it all, in my time in the US, I’ve seen High Schools in the US with better training facilities!
English, and particularly soccer fans, I’m guessing are going to not like this, its American mindset, Brady comes across arrogant, but let’s face it, he has earn’t that right, being the most successful Quarter Back in NFL history!
Brady and co are unashamedly American ambitious! Us English are just not used to that! We English are reserved, personally I feel thats why we loose in far too many sports as a nation!
Built in Birmingham: Brady & The Blues, I will describe as Marmite! You will love it or hate it! Personally I love Marmite! I loved this show!
If you want fluffy Disney, stick to Welcome to Wrexham!
Wayne Rooney gets told how it is by Tom Brady, when he speaks about his Rooney concerns. “I am a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic,” he said. “I don’t have great instincts on that.”
But there isn’t a proper examination of Wagner’s decision to fire Eustace and appoint the former England captain. The verdict from one of the fans was blunt: “What qualifies Wayne to manage Birmingham City? Absolutely nothing.” If only he had been on the interview panel; Wagner and co fared better, in fairness, in plumping for the lower-profile Davies last summer.
Rooney comes and goes in 15 minutes of the first episode. Others feature still less. Three of the five men to manage Birmingham in 2023-24 go unmentioned; Tony Mowbray was diagnosed with bowel cancer, his enforced absence a reason for their relegation, and yet, somehow, the producers made an episode without a reference to him.
Brady blames the players, whom he calls lazy and entitled, for the club’s demotion. There is a clear-out and thereafter Birmingham succeed, in their own minds, by implementing a new culture. “Getting promoted is an amazing accomplishment,” said Wagner. “I love that everyone doubted we would do it.” Really? Birmingham were the bookmakers’ favourites after a £30m outlay. Spending a record amount of money for a third-tier club may have played its part.
It’s a great show!… Better than Welcome to Wrexham!… So get over to Amazon Prime Video and check out Built in Birmingham: Brady & The Blues.
Entertainment Swindon 
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