Wayne Rooney has been tipped as a ‘contender’ for a Premier League job despite his ongoing struggles at Championship side Plymouth Argyle.
Rooney’s Plymouth are currently 21st in the English second-division, just two points above the relegation zone, after shipping 12 goals in their last three games.
Since the England and Manchester United legend took over in May, Plymouth have won just four of their 18 Championship games.
Rooney recently described the last week as the ‘hardest’ of his managerial career and said he felt ’embarrassed’ when applauding the travelling Plymouth fans following their 4-0 defeat to Bristol City.
Despite his current managerial struggles, ex-United striker Louis Saha believes Rooney would be a ‘contender’ for the Everton job if it became available.
Like Plymouth, Everton have also endured a poor run to slip to 17th in the Premier League, two points above the drop zone.
The Toffees have gone four games without a goal, sparking speculation Sean Dyche could be sacked by Goodison Park bosses.
If Dyche was to go, Saha believes Rooney – who started his career at Everton – would be a ‘contender’ for the job.
Rooney established himself as one of England and Manchester United’s greatest-ever players following his spell on Merseyside but has underwhelmed in his managerial roles with Derby County, DC United, Birmingham City and now Plymouth Argyle.
Asked if Everton could turn to Rooney if they were looking for a new manager, Saha told Casino Utan Spelpaus: ‘Why not? Why couldn’t Wayne be a contender to manage Everton if the opportunity came up?
‘Talking about being obsessed, he really loves his football. He wants to pursue greatness as a manager.
‘He wants to get the opportunity to learn as a manager with a different type of pressure, I think he will look forward to those kinds of opportunities. I’m sure that he’s training and working really hard for those moments.
‘I’m not sure that he has proved to people that he deserves a big job yet. He obviously had amazing success in his playing career, but as a manager, he hasn’t been lucky.
‘Any opportunity that comes his way should be because of how his team is playing, not because of his name.
‘I think he needs to prove himself, that’s what Ruben Amorim did with Sporting and that’s why he was hired by United. He needs to succeed to earn a bigger opportunity.’
Earlier this week Plymouth chief Neil Dewsnip backed Rooney to turn things around at the Championship club and said he was ‘fully behind’ the football legend.
‘He’s driven to turn the ship around,’ Dewsnip told BBC Radio Devon.
‘We’re all behind him, we’re all fighting alongside him and hopefully we can turn that into a good performance and a winning performance on Saturday.’
Ex-Premier League striker Chris Sutton, meanwhile, has said he feels sorry for Rooney and that keeping Plymouth in the division would be a ‘pretty big deal’.
‘Rooney didn’t have to do it and I actually have a lot of sympathy for him and the criticism which he’s getting,’ he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.
‘I know he’s had a bad week, a desperately bad week – walloped six at Norwich and four at Bristol City – but the expectation for Plymouth I think, I maybe wrong, is staying in the Championship would be a pretty big deal.’
Plymouth return to action on Saturday with a home match against Oxford United, who are currently four places and one point above Rooney’s team.
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