Wayne Rooney has been sacked by Birmingham City nearly two years after he rejected the chance to take over at his beloved Everton in the Premier League.
What would Wayne Rooney’s managerial career look like, right now, if he had accepted an interview with The Toffees back in January 2022?
Well, perhaps it wouldn’t be all that different. Frank Lampard got the gig instead – Rooney opting to stay loyal to Derby County at the time – with one former England international toiling at Goodison Park as another watched on from afar, perhaps feeling that he had dodged a bullet.
“Everton approached my agent and asked me to interview for the vacant job, which I turned down,” Rooney told The Guardian. “I believe I will be a Premier League manager. I believe I’m ready for that, 10 per cent. And if that is with Everton one day in the future, that would be absolutely great.
“But I’ve got a job here that I’m doing at Derby County which is an important job to me.”
Everton wanted Wayne Rooney back in 2022
Two years on, Lampard remains out of work, Rangers staying clear on the back of that ill-fated spell on the blue side of Stanley Park. Rooney now joins his former Three Lions team-mate on the bread line, he too paying the price for a dreadful run of results.
Chants of ‘Wayne Rooney, get out of our club’ echoed around the away end during Birmingham’s insipid 3-0 defeat at Leeds United on New Years’ Day. And, less than 24 hours later, the Blues bosses obliged.
“We are committed to doing what is necessary to bring success to St. Andrew’s,” Garry Cook, the club’s CEO, tells the Birmingham City website.
“Unfortunately, Wayne’s time with us did not go as planned and we have decided to move in a different direction.
“The search for a successor begins with immediate effect and we will update supporters when we have further news.”
England legend sacked by Birmingham City
Rooney lasted less than three months in England’s Second City. He departs having won twice in 15 games – losing nine – while dragging Birmingham from the dizzying heights of sixth to far more familiar surroundings. The perennial underachievers are now 20th, a potential play-off fight turning into a relegation battle.
Despite a difficult few days – and 3-0 slapping by Wolves – the atmosphere could hardly be more contrasting at Everton these days. In Sean Dyche, The Toffees finally have a coach capable of creating a side greater than the sum of it’s previously disparate parts, with Everton expected to stay well clear of a relegation battle despite that 10-point deduction.
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