HE WAS A GREAT PLAYER … BUT CAN HE BECOME A GREAT MANAGER?
He put the team first again, as he always did. the day Wayne Rooney moved into management permanently with Derby, he announced his time as a player was done.
From here, he will focus completely on his executive role and it is a big one.
there has been evidence of an upturn since Rooney became Derby’s caretaker manager, but the club still resides in the Championship’s bottom three and Rotherham, three points behind them, have two games in hand.
there may be bold new investors on the horizon but the team he inherits haven’t always been paid as the takeover proceeds, and the under 23s lost last week to Chorley in the FA Cup. It says much about Rooney that this is the challenge he wishes to take on, when there is good money to be made in America, or beyond.
Rooney had a very decent record at DC united — 25 goals in 52 games — but returned to play for Derby and take his first steps as a coach. In less than 18 months that has morphed into a manager’s role, meaning after 883 games and 366 goals we have finally seen the last of Rooney the player, both man and boy.
there will always be those who expected more from him, having scored one of the most memorable goals in premier League history at the age of 16, but who truly could live up to his start in the game? Not just his teenage street footballer persona at everton, but the impact he made on the world stage.
Rooney’s greatest international tournament was also his first — the 2004 european Championship — and his performances there drew comparisons with pele’s impact at the 1958 World Cup. He was only 18 and at the same age left everton for Manchester united.
We all know what followed — the Champions League, europa League and Club World Cup, five premier League titles, the FA Cup, three League Cups.
He is Manchester united’s all-time top goalscorer, england’s all-time top goalscorer, england’s all- time top goalscorer in competitive matches, england’s most capped outfield player, FWA Footballer of the Year, pFA players’ player of the Year, pFA Young player of the Year, twice.
to list the individual records would take a whole column. Nobody has scored more premier League goals for one club than Rooney, nobody has scored more away goals in the premier League than Rooney, nobody has reached double figures in more premier League seasons.
He is the second highest premier League goalscorer of all time, its third highest goal creator and the only player to score more than 200 goals and make over 100 assists.
put like that, it doesn’t sound too bad. Yet even this roll of honour isn’t the whole story. For Rooney’s career was also one of selflessness.
He played on the flank when Sir Alex Ferguson did not want to burden Cristiano Ronaldo with defensive duties, he could play No 10 or No 9 as the situation demanded. Ferguson recalled that if the team had injuries at, for instance, right back, Rooney invariably offered to provide the solution, appearing on the manager’s shoulder at the end of training.
‘You need a right back? I can play right back. I’m a good right back.’
And he was a much smarter presence on the field than was acknowledged. Not the quickest learner, according to Ferguson, but his instincts were unsurpassed.
‘the toughest I played against,’ said former Chelsea goalkeeper petr Cech. ‘I had to make sure I was aware every time he had the ball because he was very unpredictable and very clever. He could chase, he could fight, he could run, he was clever with his shot.
‘He could score from the halfway line, he would try to chip you if you were too high (up the pitch). It was always a challenge.’
Is there such a thing as an instinctive manager, though? this is what Derby are going to find out. this is a very different job to the one Frank Lampard took on at pride park in 2018. that was before the season began, 24 teams starting level. Rooney’s Derby are very
much not level and the consequences if he fails to steer them from the bottom three are ruinous, with or without a takeover.
League one now operates under a £2.5million annual salary cap, averaging £1,700 per player per week. This does not apply to existing contracts — if a player currently earns £3,000 a week, only £1,700 will count — but all new contracts must conform.
The investment of Derby’s potential new owners will be rendered pretty worthless by a tumble into League one.
No matter the international pull of a marquee name — and rooney is going to attract a lot more global attention than the traditional management firefighter, a Neil Warnock figure — this is a huge gamble by Derby, hoping a novice can move them up the table.
New managers require time but Derby haven’t got time. Some need patience and indulgence, too, but Derby cannot afford those either.
They must hope that the green shoots of a 2-0 win over promotionchasing Swansea and a 4-0 victory at Birmingham under rooney continue to grow. That growth must be seen today, when Derby host rotherham in a match that would see the teams swap positions in the event of an away win.
And so it begins, rooney’s leap into the deep end.
‘Being a player-manager was impossible, it was too much,’ he said. ‘I know people have done it but I had to play or manage, I couldn’t do both. So this moment has been coming. I have come to terms with that.
‘It is what I want to do. I am ready. It’s a big moment for me and the club.’
He sounded happy, decided and optimistic. of course, they all start out like that.