ROO CAN BE A TOP BOSS
PREMIER LEAGUE Roy wants to see big stars as managers Sam ultimatum to players
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CRYSTAL PALACE boss Roy Hodgson reckons Wayne Rooney would be a huge hit as a manager.
But the former England chief warned of the risk of a brain drain of ex-players from the game.
Everton striker Rooney, 32, has declared his intention to move into management when he hangs up his boots, with his long-term ambition to take charge at Goodison Park.
Hodgson has no doubts that his former Three Lions skipper has got what it takes to succeed.
And with Steven Gerrard working at Liverpool’s academy, the Eagles boss wants to see more legends take up the tracksuit.
Stars
Hodgson, who will be reunited with Rooney when Palace travel to Everton today, said: “You have got to hope English football is telling people like Wayne, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry – to name four stars I worked with during my England time – to stay in football.
“We want them to be managers and coaches. Gary Neville was an excellent coach and I would like to see him back on the training field.
“These guys have got a lot to offer and it’s good, if you like, to take on the challenge of doing it, because they’ll have a lot of other opportunities.
“So they will have to choose between those and putting themselves in this cauldron, where success is by no means guaranteed and criticism is waiting to be piled on at any moment.
“Hopefully they will take on that route, as the younger players they take on will benefit enormously from their knowledge and experience.”
Discussing what Rooney could bring to the dugout, Hodgson added: “Wayne can inspire players.
“For someone with his record – his number of caps and goals for England and everything that he’s done in the game – it’s enough for him to walk on the field in a training kit to inspire people.
“I don’t know how far down the ® road he has gone in terms of him taking his badges.
“But when he gets those badges and gets his manager or coaching job, I am sure he will do a very good job because he is a top-class football guy.”
Palace’s survival battle has been hit by a knee injury to Wilfried Zaha that will keep the winger out for around six weeks, but Hodgson rejects suggestions the Eagles are a one-man team.
He said: “I’d find it a lot more insulting if I was a player than a manager.
“I just think it’s a stupid comment and a comment from people who obviously don’t realise what playing at Premier League level in a football team is
about.”