Wayne Rooney’s too young to be written off and too strong-willed to give up but a step back could be a wise move for now
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LEAVING Plymouth after barely six months will hurt Wayne Rooney. After four jobs in as many years and a win rate of barely 25 per cent across them, doubters will ask if his managerial career could be over at the age of 39 - before most bosses even take their first match in a dugout.
![[Wayne Rooney has parted ways with Plymouth Argyle but it is not the end of his managerial journey]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/wayne-rooney-manager-head-coach-959946887.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Yet anyone who has spent time with Rooney will tell you that he has a drive and determination to be as good a boss as he was a player. And while that may look an unlikely aspiration at this stage, very few people have made money betting against Rooney over the past two decades.
In truth, Rooney has made things hard for himself with the jobs he has taken at the start of his time as a manager. Admittedly, openings normally come for two reasons - because the previous manager has been a success or, more frequently, that they are inheriting a dumpster fire.
For Rooney, taking the gig at a cash-strapped Derby, facing the almost certain inevitability of a relegation-causing points deduction was hardly the act of someone who wanted an easy life. Rooney led the Rams from six points adrift of the Championship field to a nominal last-day survival act in his four months at the helm, only for the EFL to impose that anticipated 21-point penalty to send the club through the trapdoor.
It was not Rooney’s fault, by any means - he walked into a mess, cleaned it up, only for a giant bucket of trash to be thrown over the floor after he’d finished. Unsurprisingly, probably aware of the looming offer from DC United in the MLS, he quit Pride Park before his move across the Atlantic.
