Wayne Rooney shows true Derby County colours with instant reaction to Nottingham Forest FA Cup win
Wayne Rooney shows true Derby County colours with instant reaction to Nottingham Forest FA Cup win
Former Derby County manager Wayne Rooney showed exactly where his loyalties lie with a quick response to Nottingham Forest advancing in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.
Rooney was in the BBC Match of the Day studio this weekend with Gary Lineker, Theo Walcott and Glenn Murray as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side advanced to the last four of the competition. After a drab first half, the game jumped into life when VAR overturned Forest’s penalty after adjudging that Kaoru Mitoma had not fouled Elliot Anderson.
This let-off appeared to spark something in the Seagulls as they pushed for a winner in extra time. They did have the ball in the back of the net only for it to be ruled out for offside.
Eventually a shootout was needed to separate the two teams with the Reds advancing after Matz Sels made two saves and Ryan Yates scored the final spot kick to win the tie 4-3. Following the match, Lineker prompted Rooney to sum up his reaction to the result and, half-jokingly, the 39-year-old replied: “Not really something I want to see with my Derby connections but overall I thought they were the best team on the night.”
Rooney represented the Rams not only as a manager but as a player too when he signed from MLS club DC United in January 2020. He would spend a year at Pride Park in the playing squad making 35 appearances and scoring seven goals before retiring in January 2021.
After spending the last few months of his playing days as caretaker manager, Rooney took on the role full-time shortly after announcing his retirement. He would spend 18 months in the dugout during some of Derby’s toughest times in history.
The Manchester United legend could not prevent the Rams dropping into League One and would leave the club in the summer of 2022 for a new challenge in the MLS with DC United. Since then, he has managed Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle to little success.
Argyle sacked him on New Year’s Eve and since then Rooney has turned his attention to punditry. He has appeared on Amazon Prime’s coverage of the Champions League, the Stick to Football podcast as well as BBC’s Match of the Day broadcasts.
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