Management only goal now for Wayne

WAYNE Rooney officially hung up his boots when he was appointed manager of Derby County in January.

Six wins in a run of eight games lifted the Rams away from the relegation dogfight and up to 15th before a hugely-disappointing and worrying sequence of one win in 15 matches left them to escape relegation by the skin of their teeth.

During the struggle for points Rooney seemed to be asked in each pre-match and post-match press conference if he had considered putting his boots back on to help the team.

He started by politely answering the constant line of questioning with a ‘no’ and explaining why.

“My future is in management. I’ve had a great career with a few ups and a few downs but I wouldn’t change anything. But now, I’d like to write some history in my managerial career,” he said.

“My whole life has been playing football, so I’m fortunate that I’m still part of it. It’s a new chapter for me. Will I miss playing? Of course. But, time doesn’t stop. I’ve had my time, it’s time for the younger generation to have their time and for me to guide them.”

However, the question became a predictable item on the agenda of press conferences and while Rooney continued to answer it in the same calm and polite manner, you could sense by his wry smile that he would much rather talk about Rooney the manager than Rooney the player.

Now Rooney’s former England team-mate Micah Richards has suggested Rooney ‘pull his boots on again’ and become player-manager, believing that would give the club a lift in what could be a difficult season.

“How does he get his team moving forward? If I was in his shoes, I know what I’d do. I’d pick myself,” Richards said in his column for MailOnline. “Wayne might be out of condition but are you telling me he wouldn’t be the best player in Derby’s team? Imagine the lift he would give to those around him if he pulled his boots on again.”

Rooney enjoyed a glittering playing career at the highest level and his impact on the Derby team when he arrived as player-coach was evident. In his first 15 League appearances he helped the Rams collect 28 points from eight wins and four draws to place them on the fringe of the Championship play-offs before four consecutive defeat halted their climb.

His form, along with that of the team, fell away and Derby struggled in the opening months of last season before manager Phillip Cocu departed by mutual agreement.

Would Rooney, at 35, still have the ability, the football brain, the know-how to play now? Absolutely he would, just look at Phil Jagielka at 39 and 36-year-old Curtis Davies but Rooney has made it crystal clear he is now a manager and that is where his focus lies.

Richards is spot on when he says Rooney has “got something burning inside him that says he has to win or be the best at whatever he does”.

He has had a tough baptism in management as uncertainty has surrounded the club and a transfer embargo has hampered his plans to rebuild and reshape the squad throughout pre-season and in the early weeks of the new campaign.

But when you speak to him, you see and hear the drive and determination he has to be a success as a manager.

So let him get on with being a manager and drop the talk of digging out his boots again.