Wayne Rooney ends his playing days to become Derby County manager

Plus the knowledge that the precocious brilliance which saw him score that fantastic first goal against Arsenal at Goodison Park would never quite deliver the promised fulfilment of a really brilliant career, despite the acknowledged achievements for Manchester United and England.

"Thomas, we agree on something!"

???????

Contrary to some I class him as a true Evertonian savvy enough to understand the industry of football and smart enough to suss out amateurs like Moyes and Kenwright.

I suspect the weight of expectation would have seen him implode if he stayed whereas at Utd he was one of many stars creating a niche as a talented "fill in" shuffling from the wing to striker to midfield.

The loyalty thing is schoolboy thinking the "job" of a footballer bears no relationship to the emotive wants of fans something I wish I had understood when turning down Shankly's Liverpool as a teen.

Everton told me to fuck off 🤣🤣

He's going into management without the advantages that Slippy G has at Rangers (they only have Celtic to compete with) so I hope he has a lot of success at Derby.

I wasnt sure what you were referring to. Dont recall the conversation tbh.
Will go back and have a look now.

Often you would read of the "toxic reception" Rooney had received at Goodison. The media were on it like a tramp on chips and made out that it was the whole of Goodison. That is of course bollocks. 10-15 thousand angry people can make an awful lot of noise. I don't know how many abused him, but I do know it was far from everyone.

Rooney was unique; Every Evertonian knew he was coming long before he actually got here. I remember a whole group of people who handnt seen him play surrounding Colin Harvey in the car park.. "What's he like Col ?"...Harvey just gave a knowing look and said "You'll see"...All present nearly pissed themselves. Rooneys reputation just grew and grew.

Fast forward a couple of years to St Mary's. The most famous kid in the country was told to get off the bench and get warmed up...I have never seen a reaction like it. The Evertonians were not just on their feet they were standing on the fucking seats. A few had seen him play, but the majority were craning to get their first glimpse of the wonder kid warming up. Even the Southampton fans were on their feet.
TGT being TGT somehow managed to piss on everyone's parade. He told him to sit back down again and we didnt get to see him that Day.
A few weeks later, after taking the football world by storm. He was on the bench at Mordor. He came on to huge jeers and cat calls from the great unwashed. An Evertonian started chanting "Rooney's gonna get ya". The chant gathered legs... "Rooney's gonna get ya" rang around Anfield road.
Shortly after coming on, Rooney picks up the ball to the expected moronic jeers. He takes a couple of strides and hits a screamer. A bastard deflection took it onto the crossbar and it bounced back out. Jammy cuunnttzzz.

It was so frustrating to see the ball come back off the bar, but it was marvellous to see 40,000 kopites all scrambling to get behind the couch. They were shitting themselves and we knew it..."Rooneys gonna get ya"

My take on the hostility directed at Rooney is that it was done more in hurt than Hate. Our golden boy had been allowed to slip from our fingers and raw Evertonians simply lashed out. You always hurt the ones you love

Moyes had undoubted assembled a decent team back then and thats what still bothers me. We still couldnt get near clubs like United because they had players like Rooney.
The question I always ask myself is. Would an Everton team which included Wayne Rooney have bridged the gap with a Man united team which didnt ?. Could we have won some of their trophies ?

If uncle Bill had stood his ground, fucked Man United off and made Rooney (and his representatives) an offer they couldnt refuse. would the 21st century Everton have been be a very different beast to the one we see now ?

Uncle Bills agony whilst crying on the phone to his Ma " They've took our boy" would have gained sympathy with many an Evertonian if it wasnt for the fact that While he was holding the phone with one hand He was taking the Mancs money with the other

Didn't even come in for me instead took my mate with the touch of a donkey (sorry Alex if you're still alive 🤣).

And you're right didn't even get a sniff of the fried onions - dyagettit??

Oh please yourself

Enjoyable debate we both took part in last night.
Enjoy your vino

I still wonder what if we could have kept him?! I think time was a healer for most fans and I still now really feel pride when he talks about being an Evertonian despite being MU top scorer ever. I think the badge kissing nonsense was immaturity and possibly a lack of sense!

Funny enough I watched the Arsenal game on YouTube with my 6 year old yesterday and the sense of anticipation in the crowd when he came on was huge!

It’s all about timing because if he came through now with the finances so much improved he could have been the Everton legend he wanted to be!

