Wayne Rooney might be making a mistake with his next career move

When Wayne Rooney was a player, it was hard to envisage him carving out a career for himself in the media. It was hard to envisage him doing anything but pestering defenders and scoring goals, such was his laser-like focus on his football.

Rooney didn't exactly seem media-friendly. With his skinhead, rough exterior and heavy Scouse accent, he was the archetypal street footballer, who grew up on the tough streets of Liverpool and didn't give an inch, on or off the pitch.

There is always more than meets the eye, however, and since retiring in 2021 Rooney has already reinvented himself a couple of times, showing the full range of his skills and personality. Who could have foreseen him as the flag-bearer for Derby County as they fought off financial ruin? Or as a spokesman for soccer in the States, a bona fide MLS icon?

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More recently the Manchester United great has turned his hand to punditry and, once again, he's been a big hit. Uninhibited by the usual restrictions that befall regular television pundits, Rooney has waltzed into the studio and simply shown the best of himself.

There were always the stories about Rooney the dressing room prankster. In his early United days, he once changed the TV channel at Carrington from the rugby league to the X-Factor simply to irritate Roy Keane. He and Darren Fletcher once cut holes in Wes Brown's much-loved trainers.

The recent story Rooney told on the BBC about bumping into Micah Richards in Manchester showed that more playful side of the former United hero, exposing his old Man City adversary in hilarious fashion.

"I saw Micah in Wing's Chinese Restaurant. I was in there with my family for a quiet meal," Rooney began with a grin.

"Micah came in with about 20 of his guys...they're celebrating so I said, 'What are you celebrating?' Micah had made his 50th Premier League appearance! What's he doing?!"

Reaching the 50-game milestone probably didn't even register to a teenage Rooney, hence his astonishment at Richards' reaction. He probably just shrugged and smiled when he reached 250 goals. And his deadpan delivery – albeit with a glint in his eye – told you exactly what you need to know about him, now, at 38, comfortable with himself and his status within the game.

That was again evident when he took a rather more serious tone as he analysed a 1-0 United defeat to Arsenal on Sky Sports. Rooney said what few pundits would be brave enough to say when he questioned whether some of United's 10 injured players for that game could have actually played.

Asked if United's players were fighting for their manager, Rooney said: "If they are, I don't think they're showing it very well. The performances, and there are some good players in that squad, are way below par.

"As we look at the injuries they've picked up, some of those players can play, 100 per cent.

"When you have the European Championship coming up and an FA Cup final, it's easy for players to stay out of it a little bit, get back for the final and make sure they're ready for the European Championship. I've seen it myself over the years."

The studio fell silent in shock. You couldn't imagine Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher – two of the best in the punditry business, by the way – saying such a thing, but it was typically honest and from the heart from Rooney, akin to his old teammate Keane.

There have been other such razor-sharp moments from Rooney in recent weeks, but perhaps it's all been said in a certain context; in the knowledge that Rooney wouldn't be in the pundit's chair for long.

On his punditry debut for the BBC, Rooney set out his stall for the future – and it wasn't great news for TV directors who, no doubt, would love to keep him shackled to the studio.

After a disastrous 83-day spell as manager of Birmingham City, Rooney wanted a swift return to the dugout.

"I definitely want to get back into management. It was a setback what happened at Birmingham but I'm a fighter and I want to get back into it," he said.

"You know as a manager [being sacked] is part of the job and you will have setbacks. It's about how you bounce back.

"Managing Manchester United or Everton is the aim, these big jobs are where you want to get to. But it's a process. I have got to go through the steps and get myself back on track."

Full marks for ambition, Wazza. You need a thick skin as a modern-day manager and there's little doubt Rooney has that. Others would have been wounded by an experience such as the one he endured at St Andrew's – remember Neville at Valencia – but, just as he was a player, Rooney remains determination personified.

It wasn't as if Birmingham was the ideal place for him to cut his teeth in Championship management. He was hastily brought in to replace a boss, John Eustace, who was doing well and the fans didn't approve of his appointment. One failure doesn't make him a bad manager.

Now he's got that next chance he craved, after being appointed as manager of Plymouth Argyle. Rooney will compete in the Championship while his former club Birmingham try and haul themselves out of League One. It's an opportunity some who know football at that level believe Rooney has been lucky to get.

Not that Rooney will care. For him it's time to prove himself as a coach in the second tier and continue on that upward trajectory, like when he stunned the footballing world as a teenager at Everton, earning the big money move to United. Home Park provides the ideal location for that test and he'll hope his tenure is more akin to what he did at Derby than Birmingham.

Still, his absence from the punditry circuit will be missed – especially by audiences who value honesty, insight and humour.

Rooney might be making a mistake going down to Plymouth and back into the cauldron of the Championship, but he'll always have a career in the media if he wants it.