The host of Sky Sports’ EFL podcast Jonathan Oakes has been speaking on the latest edition of the show about all the latest news from the Championship – and issued a huge claim surrounding Derby County and manager Wayne Rooney.
One of the topics Oakes spent a little bit of time on was the Championship relegation battle, and he suggested that Rooney should come out of retirement to help the Rams stay up.
Derby are four points clear of the relegation zone, but Rotherham United have two games in hand on the Rams, so they could go two points above Derby with those extra matches.
Therefore, Oakes asked Daniel Mann if Rooney should put his boots back on and help the club on the pitch.
He said: “Here’s a suggestion. They’ve got a really good player at Derby who hasn’t played in a while but could give them a lift. His name is Wayne Rooney.
“Do you think it’s entered his head to come out of retirement for the last few games, Dan?
“I mean, it would be an extraordinary story because the end of his playing career was such a significant moment, but should he consider what his presence on the pitch would do for them? What if they need a result in the final game against Sheffield Wednesday?”
Would you like to see Rooney come out of retirement?
No, he should remain just as our manager
Yes, get him back on the pitch
TIF Thoughts on Rooney…
Rooney officially retired from playing football when he took over as the Rams’ official manager earlier this year, but his last game for the club was in 2020.
So, that is quite a while since he last played football, and you would think that if he were to come back out of retirement, he would be rusty, to say the least.
However, his record for the Rams was decent as he mainly played as an attacking midfielder, and he still scored seven goals and provided three assists, so you would think that he could probably still do the business.
It would be interesting to see Rooney back playing, but we hope that he continues his management career instead and guides the Rams away from danger.
In other news: ‘Little bit uncomfortable’ – Finance expert issues Erik Alonso claim amid Derby takeover