I’m just glad I got to see him play in his second spell! Was there for Stoke game and the crowd picture behind him when he scored will always be a memory to savour.

Good luck with Derby Wayne! Hope it works out!

"WE HATE YOU SO MUCH BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH"

I agree with Andrew Keatley that Rooney was better than Ronaldo and Messi as a teenager and by some margin. He just didn't have the dedicated cast of mind to avoid the smokes, the booze and other, ahem, distractions.

What a joy to have seen him as a superlative, hugely thrilling force.

All water under the bridge now.

I'm in complete agreement with that. People are often surprised “Eh?? He had a great career, all kinds of records etc”.

It starts with being the best 16-year-old I've ever seen, carried on into his teens, and of course was a wonderful wonderful player. But I don't think of him in his later years as a Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Best, or Messi and Ronaldo. It's hard to think we'll ever have such a player again let alone a homegrown 16-year-old.

As I said a wonderful, wonderful player – but never the best player in the world I once thought he'd be.

Darren (12), in that Anfield game you describe so well, if that shot, deflected by Henchoz onto the bar, had gone in, Wayne would have been fined by the FA. His shirt was coming off and on his tee-shirt underneath read "Kopites are Gobshites". This kid, like his dad, was a committed Bluenose.

The least said about Kenwright in the deal that followed, with Wayne going to Man Utd, the better; Everton were robbed. Rooney saved the club financially by signing for United. I never begrudged him going but every goal he scored for United hurt.

He went and I wished him good luck which he didn't really need. He had skill in abundance to have a great career. I didn't want him to come back, he was way past his best, and didn't do justice to the great player he had been. One of the very best I have ever seen in a Blue shirt. For all-round ability, probably the best – he just wasn't here long enough.

Best of luck to him with his managerial career and thanks for those few but very memorial matches when you enthralled us Bluenoses.

Although Man Utd were of course winning major silverware before Rooney arrived. Their squad was heaving with quality with so many goalscorers. Everton with Rooney (IMO) would not have competed, as the squad couldn't match. Players such as Cantona, Van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole, Ferdinand, Giggs, Scholes, Schmeichel etc – the quality was incredible. At the same time, look at the Arsenal squad.

We had Kevin Kilbane, a non-scoring Duncan Ferguson, and a negative defensive manager. Why would Rooney want to stay? I don't blame him for leaving, he's won many titles and the Champions League.

Quite why you choose to spend your time on here winding people up with your crazed confirmation bias is still a mystery to me.

Not being able to get back to Liverpool makes me miss the place so much more than I did when I could just come and go...

It's about potential really.

Obviously Rooney achieved a great deal in his career, but I think he had the potential to achieve so much more.

Whether it was his response to his own success, off-the-field distractions, injuries, weight issues, lack of fitness, his hair transplants, bad people around him, or any other number of other factors that affect players and then find their way onto the pitch, the fleet-footed direct Rooney seemed to prematurely be replaced by a slower, less-explosive player who was still very good, but one who sparked less and was not so capable of the truly remarkable moments that were a feature of the first seven or so years of his career.

You always sound like a fanny when you've had a decent bevy.

Dave A,

I had no idea who the deflection came off, but I will always bow to your memory.

You, Johnny Mac and a few others on here defy belief. It doesnt seem to matter whether it happened last month, last year, or 60 years ago. The mental photographs have been taken and preserved.

Ask daft-arsed Casho what he had for his dinner tonight and he won't have a scooby...

A brilliant player who gave the best one-man show I've seen when he ripped Ivan Campo to shreds against Bolton at Goodison.

He had to be sold to keep the club afloat, I believe, and I couldn't blame him if he fancied the move as, at that age, he'd be swayed by the lure of trophies rather than struggling to get into the lesser European competitions.

Good luck, Wayne – maybe see you back here again one day?

When Wayne left, the very next season – where did Everton finish? 4th, yep our highest Premier League finish in our history... Not bad for a rubbish team and a defensive manager with a fraction of Man Utd's budget!!!

As an individual with his scoring record for England, coupled with his club scoring record, plus winning every club trophy there was, I think it's a bit weird to talk of unfulfilled potential.

Now, with regard to Everton, I think Dave Abrahams is on the money, so I don't bear him any ill will regarding either of his spells or departures.

