The Daily Telegraph - 06.08.2019

Sport Football

By James Ducker NORTHERN

FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT

Wayne Rooney is in talks about the

prospect of an extraordinary return

to English football with Derby

County, The Daily Telegraph

can reveal.

The former Manchester United

and England captain, who has been

playing for DC United in Major

League Soccer over the past year, is

understood to be discussing the

prospect of a player-coach role with

the Championship club.

Derby appointed Phillip Cocu,

the former Barcelona player, as

manager last month on a four-year

contract following Frank Lam-

pard’s departure for Chelsea.

And Mel Morris, the Derby

owner, is now thought to be consid-

ering bringing another high-profile

former England player in Rooney to

the club to work and play under

Cocu. Preliminary talks have taken

place between Derby and Rooney’s

agent, Paul Stretford, with further

discussions planned. Both parties

are hopeful of a deal being struck

and Cocu, speaking after last night’s

2-1 win over Huddersfield, refused

to deny Derby’s interest in the

33-year-old.

“At the moment I cannot say any-

thing. We are working on complet-

ing the team and we said it was not

complete yet,” he said. “It’s true

we’re working to get the team done

but I can’t say anything about

names before things are done. We

have a lot of players we think could

be an asset for the team. You always

try to get the best you can with the

resources you have available at the

club. There are a few more days,

hopefully something can happen.”

Rooney is contracted to DC

United until next year and it is un-

clear what that would mean for the

MLS franchise if he did end up

returning to English football.

It has been reported that Roon-

ey’s wife, Coleen, has told friends

she would like to return home to

England from America. The couple

have four sons: Kai, nine; Klay, six;

Kit, three, and 17-month-old Cass.

DC United are fourth in the East-

ern Conference, six points adrift of

leaders Philadelphia Union. Rooney

is the fifth top scorer in the Eastern

Conference with 11 goals.

England’s all-time record scorer,

with 53 goals in 120 appearances,

and United’s record goalscorer with

253 goals in 559 matches, Rooney is

one of the country’s most success-

ful ever footballers having won five

Premier League titles and the

Champions League with United.

He moved to Old Trafford from

Everton in 2004 before returning

to his boyhood club in 2017, spend-

ing another season at Goodison

Park and then moving to Washing-

ton DC last year.

But Rooney – who is in the pro-

cess of doing his coaching badges –

has made no secret of his desire to

try his hand at coaching and man-

agement. In June, he revealed that

he had received offers to manage in

England and the United States.

“I’m taking the steps to get my

badges completed and when I fin-

ish playing I’ll see what opportuni-

ties come up,” Rooney said.

“There’s already offers which

have been made, but at the minute

I’m still a player and I want to enjoy

playing, and then I’ll see which of-

fers are right when I do finish.”

Asked if he had been contacted

by clubs from England or the US, he

added: “Yeah, both. There’s an op-

portunity for me to go into manage-

ment straight away and when I do

hang my boots up, that decision

will be made on what the ambition

of the club is first of all, and what

my ambitions are and what’s right

for both myself and that particular

team.”

Derby were disappointed to lose

Lampard after just a season in

charge, but recognised that it was

difficult to deny the former Eng-

land midfielder the opportunity to

manage Chelsea, a club with whom

he had enjoyed so much success as

a player, winning three Premier

League titles.

Lampard took Derby into the

play-off final, after a dramatic semi-

final triumph over Leeds United,

only to lose 2-1 to Aston Villa

at Wembley. Morris was hugely im-

pressed with Lampard and the for-

mer Chelsea player’s success in a

short time is likely to have had

some bearing on the situation with

Rooney as he weighs up whether to

bring another prominent former

England player into the fold to work

with Cocu.

Cocu, 48, who won 101 caps for

Holland and represented Barcelona

between 1998 and 2004 during a

stellar playing career, was in charge

of PSV Eindhoven and then Fener-

bahce before succeeding Lampard

at Derby. The victory at Hudders-

field last night was his first compet-

itive game in charge.

If Rooney was to leave DC

United, it would be a significant

blow for them. The former United

striker has been credited with help-

ing to bring about a huge transfor-

mation at the club.

“He has changed everything.

I think he’s changed the culture of

this club,” Steve Birnbaum, the DC

United defender, said. “The work

ethic that he puts in during practice

and you guys see it in the games,

but he’s the type of guy who wants

to win at all costs. Guys want to play

for him.”

