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Curtis Davies makes Wayne Rooney admission after Derby County drama

Former Derby County captain Curtis Davies.
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Curtis Davies said he was "gutted" Wayne Rooney quit Derby County as manager as he praised his man-management skills.

Rooney left Derby in the summer of 2022 after the club were relegated from League One after a hugely turbulent season in the Championship.

After Chris Kirchner's ill-fated takeover collapsed at the end of that season, David Clowes came to the rescue to save the club from extinction.

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But Rooney decided enough was enough and left Pride Park, leaving Liam Rosenior to take over on an interim basis.

Rooney received praise for the way he managed the club through one of the darkest chapters in its history as he tried valiantly to keep them up despite points deductions and transfer embargoes. And Davies said he was sad to see the former Manchester United and England legend leave the club.

“As a man manager, brilliant, the little snippets that you get from Wayne Rooney compared to, with all due respect, getting them from another manager, and it was similar to Frank as well," he told the Essential EFL podcast.

“When he pulls you aside and says, even if he’s telling you a defensive point or he’s telling you a winger’s point or something that he didn’t play, you still listen because it’s Wayne Rooney and he knows football.

“He was just so good with the man management and like I say, those little nuggets of information around whatever was being set up by the other coaches.

“But I was really gutted when he left, to be honest, because I thought, you know, in League One, they have a good go at it, especially if we were going to be able to get an owner.”

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How do you reflect on Rooney's time at Pride Park? Have your say HERE.