Wayne Rooney is back in management with Plymouth.
The former England striker headed into his last job at Birmingham with a 27 per cent win rate across his first two roles with Derby and DC United – an overall figure that dropped to 26 per cent following his short stint at St Andrew’s.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the 38-year-old’s record in detail after being appointed head coach of Championship side Argyle.
Derby
Rooney moved from his playing role at Derby into the manager’s seat in November 2020, initially sharing the job with Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker.
They were bottom of the Championship at the time but climbed to 18th, eight points clear of the relegation zone, before a late-season slump saw them survive by just a point.
Their relegation the following season came after a total of 21 points were deducted – 12 for entering administration and nine for historical financial breaches.
They rallied with three successive wins in December 2021 and 10 in their final 25 games of the season and without the deductions would have finished 17th on 55 points.
Rooney won 24, drew 22 and lost 39 of his 85 games as Rams manager, including those with the managerial group in charge, for a 28.2 per cent win rate.
DC United
👔 Welcome back, Wayne 👏
The club is excited to announce @WayneRooney as the new head coach of D.C. United.
— D.C. United (@dcunited) July 12, 2022
That win percentage dipped to 25.9 with DC United as Rooney, having been appointed in July 2022, was unable to make his mark as a head coach in Major League Soccer.
His side were mathematically eliminated from play-off contention in the 2023 season despite the win over New York City on October 8 that marked the end of Rooney’s reign.
Rooney’s “mutually agreed” departure came with him having been boss for the whole of that season and the last 15 matches of the 2022 campaign.
His final record in all competitions, including two games in the US Open Cup and three in the Leagues Cup, read won 14, drew 14, lost 26.
Birmingham
Rooney was appointed as boss of Birmingham – who were taken over by United States-based Shelby Companies Limited in July and had seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady become a minority owner the following month – last October, two days on from the sacking of John Eustace while lying sixth in the Championship table.
He spoke of the goal of promotion, but defeat in his first match, 1-0 at Middlesbrough, set the tone and another 14 games later he departed with the team languishing in 20th place.
Blues registered victories in only two of Rooney’s 15 matches, with nine losses, for a win percentage of 13.3.
That gave him an overall managerial record of 40 wins from 154 games (26 per cent), with 40 draws and 74 defeats.