'Wayne Rooney signed me twice - all the players love him for one major reason'

Wayne Rooney has struggled to make an impact as Plymouth Argyle manager, but one of his former players has insisted that the whole dressing room love him and have the utmost respect for his management

Wayne Rooney's managerial approach has won him the affection of his squad, with a former player revealing that the dressing room "love him".

Despite many ex-pros turning to punditry in retirement, Rooney dived into management, taking the reins at Derby County in 2020 as a player/manager. After a year at Derby and a stint at DC United, which ended in October 2023 following a failure to reach the MLS playoffs, Rooney quickly moved on to become Birmingham City's head coach.

His tenure at St Andrew's was short-lived, however, as he was dismissed after just three months with the team languishing in 20th place in the EFL Championship after the Christmas break. In May, Rooney took over Plymouth Argyle but has found it tough to win over the Green Army, with the team sitting 18th in the Championship after 15 games.

Despite mixed results and potential fan scepticism, Ravel Morrison has spoken out, confirming the players' admiration for Rooney while sharing how they love and respect the football icon. During a recent episode of The Stomping Ground, Morrison, who has played under Rooney at both Derby County and DC United, was asked by Troy Deeney about the negative press Rooney often receives as a manager.

In response, Morrison said: "I'm not sure you know, because I feel when he's in the club all the players love him." When Deeney suggested that there are two types of managers - a players' manager and a club manager - Morrison agreed, saying: "So he's a players' manager. The players all love him."

He 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."

Rooney has suffered a slow start at Argyle in the 2024/25 Championship campaign, winning just once in their opening five games. Sheffield Wednesday battered the side 4-0 in their seasonal opener, before a 1-0 loss to Stoke City and draws with Hull and QPR further put a dampener on the side's prospects.

A narrow 3-2 win over league leaders Sunderland in their fifth game of the season boosted spirits, but Rooney has his work cut out for him in the coming weeks, with a whole host of testing fixtures poised. Plymouth host Watford on Friday, before travelling to Norwich next Tuesday.

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