'Happy Bank Holiday' – Aston Villa legend Gabby Agbonlahor posts video to rub salt in Birmingham wounds

04/05/2024 18:26

Gabby Agbonlahor couldn’t resist poking fun at Birmingham City by popping open a bottle of champagne after their relegation from the Championship.

The Blues will be playing League One football for the first time in 29 years after suffering the drop with Huddersfield and Rotherham.

Birmingham endured one heck of a collapse after sitting sixth when the club’s hierarchy opted to replace John Eustace with Wayne Rooney as head coach.

Lasting just 15 games, Birmingham’s season then went into free-fall with the club ultimately falling short in their hopes of preserving their second-tier status.

Birmingham’s fierce rivals, Aston Villa, may be waiting a long time to face the Blues in the league given the gulf in class between the two sides, but that didn’t stop Agbonlahor from taking aim.

The Villa legend and talkSPORT host was waiting at talkSPORT Towers to start his Gameday Phone-In show alongside Jamie O’Hara when he decided to post a video on social media.

Sitting at a desk, Agbonlahor pulled out a bottle of champagne before popping the cork and having a celebratory sip.

Captioning the video, the ex-forward cheekily wrote: Happy bank holiday everyone!”

Agbonlahor wasn’t the only former Villan to celebrate Birmingham’s plight though.

Former Villa star Barry Bannan led his current club Sheffield Wednesday to survival in the Championship relegation battle and took aim at the Blues on social media.

Writing on X, Bannan wrote: “Anyone out in bham tonight?” with three laughing emojis.

Birmingham did manage to beat Norwich 1-0 on the final day but it wasn’t enough as Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn all won.

Speaking afterwards, interim boss Gary Rowett, who is deputising for Tony Mowbray during the permanent manager’s medical leave, was defiant about the club’s future.

He said: “There are some players that it would be great if they had the responsibility to say, ‘I’m going to stay to get this club back into the Championship’.

“I think sometimes it’s easy for people to look at the exit door and look for the easy way out.

“Maybe that’s something players need to look at.

“Hopefully Tony comes back to get the club back into the Championship.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity if they make the right steps and do it the right way, I believe.”