Wayne Rooney has kicked off his new coaching gig just weeks following his departure from Championship team Plymouth Argyle.
Rooney waved goodbye to Home Park on New Year’s Eve with the team rooted at the foot of the Championship – the second tier of English soccer – and battling to stave off relegation to League One. The former Everton and Manchester United forward managed only five victories in his 25 games at the helm of Plymouth before calling it quits at the close of 2024.
Post-Argyle, Rooney dived back into punditry this month, joining Amazon Prime for its Champions League broadcasts, after previous stints with Sky Sports, BBC, and TNT Sports. Now, less than two months after his latest managerial spell at Plymouth ended, Rooney has embarked on a fresh coaching journey.
Rooney has now started his new duties upon landing in the United Arab Emirates. Football Escapes shared a snap of Rooney overseeing a training session in Dubai, all grins as he took charge, with the programme scheduled throughout February.
“Wayne Rooney has touched down in Dubai and kicked off his Football Escapes debut,” the caption announced. “From the first whistle, he’s been out on the pitch, coaching, inspiring, and making memories with our football families at Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Day 1 is just the start-big moments, top-class coaching, and plenty of fun ahead. Stay tuned!”
Wayne Rooney wants to manage Manchester United
Rooney has taken charge of four teams during his 178-game managerial career – Derby County, D.C. United, Birmingham City, and most recently Plymouth – but only boasts a win percentage of 25.3 percent. He suffered relegation with Derby, failed to make the MLS Playoffs in Washington, and was fired by Birmingham before the team was relegated.
Yet Rooney isn’t giving up on his managerial career. He said to the BBC a year ago: “I definitely want to get back into management. The aim is to manage in the Premier League eventually, Manchester United or Everton are the dream jobs, but it’s a process.
“In the next 10 years, hopefully I can be in with a chance of taking one of the top jobs. It was a setback what happened at Birmingham, but I’m a fighter. You know as a manager part of the job is being sacked and having setbacks and it’s about how you bounce back. Maybe the timing wasn’t right when I went in at Birmingham, the fans didn’t accept me from day one.”
Source: https://www.liverpool.com/premier-league/wayne-rooney-back-soccer-less-31024877
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