Making Rooney next Everton boss would be a mistake
The search for the next manager at Everton continues with all kinds of names being thrown around with varying degrees of experience and pedigree.
Duncan Ferguson has been confirmed as the Toffees’ caretaker manager while the board look to appoint a more permanent replacement.
One of the names in the running is that of former Everton youth prospect and Derby County manager Wayne Rooney, according to Sky Sports journalist Alan Myers last night [18 January].
The 36-year-old is in his first managerial job and the work he has done at Pride Park is genuinely astonishing.
Derby are in a huge financial problem to the point where the administrators are now involved and they have been under a transfer embargo for much of his time at the club.
Despite all of this, and the 21 points they have been deducted this season, Rooney has managed to galvanise that team to a truly remarkable run of form and they are now off the bottom of the Championship table.
Safety from relegation is only eight points away from the Rams now and they look as likely as any to claw themselves out of trouble.
But with his old club in need of a new boss, and Rooney himself working wonders, would now be the time for a romantic reunion?
Probably not, Everton can’t get the experienced manager they want right now and taking on Rooney halfway through a season could more issues than it would solve.
There is no guarantee that he would come in and start winning straight away, and that could tarnish his relationship with the Goodison Park faithful.
And there is strong reasoning to suggest he wouldn’t want to leave Derby right now.
He could be on the cusp of achieving the greatest of all great escapes this season and the rapport he has at Derby is unlike anywhere else in the country.
Should he keep them up in the most unlikely of circumstances, he would go down as perhaps the club’s greatest ever manager and it would feel wrong if he were to leave them while they are still in trouble.
In other Everton news, an Ex-toffee could be in line for a role as the club’s senior executive.