'Very strange' - Wayne Rooney admits to 'weird feeling' when spending time with wife Coleen and their four kids before taking Plymouth manager job

That was the case for the former Manchester United and England star when seeing a forgettable 83-day stint in charge of Birmingham brought to a close – with that coaching experiment from NFL legend Tom Brady and the Blues board quickly judged to have been a spectacular failure.

Rooney, who has also spent time in charge of Derby and D.C. United, returned to management in the summer of 2024 when taking the reins at Plymouth. He had spent five months away from football by that point, allowing him to indulge in more family-related activities.

Rooney has told The Overlap from Sky Bet of time spent being unemployed when moving into coaching: “I don't get down over it, because it's life. I've had the opportunity to do a lot more with my children, seeing the kids play, taking them to training, stuff like that. But yeah it is very strange, especially on a weekend, you're like 'what is going on'. I went to the Lakes last weekend with Coleen and the kids and it was so strange, there was football on, it was a weird feeling.”

Pressed on whether it was “strange” in a good way or left him questioning whether he wanted to return to the dugout, Rooney added: “Of course you want to be there. That's the buzz of football, the thrill of football whether that's as a player or manager. That's what I know, that's what I love doing. You want to be around that. Obviously as a player you're quite secure but as a manager it's a little bit different.”

Having spent plenty of time around his family in 2024, Rooney is now living apart from them. He is based in Plymouth, while his wife and kids reside in a Cheshire mansion some 260 miles away. Coleen will soon be heading to the other side of the world as she prepares to enter the Australian jungle as a contestant on ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’.