Wayne Rooney back to the dugout? Not if Simon Jordan has anything to do with it.
The former Crystal Palace owner has rubbished the idea of a return for the Manchester United legend amid links to the Blackburn job.
talkSPORT understands that Rooney would have a shot at the Championship gig should things not work out with new manager Valérien Ismael amid a dire run of form.
Chief football correspondent Alex Crook explained: “This is one to keep an eye on. If this run continues this season and into the next we know they’re a club that will pull the trigger.
“The noise I’m hearing is that Wayne Rooney would very much be a contender for that job, geographically it would be perfect for Wayne – the Plymouth move was always a risk with the club’s size and being far from home as well.
“I think what really is key to this is Rooney was on TV last night and he has this itch he still wants to scratch, he wants to get back in the dugout and you have to give him credit for that, he’s clearly not doing it for financial gain, he wants to prove himself as a manager.”
Jordan was asked for his views on the news and simply replied: “They’ll get what they deserve.”
Fellow talkSPORT host Jim White argued that Rooney again showed his intelligence on his Champions League TV appearance, adding: “Surely it’s a matter of time before he gets it right in the right fit at the right club.”
However, such a theory prompted a longer response from Jordan this time around.
“Just out of curiosity, why?” he said. “You’ve had four jobs and none of them he’s set the heather on fire.
“DC United was not a great success, Birmingham was a disaster and Plymouth was a disaster.
“Wen we sat in the studio around about this time last year and I could barely contain my mirth at the nonsense coming out of the Plymouth owner’s mouth, I told you this would be a disaster.
“Did he make them better? Were they better? Were Birmingham better? Any other footballer or football manager – with due respect to Wayne – this would not be a conversation.
“I’m not suggesting that Wayne Rooney doesn’t deserve credit for wanting to continue to do it, but we should be praising the acumen and at this moment I’m not sure what acumen he’s shown in the dugout that proves this is even worthy of a conversation.”
Rooney first tried his hand at coaching when he stepped away from playing with Derby in 2020 and established a club reeling from multiple point penalties.
However, since then it’s all been pretty downhill at DC United, Birmingham and Plymouth, and Danny Murphy doesn’t think speaking well on TV should change that.
“I think it’s fair,” he responded to Jordan. “I actually think his best body of work was Derby given the circumstances, but the rest of it’s been poor.
“I’m always engrossed by his words and his forthright views and I like him a lot, he’s a good lad.
“But if you’re judging it on a CV and you didn’t know the name of the person, would he be in contention?”