It shouldn't bemuse you if you know that – as Tony Hill (24) mentions – the teenage Rooney had turned many more heads that future GOAT candidates Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had at similar stages in their careers. I'd even say that Mbappe (who I think is probably the best player of his generation) – in spite of winning the World Cup at 18 – was not as impressive as the teenage Rooney.

Lots of players at Manchester United in that period won the same trophy haul that Wayne Rooney did. It's never trophies that are the ultimate mark of greatness – not in team sport. I hoped and believed that Rooney would build on his phenomenal start – because that is what he was – a phenomenon. That's why I look at his achievements and feel like they are short of what I felt he was capable of as I genuinely believed he would be the player of his generation and be a regular challenger (and winner) for the Ballon D'Or.

Thoroughbred and not only would have driven us on but England lost out. Honestly, I shiver at the thought of him fulfilling his potential with us...

Most of us felt a massively let down by the club and the player himself at the time of his departure although, in hindsight, the transfer kept the club afloat similar to that of Arteta and Lescott and put him on the stage that he deserved.

If we produced another Rooney in the next couple of years, are we as a club in a better position to keep him away from the clutches of the big guns? The answer is No.

To have any chance of retaining talent, we need to play and compete in the Champions League.

Moise Kean is playing with Neymar and Mbappe. What must Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin think when they line up with Tom Davies and Cenk Tosun against Sheffield Wednesday next week?

From The Sun today: "Ex-Everton Star in Hot Water after Spa romp with hookers"

That game against Arsenal, stood in the Gwladys street end. The goal seemed like the start of something, the start of an era. It was 6 wins on the trot if my memory serves me right, and the best teenager in the world just announced himself to the world.

Unfortunately, that is the end of his story with Everton. He won it all, and we remained in mediocrity. When he left, I was devastated. And the cycle of an Evertonian's life seemed destined – hope, quickly dashed with despair.

He was a fine player. An England legend.

But for Everton, he was nothing more than a goal against Arsenal.

Hope he makes it as a manager and comes back to lead us to glory... obviously if Carlo decides to step down.

He and his money-grabbing agent took the coin and he became a Man Utd legend instead of a Blue legend.

He then proceeded to mess his career up with his lifestyle of drinking and smoking so the Mancs found a convenient taker in teary Bill to remove the £350k-a-week wages from their wagebill so we got screwed on two counts – undersold him and took him back when he was past his sell-by date at great expense.

For me it wasn't so much we did bring him back but that we didn't need him. We ran our best no 10 (another one of us) in Barkley out of the club only to sign bloody Rooney and Klaassen, terrible recruitment which set us back spectacularly. Darren Hind, amazing post.

*goes out on a limb* with a few better players around him and Coaches who knew what they doing he could've done exactly what James is doing...if he could but restrain himself from thinking he was still 18 (we've all been there) and wanting to run after every ball like he used to.

In a modern game that is essentially a 10,000m race with sprints every 2 mins, spread over 90+mins. Rooney was burdened with a body more suited to a Middle Weight boxer than a Middle Distance runner.

And he was still 'kin brilliant.

If he can translate his football brain into management he should go far - Good Luck to him.

To watch Wayne play in the youth team was extraordinary. I recall going into work the day after one of the games and told one of my mates that I had seen the next Pele. He just laughed.

I remember one of the goals Rooney laid on. He got crocked, down towards the Bullens Road corner of the Park End penalty area, and could hardly walk. The ball was by the dug-out and Wayne somehow broke into a sprint across the pitch and put in a crunching tackle, taking possession of the ball. He set off with it down the Main Stand touch line, beat a couple of opponents, cut into the Park End penalty area along the goal line, drew the goalie and played a pass for the centre forward to tap the ball into an open net. It was jaw-dropping.

I was at the match at Southampton when he was sub, my pal who lived down there was bemused, and unimpressed, by the clamour and racket for him to come on. Moyes, in his pale beige cardigan-wearing imitation of Sir Alex Ferguson, put the kid back on the bench. It was the start of Moyes’s hopeless, feeble mis-management of the greatest young talent we’ve ever seen.

He’s done very well for himself. It will be fascinating to see whether he can succeed as a manager.