By Richard Jolly

at John Smith’s Stadium

For Derby, yesterday was a tale of

two Manchester United old boys

who often wear the No 10 shirt and

share a penchant for the spectacu-

lar. While County make an auda-

cious attempt to bring in Wayne

Rooney as a player-coach, Tom

Lawrence, who began his career at

Old Trafford, scored a three-minute

brace worthy of United’s record

goalscorer.

He gave Derby a winning start

under new manager Phillip Cocu.

Yet while they rebounded from the

disappointments of play-off final

defeat and Frank Lampard’s depar-

ture for Chelsea, it meant a change

of division did not bring a change in

fortunes for Huddersfield.

Manager Jan Siewert, beaten for

the 13th time in his 16-game reign,

lamented: “We made it too easy for

Lawrence to score. They took ad-

vantage of our mistakes.”

If the former Bournemouth cap-

tain Tommy Elphick was signed to

provide a cool head at the back, the

centre-back instead cost his new

team a goal with his chest. The deb-

utant tried to find Kamil Grabara

but got his angles wrong.

The goalkeeper had to come out

of his box and, under pressure from

Martyn Waghorn, could only head

the ball to Lawrence. He directed a

delightful lob over the Liverpool

loanee and into the empty net.

Lawrence’s second goal was simi-

larly sublime. He executed a deft

turn on the edge of the box and

picked out the corner of the net

with precision.

“They were world-class goals,”

said Cocu who, with a century of

Holland caps, is qualified to judge.

It was an early sign Lawrence will

help compensate for the loss of Ma-

son Mount and Harry Wilson. “He

is an extraordinary player,” Cocu

said. “He scored six goals last sea-

son and we spoke on getting that

number up.”

Lawrence was in sparkling form,

skipping away from defenders and

finding space with ease. But Hud-

dersfield winger Adama Diakhaby

posed a similar threat at the other

end. Cocu gave a debut to Kieran

Dowell and he, too, made an awk-

ward start. When Diakhaby fooled

Dowell with a sharp turn, the Ever-

ton loanee responded by nudging

him over. Karlan Grant converted

the resulting penalty.

Thereafter, Aaron Mooy arrowed

a shot narrowly wide and substitute

Elias Kachunga spurned a great

chance to level. “We didn’t deserve

to lose,” Siewert said. But, once

again, Huddersfield did so.

Huddersfield Town (4-3-3): Grabara; Hadergjonaj,

Elphick, Schindler, Kongolo; Bacuna (Mbenza 62), Hogg,

Mooy; Diakhaby (Kachunga 67), Grant (Quaner 89),

Pritchard. Subs Schofield (g), Bockhorn, Stankovic,

O’Brien.

Derby County (4-2-3-1): Roos; Bogle, Keogh, Clarke,

Malone; Huddlestone, Evans; Jozefzoon (Bennett 74),

Dowell (Knight 88), Lawrence; Waghorn. Subs Mitchell

(g), Shinnie, Marriott, Lowe, Davies.

Referee Geoff Eltringham (Co Durham).

Rooney considers move to

Derby in player-coach role

Lawrence’s double gets Cocu off to a winning start

Thinking of home: Wayne Rooney

could make a return to English football

Former England captain

would work under Cocu

Ex-United striker keen

to move into coaching

EXCLUSIVE

Huddersfield Town

Grant 30 pen^1

Derby County

Lawrence 22, 25^2

Att: 22,596

From pitch to dugout Golden generation’s first jobs

‹ Frank

Lampard

Appointed

Derby County

manager in

May 2018.

Joined Chelsea

as manager

this summer

‹ Steven

Gerrard

Liverpool

youth coach,

Feb 2017.

Appointed

Rangers

manager in

May 2018

‹ Sol

Campbell

Trinidad &

Tobago

assistant

manager,

Jan 2017.

Appointed

Macclesfield

Town

manager,

Nov 2018

‹ John Terry

Aston Villa

assistant

head coach,

Oct 2018

‹ Paul

Scholes

Oldham

manager, Feb

2019. Resigned
      in March

‹ Michael

Carrick

Manchester

United

assistant

coach,

May 2018

‹ Joe Cole

Chelsea

technical

academy

coach,

Jan 2019

‹ David James

IBV (Iceland)

player-coach,

May 2013

Sublime: Tom

Lawrence scored

twice in the first

half to put Derby

in the driving seat

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP

8 ** Tuesday 6 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph