Sacked Birmingham City boss in talks to manage Pompey’s Championship rivals
England football legend Wayne Rooney is in talks to become manager of one of Pompey’s Championship rivals next season.
Multiple outlets are reporting that the former Everton and Man United star is Plymouth Argyle’s preferred choice to become their next manager. Neil Dewsnip, the Pilgrims’ director of football and caretaker boss has been tasked with finding a permanent replacement for former Pompey coach Ian Foster and Rooney because of his Toffees connections is leading the way.
The 38-year-old hasn’t had a job in football management since his disastrous spell at Birmingham City. He managed 15 games and in that period the Midlands club went from play-off hopefuls to relegation fodder and they were subsequently relegated at the end of the current campaign.
Rooney is set to appear as a pundit for the BBC in their coverage of EURO 2024. He is also part of a battle between Sky Sports and TNT Sports over their Premier League coverage, however a return to the dugout now seems the most likeliest of outcomes if Plymouth can strike an agreement.
During his playing career, Rooney scored a total of 12 goals in 15 games against Pompey. He was on the winning side on 12 occasions against the South Coast outfit with his last game against them being in 2009/10, scoring in a 5-0 win at Old Trafford.
Rooney, who has managed Derby County and DC United, hasn’t had the privilege of managing in the dugout against Portsmouth yet. Should he take charge of Plymouth then he would take part in the Dockland Derby, a rivalry which is more driven by those in Devon than it is in Hampshire.
Plymouth are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Pompey and whether it’s Rooney or someone else in the post, they will want to continue that record. Pompey’s last success against Plymouth came in September 2018, a 3-0 win at Fratton Park with Ronan Curtis and Jamal Lowe on target.
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