Rooney Reflects on Return to Former Club Derby County

Wayne Rooney, who has managed three Championship clubs since his retirement as a player in 2020, stated that Derby County will forever hold a “huge place in his heart” as he prepares for his inaugural return to Pride Park in a coaching capacity. The current head coach of Plymouth Argyle spent a period of two-and-a-half years with the Rams, initially serving as a player-coach before transitioning to manager. He guided the Rams from the bottom position in the Championship, six points away from safety, to successfully avoiding relegation by a single point on the season’s concluding day. However, the Rams faced relegation 12 months subsequent to this, a consequence of financial difficulties that resulted in the club entering administration. Rooney departed from his role as the primary figure attempting to sustain the club’s operations. A cumulative deduction of 21 points due to diverse financial irregularities led to the Rams finishing second-from-bottom. Nevertheless, their performance record, had no deductions been applied, would have placed them in 17th position. Wayne Rooney continues to be highly esteemed by Derby County supporters. Rooney, whom some believed deserved the freedom of the city, commented on the period, stating: “It was difficult times for the football club, for the fans, for the staff. We had staff members being made redundant and losing their jobs, but we had to really try and keep it close-knit. Sometimes through the most difficult moments bring people together, and I think that’s exactly what happened. Not just myself, the coaches around me as well, we really pulled together and tried to do the best we could with the players we had.” He further added: “It meant that quite a few young players made their debut for the football club, some of them are still in the team now like Liam Thompson and Eiran Cashin. Those two got an opportunity through the situation the club was in, and they took it and not looked back.” Rooney concluded his playing career at Derby, a career during which he secured every major honour with Manchester United and became England’s all-time leading goalscorer. His final goal was a late winning strike for Derby against Norwich City in October 2020. He also scored his last professional goal for the club during a 1-0 victory at Norwich City in October 2020, and he affirms that the memories created at the club will endure indefinitely. He stated: “Derby County has a huge place in my heart. My last game in football was for Derby and they gave me an opportunity in management and I had some really good times there.” Rooney continued: “The fans were excellent, so it’s a place where I really enjoyed going into work. Of course while they’re playing us I don’t want them to do well, but other than that it’s good to see them back in the Championship.” On Saturday, Rooney is scheduled to compete against his successor, Paul Warne, for the inaugural time. Plymouth enters the match following their first victory in five games, an unconvincing 1-0 win against bottom-placed Portsmouth, which moved them out of the relegation zone. However, Rooney has not yet guided Argyle to an away victory this season; his team’s away record of one goal scored and 16 conceded is the poorest away from home in the Championship. A 1-1 draw against QPR in August represents their sole away point under his management, with the team having experienced significant defeats at venues including Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City. Rooney commented to BBC Radio Devon: “It’s very difficult in this league to win away from home. We’ve had some good performances away and come away with nothing, we’ve had some performances where we haven’t deserved anything away from home.” He concluded: “We hope we can put that together on Saturday and come away with a victory and go into the international break with a good feeling.”