7 Man Utd heroes’ careers in management as Rooney saves Derby from relegation
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has enjoyed his most successful day in management with Derby.
The Red Devils’ all-time top scorer saw his Rams secure a 3-3 draw against Sheffield Wednesday, enough to see them survive in the Championship.
Their fate also depended on Rotherham’s result against Cardiff, leading until the 88th minute as the Yorkshire side went down with a 1-1 draw.
Rooney’s experience of big days in football comes from 13 seasons at Old Trafford, scoring 253 goals in 559 appearances.
He is following a path that has been well-trod by former United players, such as Steve Bruce as the Newcastle boss, Gordon Strachan and even Andrei Kanchelskis in the Uzbekistan Super League.
So Daily Star Sport have picked out some Old Trafford heroes with memorable forays into management…
Gary Neville
United have a strong history of players leaving for Spanish football, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham at Real Madrid.
But the older Neville brother could not taste it as a manager with Valencia in December 2015.
Taking the side at eighth in La Liga and into the Europa League knockouts, he won just 11 games in 28 to drop four places and get knocked out of their cup competitions.
With a 7-0 Copa del Rey loss to Barcelona the low-light, the Sky Sports pundit has admitted he “under-estimated” the challeng e.
Phil Neville
The younger Neville brother, though, has enjoyed more success in the dugouts, having won the treble with his sibling.
After assistant roles in England’s U21 set-up and in Valencia, the first big job came in January 2018 with the Lionesses.
The former midfielder took the team to an unbeaten SheBelieves Cup in 2019, an unbeaten World Cup qualifying campaign and fourth in the final tournament.
But it all went south after the tournament in France, eventually stepping down in January as former team-mate Beckham gave him the job at Inter Miami.
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Laurent Blanc
The former Red Devils defender is perhaps the biggest success story in management from United.
Spending the last two years of his career with United and winning a Premier League honour, he picked up some tips from Sir Alex Ferguson.
Blanc took over at Bordeaux in 2007 fishing second that season before setting a winning record to win Ligue 1 the following year.
He was called on in 2010 to repair the national team following the disastrous World Cup campaign – but the suspension of all players involved saw building from the ground up become too much of a challenge.
The 55-year-old stayed in the capital, though, to win 11 titles with PSG over three years.
Blanc returned to management in Qatar last December, taking over with Al-Rayyan to finish third this season – 25 points behind Xavi’s Al Sadd.
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Paul Ince
United brought in the midfielder from West Ham to create chances during their rise to form in the early 1990s.
Continuing to play until 2007, he got a taste of management at Swindon and Macclesfield with moderate success.
But it was enough to entice MK Dons, whose gamble paid off as Ince brought them promotion from League Two.
And that caught struggling Premier League side Blackburn’s attention the following summer, becoming the first black manager in the English top-flight.
His luck ran out quickly, though, as three wins in 17 games got him dismissed in that December.
While he was given a chance again with MK Dons, Notts County and Blackpool the magic did not return as he stepped away from management in 2014.
Roy Keane
The former United captain was a commanding presence on the pitch, winning seven league titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League.
Following his exit and one season with Celtic, the Irishman wanted to translate that to management at Sunderland.
And he made a strong start, winning the Championship with the Black Cats in 2007.
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But the top-flight was a tough challenge, featuring a 7-1 loss to Everton before fallouts with the board led to his resignation in 009.
He was immediately snapped up by Ipswich – but inconsistent form saw him get dismissed after 20 months.
Keane has since held assistant roles with the Ireland national team, Aston Villa and Nottingham but is now seen with Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Ryan Giggs
After hitting 1,000 games for United, the Welshman found himself thrown into management.
Giggs, one of the Class of ’92, was called on to clean up the pieces after David Moyes was dismissed in April 2014.
And he recorded two wins from four games he became an assistant coach under Louis van Gaal.
The former forward left the club after Jose Mourinho’s appointment – but was back in management with the national side in 2018.
Giggs has recorded 16 wins in 30 games for his country, securing qualification for the upcoming Euro 2020 tournament.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Of course the United manager himself had to be included!
The Norwegian was the hero in 1999 as his goal secured a historic treble for the club as he scored 126 goals in 366 appearances.
But Solskjaer made himself a student of Sir Alex’s managerial ways, immediately taking over the reserves after his 2007 retirement.
He arrived at Molde two years later to hone his skills, with a relegation-bound eight-month spell with Cardiff in-between.
The Smiling Assassin did return to England, though, when Mourinho got the sack in December 2018 following defeat to Liverpool.
Taking the role of caretaker boss, his run of 14 wins in 19 games earned the job at Old Trafford permanently.
Now two-and-a-half years into the job, United are second in the Premier League – having topped the table in the New Year for the first since Sir Alex’s days – and into the Europa League final.
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