Wayne Rooney reflects on regrets in his managerial career and if he’d ever return to dugout

Wayne Rooney reflects on regrets in his managerial career and if he’d ever return to dugout when asked in a Reddit Q&A with BBC Sport.

At Birmingham, Rooney was appointed in October 2023 but was sacked just 83 days into his three-and-a-half-year contract after managing only two wins out of 15 games, leading to the club’s relegation to League One.

His time there was described as disastrous, with a record of nine losses in those 15 matches, which saw Birmingham drop from a play-off spot to 20th in the Championship table.

Following Birmingham, Rooney took over at Plymouth in May 2024, with hopes of reviving his managerial career. However, his time at Plymouth was also troubled. After managing the team for 23 Championship games, he oversaw just four wins against 13 defeats, leaving the team at the bottom of the league table by the end of 2024, leading to his departure by mutual agreement in December 2024.

Kinda_OP asked: “Hi Wayne, do you have any regrets about your management career and would you ever go back to it?

Wayne replied: “Yeah, I think you always have regrets and I reflect on what I’ve done. I’ve managed four teams and I think the biggest regret I have is the Birmingham City job in terms of the timing of when I took over from John Eustace.

“I think that was probably the biggest regret. And with a return to management.. probably not. Of course, I’ve never closed doors and never say never, but at the moment where I am, where my head space is, I wouldn’t.”

Wayne Rooney left ‘really disappointed’ by ‘very unfair’ Tom Brady comments on his work ethic

Tom Brady questions Wayne Rooney’s ‘work ethic’ at Birmingham and hits out at relegated squad

Wayne Rooney reflects on his playing days and the challenges that comes with management

ROONEY’S MANAGERIAL STATS:

Derby County – 14 November 2020 until 26 June 2022 – P85 – W24 – D22 – L39 – 28.2 win percentage

D.C. United – 31 July 2022 until 7 October 2023 – P53 – W14 – D14 – L25 – 26.4 win percentage

Birmingham City – 11 October 2023 until 2 January 2024 – P15 – W2 – D4 – L9 – 13.3 win percentage

Plymouth Argyle – 25 May 2024 until 31 December 2024 – P25 – W5 – D6 – L14 – 20.0 win percentage

Total – P178 – W45 – D46 – L87 – 25.3 win percentage

Wayne Rooney on management, disasters at Birmingham and Plymouth, and vows to continue

Plymouth chairman opens up on Wayne Rooney, struggles, search for new head coach and future

Other questions and answers

_Astronomix_: You came on the scene at 16, similar to players like Dowman and Ngumoha this season. Do you see a difference in how they’re being managed/how they’re being coached to play and how it was when you broke through?

Rooney: Yeah, I think so. It’s a lot different for young players now. Obviously, I know as being a manager, you’ve got to go and do your safeguarding and make sure you get that done and all your coaches and all your staff have to do that. When I was 16, for instance, I was in the dressing room with the first team, you’re showering alongside the first team players, whereas now you’re taken out, you’ve got a separate dressing room. So small things like that do make a difference. And when I came in, I felt certainly at Everton I was really the only young player. The next youngest one was like 23, 24, I think. Now there’s quite a few young players who come through together, which I think will make it a little bit easier.

TheCulturalBomb: What part of your game did you think people overrated and what part of your game did people underrate in your opinion?

Rooney: It’s a difficult question. Overrated maybe. I’ve seen something actually the other day saying that my left foot was very good, where it actually wasn’t as good as people might think. So I did score quite a few goals with my left foot but in terms of playing a 40 or 50-hour pass with my left foot, I wasn’t great at doing that. But I could still finish with my left foot. Underrated? Probably heading. At the start of my career, it wasn’t great, but I worked extremely hard to improve it and get better. Then I scored a lot more headers, so probably my heading was a bit underrated.

_phily_d: Who was your favourite England player to link up with on the pitch?

Rooney: I had two. I think one would probably surprise you. One was Steven Gerrard. Well, three actually. Steven Gerrard, I just really liked playing with Stevie. David Beckham was also excellent to play with because as a forward you knew when he got the ball out of his feet, it was coming in the box so you could make your run. The other one was Emile Heskey, who I really liked and enjoyed playing up front with. I could play off him when he’d hold the ball up well. And then I could play behind and in front of him and get on the ball and he was really good to play with.

2121wv: What do you make of the thoughts that there’s been an improved culture and togetherness in the team compared to how things were in the 2000’s? Was there a real tension to playing for England back then, in your experience?

Rooney: Well, I’ve spoken about this a few times and… I didn’t feel any tension at all, and I’ve seen some of the players who I played with, obviously, from that time come out and say there was, but I think it was maybe a little bit before my time, so I didn’t feel that tension. Every time I went away with England everyone seemed to get on. So, whether I was just being blinded by it, I don’t know, but I didn’t feel that tension and the scaredness. This current England team looks really good. I think Thomas Tuchel has been quite open on that in terms of the squad he’s picked, he wants the players to be together. That only comes when you’re playing well and winning games, so I suppose the results will tell us the answer to that.

Effective_Crazy6307: Wayne Rooney England legend! What are our biggest strengths and weaknesses at the World Cup?

