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Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 7, 201973
WAYNE RooNEY’s decision to join Derby is
the first step in his plan to take over as
Manchester United manager, according to
former team-mate Rio Ferdinand.
Rooney, 33, will begin life at Pride Park in
January, after 18 months at DC United in the
United states. He has no coaching
experience yet Ferdinand, who spent a decade
alongside him at old Trafford, is confident he
has the qualities to succeed in the dug-out.
Frank Lampard enjoyed his first coaching job
at Derby before leaving for Chelsea, and Ferdi-
nand believes Rooney
already has his sights set on
bigger things, too.
‘His endgame is managing
Manchester United, 100 per
cent. It’s a fact,’ Ferdinand
said. ‘If he tells you any
different, he’s lying! He will
want to do that. only time
will tell if he’s going to be the
man to be able to do that.
‘A lot of things have got to
marry up for that to happen. Frank was right
place, right time. Can that happen for Wayne?
We’ll see.’
BT sport pundit Ferdinand (above) insists the
former England captain is well-equipped to
move into management because he is still in
touch with the modern game and, like sir Alex
Ferguson, he has an air of unpredictability.
‘He’s not scared of sharing his opinion, which is
a good thing,’ said Ferdinand.
‘He can be hard to read sometimes, which I
think is something that’s good to have in a man-
ager as well. I think he’s got a good understand-
ing of today’s player. He’s that age. He’s still
connected to the younger generation. He can
talk the language. There are a lot of managers
out there now who are a bit detached from the
next generation. It’s so different now.
‘He was good at poker, wasn’t he? When he
speaks and you think, “I didn’t realise he sees it
like that”, having that element is good. You don’t
want to be predictable, for your players to read
you so much. It keeps people on their toes.
‘For instance, sir Alex Ferguson would change
players. Is it Nani this week or is it Giggsy? Is
Cristiano Ronaldo playing through the middle or
on the left? You need that in your teams. I feel
Wayne will have that element to him.’
Rooney’s also had some very good manage-
ment mentors. ‘Not many people get to play
under the managers he has,’ Ferdinand said.
‘Ferguson, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho,
Fabio Capello... I’m sure over the years he will
have taken elements from their coaching styles.
He’s been exposed to a lot of quality.’Rio: Wayne’s
endgame is
the top job at
Old Trafford
By DANIEL MATTHEWS
WHEN Wayne Rooney
moved to MLS, every
man and his dog thought
that that would be the last
we’d seen of him in
England. The fact he is
coming back — and he will
be 34 by the time he arrives
— shows his appetite to
remain competitive. Derby
County suits Rooney. He
wants to take his first steps
into coaching at a good
level and they are a club
knocking on the door of the
Premier League. I’m sure
the Manchester United
legend will offer them
plenty on and off the pitch.
The youngsters in the Derby
academy and even those in
the first-team dressing
room will look up to him. Ijust hope Phillip Cocu had a
say in this. Owner Mel
Morris was clearly keen to
jump on what he saw as a
decent opportunity, but
Cocu has to have final say as
manager. That has to be
respected. The Dutch coach
will be the one working
closely with Rooney, after
all, and he has been tasked
with pushing for promotion
to the Premier League. Cocu
should be trusted to pick his
own team of coaching staff,
so let’s hope this was a deal
he wanted done too.CHRIS
SUTTON’S
VERDICT
THIS could be the
perfect way for Wayne
Rooney to finish one stellar
career and start another.
The 33-year-old is coming
towards the end of his
playing days and has
aspirations to become a
coach. There seems to be no
better place for him to lay
those foundations than at
Derby County after the way
they helped Frank Lampard
take his first managerial steps.
It is a good fit. Rooney gets
that experience, and Derby
get a player-coach who has
that determination to do
well in England’s second tier.
Rooney has done well with
DC United in the MLS. He did
not simply go to the United
States to retire and earneasy money. He grafted
away, played well and scored
goals. The challenge for
Derby is to get themselves
into a good position ahead of
Rooney’s arrival in January.
In the last six seasons, they
have finished third, eighth,
fifth, ninth, sixth and then
sixth again. They have come
close but just cannot seem
to get themselves over the
line and into the Premier
League. Keep themselves in
contention for promotion
then maybe, with Rooney’s
help, this could be their year.MARTIN
KEOWN’S
VERDICT
Spurs tempted by Coutinho loan
TOTTENHAM are considering
a late move for Philippe
Coutinho ahead of
tomorrow’s transfer
deadline, after Barcelona
confirmed they will allow
the Brazil international out
on loan.
The former Liverpool
player is keen on a return
to the Premier League
and Tottenham need to
make contingency plans as
Manchester United discuss a
potential bid for Christian
Eriksen.
Eriksen has one year left
on contract at Tottenham
and their club chairman
Daniel Levy will listen to
substantial offers.
Sources in Spain say initial
talks have begun over
Coutinho’s loan, asBarcelona look to allow
their £142million signing to
move back to England. They
are seeking a loan fee of
around £20m and the
playmaker earns £210,000 a
week; Tottenham would
want those figures to be
subsidised.
As the UK summer transfer
window enters its final 48
hours, Tottenham are
working on a number of
options, with bids open for
Bruno Fernandes at Sporting
Lisbon, Giovani Lo Celso at
Real Betis and for Juventus
forward Paulo Dybala, who
failed to agree personal
terms with Manchester
United last week.
Tottenham, who haveinterest from France in right
back Serge Aurier, are
determined to deliver a
signing for manager Mauricio
Pochettino, who wants to be
backed in the market.
Pochettino has worked with
Coutinho previously, at
Espanyol while the
midfielder was there on
loan from Inter Milan in
2012, and the move could
prove the perfect catalyst to
kickstart the 27-year-old’s
career.
Liverpool have distanced
themselves from bringing
Coutinho back to Anfield,
and he is not considered a
priority by United or
Arsenal, who are
concentrating on adding a
centre-back, notably Dayot
Upamecano from Leipzig.By SIMON JONES
Moving on: Coutinho has
struggled at Barcelona BPI/REXLUKAKU ABSENT AS
INTER TALKS GO ON
RoMELU LUKAKU remained AWoL from
Manchester United for a second day as talks
continued over his move to Inter Milan.
Lukaku trained with Anderlecht Under 18s
again yesterday even though he has not been
given permission by United.
They were caught off guard when their
£75million striker was pictured in Anderlecht
kit at the Brussels club’s Neerpede training
complex on his day off on Monday, and
expected him back at Carrington yesterday.
old Trafford officials declined to comment.
Lukaku may not have been training with
United’s first team anyway after missing most
of pre-season and upsetting manager ole
Gunnar solskjaer by posting stats from a
squad sprint session on social media.
Indeed, with United facing their opening
game at home to Chelsea on sunday and rela-
tions with the player severely strained, it is
perhaps better for both sides that Lukaku
stays away until his move is completed.
United remain in talks with Inter after a
proposed deal with Juventus to swap Lukaku
for Paulo Dybala collapsed.
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