Can Wayne Rooney save Derby from relegation to League One?

This Wayne Rooney feature first appeared in the April 2021 issue of FourFourTwo magazine. Subscribe now!

Manchester United and England’s record goalscorer smiled for the cameras. Unveiled as a manager for the very first time, he had just taken charge of a historic club in the second tier, hoping to return them to former glories.

Bobby Charlton was 35, but things didn’t go very well: within a year, Preston North End were relegated to the Third Division. Unable to seal promotion the following year, he resigned in a huff, unhappy when one of his key players was sold without his consent.

It would be Charlton’s only permanent managerial role, as he became the example in any argument about the best players not always making great bosses.

Now, Manchester United and England’s record goalscorer is Wayne Rooney. He, too, was 35 in making his first dugout steps with Championship side Derby. “It’s a big chance for me to try to lead this club back to the glory days,” he proclaimed, after being given the Rams job permanently in January.

Early in his two-month caretaker stint, some had doubts whether he was the right choice. 

“If Derby want to get themselves relegated, then appoint Wayne Rooney,” rent-a-gob ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan declared. “They’re bottom of the league and he’s never managed before. It’s too risky.”

But Wazza was determined: for years, he’d known what was ahead. 

“I’d like to do it,” he said as far back as 2010, when he was only 24. “I’ve started doing my coaching badges. I can’t see myself running a restaurant.”

While Heston Blumenthal can breathe a sigh of relief, Rooney – though never regarded as the most eloquent of speakers – has always possessed an innate football intelligence. 

“His knowledge of the game isn’t in question, and he has a presence about him,” Sir Alex Ferguson admitted recently. “He’s a wealthy young man and he doesn’t need to go into management. But he wants to do it.”

That was why Rooney left DC United and joined Derby as a player-coach in late 2019. He had two years left on his contract in the US, but the lure of coaching was too great – even if there was surprise that he’d joined a club in the Championship’s bottom half. Midlands reporters have since claimed it was written into his contract that he’d be given an opportunity to manage Derby one day.

Rooney wasn’t eligible to play until January but arrived early to begin his duties, teaming up with manager Phillip Cocu. The Dutchman probably sensed that his new coach would replace him at some point.

Derby eventually climbed to 10th last term, but the club’s budget has been reduced in recent times; by mid-November this season, they were bottom of the table and in deep relegation trouble – just as Fenerbahce had been in Cocu’s previous job. The Dutchman was sacked, with Rooney installed as joint caretaker manager alongside Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker. He played on for two matches, but Derby lost both.

It was decided that a clearer management structure was needed: Rooney was placed in sole charge, with Steve McClaren brought in as technical director and mentor. From then on, he focused on management and never played again. Results immediately turned: Derby went six games unbeaten, with a run of four consecutive clean sheets coming as a result of their organised, back-to-basics approach. Rooney upped the team’s tempo and intensity – adapting it from the slower build-up play of his predecessor, who had opted for a trademark Dutch style.

Rooney has often been a relatively calm presence on the touchline, and has got the best out of young players who look up to him.

“In terms of man-management, he’s great,” enthused midfielder Jason Knight, who recently turned 20. “He’ll tell you what you’re doing well, and what you need to improve. He’s very clear.”

The Rams have become ‘Wayne Rooney’s Derby County’, unofficially renamed since their one year as Frank Lampard’s personal property. Rooney’s ex-England team-mate guided Derby to the 2019 play-off final, but had a pre-season and less turbulent starting point. This season, they’ve been in the midst of a takeover, with wages even delayed at the turn of the year.

The wait for takeover news seemed like the only delay to Rooney getting the permanent gig – Derby’s improvement meant giving him the job full-time suddenly seemed the least risky option. He’d passed his audition, and was confirmed in mid-January – announcing his retirement from playing, too. “Time stops for no man,” he declared, almost poetically.

Time was not his friend in the surprise, late home loss to relegation rivals Rotherham that followed, but Derby then won five of their next six games and climbed to 16th – six points clear of the drop zone. After a late triumph at Wycombe Wanderers, he offered an almost Fergie-esque reaction in response. “I’m delighted with the three points but I’m angry at the performance,” groaned Rooney.

He used his contacts well on deadline day, too, borrowing Teden Mengi from Manchester United, Beni Baningime from Everton and George Edmundson of Rangers.

Now, five straight defeats have left the Rams just one place outside the relegation zone with two games left to play – including a potential final-day decider against Sheffield Wednesday.

Lampard’s spell at Derby led him straight to a job within the Premier League’s Big Six. Rooney dreams of managing United one day, although his route is unlikely to be quite so direct. 

For now, his mission is rather simple: confirming the Rams’ survival in the second tier. Achieve that, though, and he’ll already be one up on Sir Bobby.

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