Wayne Rooney is still aiming for the top in management (Picture: Getty Images)
Wayne Rooney has not had the easiest start to his career in management but is still targeting huge jobs, saying he would love to take charge of former clubs Manchester United and Everton eventually.
Still just 38 years old, Rooney has already has spells in charge of Derby County, DC United and Birmingham City, currently out of the game after leaving the Blues.
The England legend was praised for his work at Derby in very difficult circumstances and had a second chance in the Championship with Birmingham but it went horribly wrong.
Rooney was appointed in October last year and last just 15 games, winning two of them, before being sacked in January.
His passion and ambition has not been dimmed, though, and he is on the lookout for another role in the dugout.
‘Yeah I definitely want to get back into it,’ Rooney told the BBC. Obviously it’s a setback, of course, what happened at Birmingham City. But I’m a fighter, I want to get back into it.
‘I’ve enjoyed my time, a few months out with my children, go and watch them play their games, school runs and stuff.
‘You know as a manager it’s part of the job, you have setbacks. A lot of the top managers around world football have had various roles and had setbacks.
‘It’s how you bounce back, it’s been a good time for me to reflect and make sure I get it right next time.’
Rooney had a pretty disastrous stint at Birmingham City (Picture: Getty Images)
Rooney reckons he was unlucky with the timing of his appointment at Birmingham, replacing John Eustace who had been doing well as manager and struggling to get the fans on board from the off.
‘When you look back, maybe the timing when I went in, John Eustace was doing well and I don’t think the fans ever accepted me from day one,’ he said. ‘Just disappointed that I didn’t get to the transfer window, myself, the owners, everyone at the club knew we had to bring players in and to not have the opportunity to do that, that was beyond disappointing.’
Asking what jobs Rooney would be looking for, Gary Lineker joked that Manchester United could be his target, but Rooney was not joking.
‘That’s the aim, that’s where I want to get to,’ he said. ‘Obviously United or Everton, these big jobs. You want to try and do them.
‘It’s a process and I’ve got to go through the steps of getting back on track, back into management and in the next 10 years I’m in a position where I can go into one of the big jobs.’
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