ROO CAN FIND A LITTLE BIT MOOR
ADAM ROONEY is on a mission. Having fired Salford City into the Promised Land of the Football League he is now looking to do it all over again with Solihull Moors.
And although a combination of injury and Covid has seen limited game time for the 32-year-old striker, he believes he has seen enough to convince him that the Midlands club have got what it takes to make the step up.
“I came here last season with the hope of getting the club into League Two like when I went to Salford,” Rooney explained to The NLP. “That was my aim then because the club had never been up there and we managed to do that.
“I see this as a very similar scenario – the owners are very ambitious and want to get the club into the Football League along with developing the community side of things.
“It’s a big project but there’s more than enough belief and ability within the club to go and do it.
Consistency
“To be honest, there’s not a great deal of difference between the standard of players in the two leagues. You can see over the years that a number of teams have gone up from this division and kicked on into League One or finished high up in League Two. We certainly have the quality, we just need a bit of consistency.
“To be ambitious and get up the leagues you need to invest money – it’s very difficult to do it without. But you also need the right infrastructure and Solihull are doing that.
“The training ground is brilliant for the level and better than at clubs I’ve been at in the past. There are a lot of clubs in this division spending money and who have done in the past but it’s not as simple as that – you also need the right people with the right desire.
“You want to finish your career with good memories and there’s nothing better than being successful at clubs. I’ll always remember winning the League Cup with Aberdeen and getting promoted with Salford – they’re the memories you want and hopefully there’s a couple more to come with Solihull.”
It has been a tough time on the field for Rooney with a niggling hamstring injury keeping him on the sidelines. And while the Dubliner has started looking at coaching, he is quick to stress he has no plans to hang up the boots just yet.
Badges
“I was out for six or seven weeks at the start of the season and then, first game back, the hamstring went again so it’s been frustrating,” said Rooney, who scored in Tuesday night’s 3-1 win at Aldershot Town.
“I’ve never been caught out like this before and I think it’s down to the times we’re in. Off the back of the long Covid break you then have a congested season with a lot of games in a short space of time. Strangely enough, I’ve missed four months through injury but only about a third of the games!
“With the way things are, I thought there was no better time to start doing my coaching badges so I’ve made a start but that’s for the future. I still see myself playing for another four or five years.
“I’ve never been overly quick so I haven’t got much pace to lose so hopefully that will hold me in good stead.”