I played for Wayne Rooney - there's one key reason why players love him

Wayne Rooney's style of management has been praised by a former player, who says that the whole dressing room "love him".

While many footballers step into the world of punditry after their playing days, Rooney instead opted to try his hand at management - taking over at Derby County in 2020 under a player/manager role. Rooney spent a single year with the club, before making the move to DC United but the England legend agreed to mutually leave the Washington-based side in October 2023 after failing to qualify for the MLS playoffs.

Three days after leaving DC, Rooney was appointed as Birmingham City's head coach on a three-and-a-half year contract, but he was sent packing from St Andrew's after just three months in charge as Birmingham sat 20th in the EFL Championship after the Christmas break.

READ MORE: Joe Edwards says Adam Randell is 'special player' for Plymouth Argyle

READ MORE: Wayne Rooney makes Plymouth Argyle prediction about Adam Randell

Rooney was appointed manager of Plymouth Argyle in May this year, and has struggled to impress fans of the Pilgrims after 15 games - currently sitting 18th in the Championship with four wins, four draws and seven losses. And while many fans would speculate that there may be a divide between Rooney and his players, Ravel Morrison has admitted that his squad love and respect the footballing legend when he's on board.

Morrison appeared on a recent instalment of The Stomping Ground with Troy Deeney and Charlie Parsons, when the topic of conversation turned towards Rooney. Deeney asked: "Why does he seem to get this bad publicity that it doesn't work as a manager? Because you've had two experiences with him."

To which, Morrison - who played under Rooney at both Derby County and DC United - said: "I'm not sure you know, because I feel when he's in the club all the players love him." Deeney then probed: "You get two types of managers I think. You get a players' manager and you get a club manager," with Morrison adding: "So he's a players' manager.

"The players all love him." He then added: "Rooney has all the players' intentions - the best intentions. So he wants what's best for the players cause obviously he was a player himself, and he's a bit of a, would you say 'wildcard'? So he knows what it's like. What the players require."

Argyle clinched just one win from their opening five games of the 2024/25 campaign, narrowly beating league leaders Sunderland 3-2 after losing to Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City, as well as drawing with Hull and QPR. There's work to be done for Rooney over the coming weeks should he hope to improve on Argyle's position in the Championship table, especially considering they're pitted against Watford, Norwich and Bristol City in their next three games.