“I think I’m a player’s manager… I try to manage my players [like] me as a player – how did I want to be treated?”, said Rooney, assessing his style of management on Monday Night Football on Sky Sports.
Monday Night Football’s clash between Crystal Palace and Arsenal saw former Manchester United and England forward, Wayne Rooney, join Jamie Carragher in the studio to analyse the Premier League clash, which saw Palace dismantle Arsenal.
Rooney took sole control of The Rams after a brief interim spell towards the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign and subsequently accrued 31 points from a possible 54, eventually steering the side to another season in the Championship at the finale of the 20/21 season.
Since then, it’s been mostly doom and gloom for Derby, who have accumulated numerous points deductions as a sanction for their ongoing financial struggles. However, hasn’t let the looming inevitability become detrimental to his side’s season, putting on some fine displays throughout the campaign.
“I always wanted to have that relationship with the manager, I want good characters in the dressing room”, Rooney told Sky Sports. “I speak to each player individually, differently. I work out very quickly what they need, whether it’s an arm around them, whether they need a kick up the backside… the players know they can come and speak to me at any time”.
Derby’s inevitable drop into League One, despite Rooney’s efforts, along with the imminent departure of Ralf Rangnick, may spark a candidacy for Rooney’s name to be thrown into contention for the United job, after the club legend previously stated his aspirations to one day, take over at Old Trafford, “Manchester United, Everton – they’re two clubs very close to me and hopefully one day in the future, if I can manage one of [those] two clubs, it would be a great achievement for me”.