Rooney: I think the underrated strength is probably the bench. There’s been a lot of talk about Thomas Tuchel’s squad, but I think we’ve already seen in the first game that the strength of the players coming off the bench can really have an impact. And the area that concerns me is probably defensively. Tuchel went with John Stones and Ezri Konsa in the first game, which I think was a shock to everyone in terms of Marc Guehi not playing. So, I think we might see that chop and change a little bit.

westyboi2323: Rooney what’s your favourite takeaway lad ?

Rooney: That’s an easy one – Chinese takeaway. I order a mixture of different things at different times, but I like getting a few different starters. Obviously not all to myself, but a few different starters and you can pick at the starters and quite a few times I don’t actually get to start the main because you end up getting too many starters. My go-to is probably chicken black bean as a meal. As a starter, salt and pepper chicken wings. Shu Mai as well, and spring rolls. There’s loads, we end up getting too much. My favourite Chinese in Manchester is called Wings. To be honest, there’s quite a lot of people from Manchester United who go in there. It opened when I first joined Man Utd, and then I’ve gone quite a bit after games and other Man Utd players and coaches go too. Sponsors, when they come over, they used to go a lot too, so I think it’s quite popular with the club.

Tomasuh: After the last England game we are all wondering what Tuchel said at half time. What are some of the best half time talks (or things you heard being said to someone before they went on from the bench) you’ve heard from managers over the year that you felt turned things around for the players in terms of their mentality and approach?

Rooney: The best one at half-time was when we played Tottenham for Manchester United at Old Trafford, and we were 2-0 down at half-time, and we went in and we thought the manager, Alex Ferguson, was going to, you know, go mad and have a go at us all. But he was very positive and reminded us how good of a team we were, how good we were as players individually. If we go out there right from the first whistle of the second-half and apply pressure on Tottenham, they would tire, they would cave in, and we’d win the game. And I think in the end, if I’m not mistaken, we won the game 5-2, so I think that was the best one.

AtLeastImLaughing: Did you pick Rio up in the morning?

Rooney: I picked him up plenty of times. To be honest, on that tweet, I didn’t know what I was doing… I’m not the best with social media, and so I didn’t know what I was doing. So I said to Rio, ‘Oh I’ll tweet you’. I was just messing around to see if it was working. But obviously I’ve done it to everybody. I think there’s a tweet to myself that I’ve sent as well. But yeah, I’ve picked him up quite a few times, yeah. He’s not a great passenger. He gets quite scared in the passenger seat. I was in Chicago last year with him driving and he was the same then.

AliJDB: Hi Wayne, thanks so much for joining us. How difficult is it when the England manager wants you to do something different, or play a different role, than you do week in week out for your club? Do you have any experience of that happening during your career?

Rooney: No, I remember the last World Cup I played in, I played out on the left, Daniel Sturridge played as the no.9. And for me it wasn’t that difficult because at my club I played in many different roles anyway, but I can’t imagine if, for instance, you’re just the no.9, you play there every week and then you’re getting asked to play at a World Cup as a no.10. It could be a little bit different and taking a little bit of getting used to, but for me personally, that wasn’t an issue.

MadFlava76: Of all the England squads you were a part of, which one do you think was the strongest and had the best shot of winning a championship? Miss seeing you play for England and Man Utd. Still wear my Rooney #9 England Away jersey to this very day.

Rooney: I think in 2004 and 2006 was the best chance I felt in the squads I played in. We didn’t win anything but we were quite unlucky on both. We went out in the quarter-finals, in the Euros and the World Cup, and to Portugal on penalties on both occasions. So, I think that with a little bit more luck in one of those games we go through, potentially, with obviously a better chance of winning. And in both I think that was the strongest squads I played in.

BaldurDoesGames: Firstly: thank you so much for all of the memories growing up. The first tourney I remember was 2004 (I’m also a United fan, so again thank you). You’ve obviously been asked this before, but I know you didn’t feel the “pressure” because at 16 you knew you were the best player at Everton, but do you think that the pressure we (fans) and the media is too much for some young players? Again, thanks so much for the years of greatness. Would love to see you at United again in some capacity.

Rooney: It was difficult. I think coming into the first team and breaking through and being in the team at 17, it was tough. It was a lot of pressure, a lot of scrutiny. I’m from the streets of Liverpool and Croxteth. And all of a sudden, you’ve got paparazzi following you and you’re all over the newspapers. It’s a big change in how you grew up and your life. So to deal with it, it’s very difficult and I think now there’s a lot more media training to help the younger players deal with that better, which David Moyes actually helped me a lot with during that period to try to keep me away from it a bit. But yeah, it was tough but thankfully I think that’s changed and there’s a lot more help and advice for the young players now.

zacsafus: Kai looks to be doing well at United’s academy. Does he see you as a big inspiration, or is it still typical dad vibes from you to embarrass him?

Rooney: A bit of both, I think. I do try and embarrass him in front of his friends when they come round to the house and just be a dad and all that and have fun with him. But yeah, I think he obviously is aware of my playing career and it’s a big pressure, of course, on Kai now being at Manchester United. You’d have to ask him, but I’d imagine he will take some inspiration from my time at Manchester United, but I also know for sure he definitely feels at times I embarrass him.