Danny Murphy and Troy Deeney believe Derby County will be making a big mistake if they appoint Wayne Rooney as their permanent manager.
Watford striker Troy Deeney and ex-Liverpool man Danny Murphy have warned Derby against taking a gamble with Wayne Rooney.
The Rams sacked Phillip Cocu on Saturday with the club currently bottom of the Championship standings with only one win from 11 games so far this term.
Rooney has been heavily linked with the post and has also been named as likely contenders to become the Dutchman’s permanent successor.
The ex-United forward has been placed in interim charge alongside Liam Rosenior, Shay Given, and Justin Walker.
But former Liverpool midfielder Murphy is far from convinced that Rooney is the right man to turn around Derby’s fortunes.
He told talkSPORT Breakfast: “It would be a massive risk in their current predicament. There’s nothing wrong with a risk when you’re in a position of strength, so when they gave it to [Frank] Lampard for example they [the board] felt the squad was decent.”
“A young, fresh face with a good reputation coming in who had obviously played the game under lot of different managers and did a good job – getting them to the play-off final. I understood that one.”
“This one is a bit different for me as they are a difficult predicament now, bottom of the championship.”
“There’s a bit of nous needed and a bit of a know-how to change momentum at that club. I still think they’ve got enough quality to do it, but it would be a massive ask for Rooney to do that.”
“There’s a lot of expectancy at the club, so it would be a huge risk.”
Troy Deeney also echoes Danny Murphy’s comments and says there would be immediate demands which Rooney might not be able to leave up to.
“With a new modern day player they don’t actually care about your previous career,” the Watford striker added.
“It’s how big of an impact can you make in the first 10 to 14 days of getting the job.”
“Are your training sessions good? What are your days off like? Are there any new things you’re teaching people?”
“He’ll have potentially six games in 14 days during that time. So can we see changes instantly?”
“It won’t be a case of Wayne Rooney he’s great and so forth. No-one will touch the levels he achieved in his career, he’ll blow them out of the water, but more importantly what will he do that takes us from the bottom of the Championship to where they should be – which is top six.”
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