He was Man Utds all time top scorer as well as England's top scorer, that is pretty impressive. Will probably be a long time before either record is broken.
Not only did he score a lot of goals he also scored some of the greatest goals, and he was also a great team player. The sadness for Evertonians is that he only wore the Blue shirt at the beginning and the end of his career, and how wonderful it would have been if we had got the financial backing then that we have now, which would have allowed Wayne to stay rather than have to go elsewhere to win trophies. Wayne was and still is a staunch Blue but he knew if he wanted to win league trophies and European trophies he had to move to Man Utd. At best we may have got another season out of him but Paul Gregg scuppered any chance of that happening.

I was lucky that an aunt lived next door to Wayne and his family and I was to play in a golf charity event, so I asked her would it be possible for her to ask Wayne to sign a shirt that could be auctioned off. He said of course so at 12.00 on the day of our home game I went to my aunts house and she took me round to see Wayne who was extremely shy, and he signed our Salmon pink away kit. The shirt raised over £2,500 for charity, being selfish I wished I had taken another shirt along that I could have kept.

I think one day Wayne will either come back and manage us or Man Utd, lets hope its us as I think he will become an excellent manager.

When he came on, it was brilliant to watch him and mad Tommy Gravesen take the piss out of Dunfermline. They were trying to outdo each other with the most outrageous play.

There was only one person both the Blues and Pars supporters were talking about in the ale house afterwards...

The best individual performance of any Everton player I have ever seen, in all my years of watching the Blues, came in 0-0 draw with Bolton.

He was 17 years of age.

'You could have been a God, but you chose to be a Devil.'

It hurt the fan base deeply as his return visits to Goodison demonstrated. And being the young scally that he was, he milked it, positively thrived on it.

Personally, I don't begrudge him one iota that he left us. He had God-given talent. A burning ambition to succeed. He would never have left us if the structure was in place to succeed at Everton. It wasn't.

To portray Wayne in the poor light as some have in this thread astonishes me. To accuse him of not being a 'True Blue' is a denial of how he raised his own kids. To confuse career and business decisions with heart and soul.

Coming off the back of his astounding performance at Euro 2004, he was merely the pawn in a power game between British football's most successful (and hardnosed) manager ever; his perjury-stained agent; and our own master of the spectacle, the Everton club chairman. An 18-year-old from Crocky was not the evil, manipulative, cat-stroking Blofeld behind his move.

As for the notion expressed by some that he never fulfilled his teenage potential, 120 England caps, 763 senior appearances for four different clubs, five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, three EFL Cups, a Champions League, a Europa League and England's and Manchester United's record goalscorer, rather tells a different story.

Watching how he manages is going to be interesting. The BBC have penned this report on how he landed the Derby job full-time. He appears a more studious and less volatile persona as a manager than he was as a player.

Wayne Rooney The Manager

No begrudgement from me. I wish him well.

I don't understand the bitterness towards him, did people really expect him to be our equivalent of Steve Bull?

I agree with you. He left, I moved on... he moved on – and Everton moved on. We got into Europe and, for me, that was that.

I don't care what he did off the field – I bet there are worse things done by people on here.

Incredible he never scored but it wasn't through a lack of trying, and to see him with his hands cupped by his sides, constantly asking for the ball, was a thing of beauty for anyone who loves to watch great footballers.

I don't blame him for leaving but I will never understand why he didn't want to stay a little bit longer at his boyhood club, unless he was privately told it was for the good of Everton Football Club... or for the greatest Evertonian in the world.

But then, he was a young lad and would have been getting all sorts from the many sources around him – not least Agents, Directors and those said to have had interests in his newly acquired agent.

For me, a day of shame for all those so-called Blues involved in what could be described as a very dodgy deal.

Everton (the whole club) was in a complete mess on and off the pitch with little chance of turning it around anytime soon. £50M in debt with a huge tax bill, I vaguely remember.

An opportunity to join a huge, successful winning club that believed in him and were willing to pay him and his club an absolute fortune for him. This was before mega money entered the Premier League.

If at 18 years old you're already head and shoulders the best player at a club (or believed you were), then of course you would want to challenge yourself to improve and win things.

It was a very good deal for both Everton and Rooney. Gutted, yes, but we couldn't keep him happy and we needed the money.

Could we have bargained harder, got another million or two? Possibly, but that doesn't change any of the above reasons.

Anyway, yes he, Cahil, Arteta and Phil Neville we're the likely future coaches and managers. Be interesting what the next 10 years prove to be for them.