Ferguson gives his verdict on Rooney's new career move

The legendary Manchester United manager has discussed Rooney’s prospects after hanging up his boots to take charge of Derby.

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney’s brilliant career as a footballer, knowledge of the game, presence, and desire can help him succeed as a manager.

The 35-year-old ended his incredible playing career on Friday to replace Phillip Cocu as Derby County boss after an 11-match spell as an interim coach (W3 D3 L4) in charge of the Championship club.

Rooney’s first task as manager is to lift Derby out of the relegation zone to avoid the drop to League One at the end of the season. The Rams sit 22nd in the standings, with just four wins in 22 league games so far (D7 L11).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wayne Rooney (@waynerooney)

“He is England’s top goalscorer, he is Manchester United’s top goalscorer and he has had a fantastic career as a player and it will give him a starting point,” Ferguson said on the ‘A Team Talk With Legends’ panel on Friday.

“But like anyone else it is a results industry and you need to get results. He will know that better than anyone.

“He has had a good start… and he has knowledge of the game, a presence about him and I hope he does well.

“It is a big step for him. He is quite a wealthy young man now with his career in football, so he probably doesn’t need to go into management to look after his family, but he wants to do it and that is important.

“There is no point being a manager because someone asks you to be. He went there as a player-coach, he then becomes a player-manager and now he has the manager’s job and that’s what he wanted. Hopefully, he does well.”