Wayne Rooney has spent his coaching years fighting fires at Derby County & D.C. United, but now he must take ambitious Birmingham to new heights - is he up to the task?

Rooney cut his coaching teeth with Derby, first as a part-time player, part-time assistant coach to Philippe Cocu, and then as permanent manager after the Dutchman was sacked.

The Rams were bottom of the Championship when Rooney made the transition, having taken six points from 11 matches. Under Rooney, who was interim boss for two weeks before taking the role permanently, they picked up 40 points from 35 games and ended the campaign one place and one point above the relegation zone.

It was not exactly a great escape, however. Derby lost six of their final seven matches and only achieved survival on the final day of the season after the most frantic of finishes. They snatched a 3-3 draw against fellow relegation contenders Sheffield Wednesday with a late equaliser from the penalty spot, sending the Owls down instead.

They also had to rely on Cardiff City equalising in the 88th minute against Rotherham United, who would otherwise have stayed up and relegated Derby.

Derby could not avoid relegation in Rooney's second campaign in charge, but this was the season when his reputation as manager grew. The club's long-running financial issues condemned the Rams before the season had begun as they were placed in administration and unable to make any transfers.

Matters only got worse when they were hit with a 12-point penalty in September and then had an additional nine points docked in November for breaching the league's accounting rules. The punishments only made Derby more defiant, and Rooney was credited for leading a brilliant run of five wins and three draws in 10 matches to give them a semblance of hope of avoiding relegation.

Derby's form led to Everton approaching Rooney when they sacked Rafael Benitez, but he turned down an interview to focus on trying to keep the Rams up. That hope eventually faded and Derby were relegated in April, eventually finishing second from bottom. If it had not been for the points deduction, they would have finished 17th, taking 55 points.

Rooney was given a great reception by supporters following a rousing speech to outside the club's training ground after being relegated. "We're grateful for the support you've shown us all season. It's been f*cking tough, been hard. Difficult moments for us, for you especially", Rooney said. "But we've tried our best, we've given everything we can. It's unfortunate we've been relegated but now we'll plan to make sure this club comes back."

Rooney did not keep his promise, though, as he left Derby in June 2022 after the planned takeover by Chris Kirchner fell through.

Just a month after leaving Derby, Rooney went back to D.C. United, the penultimate club of his playing career. As with Derby, he inherited a club in a mess. D.C. United were bottom of the Eastern Conference when he succeeded Hernan Losada, and in 15 months he oversaw a big improvement.

But it was ultimately not enough and D.C. failed to make the play-offs in Rooney's first and only full season in charge, finishing ninth in the 15-team Eastern Conference. They lost 14 of their 34 matches while winning just 10.

Rooney was happy to admit that he saw his time in D.C. as another step in his coaching education. "Coming out here has just really been about gaining experience and for me to try and develop as a coach," Rooney told PA Media in July.

“I know I am not where I want to be as a finished article, but these next few years are really important in terms of me getting to grips and getting the best out of myself and eventually out of the players. But it is something I really enjoy. It’s a great experience for me to come here and work and I think it will really help me moving forward.”

One problem that some world-class footballers have when they turn to coaching is a lack of empathy with players not quite at their level. That does not appear to be the case, however, with Rooney, who has developed close relationships with his players.

“He makes you think about things that you have never thought about the game," former D.C. United midfielder Lewis O'Brien told The Express. "You watch videos and he’ll stop it and his assistant coaches would stop and ask ‘Where should you play it now?’. I would give my answer and then Wayne would go ‘No, you should have played this pass five seconds ago because that guy is running that way and his footwork is out’.

“I didn’t think of anything like that. There are just sides of the game that players don’t see and to have a coach like Wayne and the backroom staff, who have been with him for a while, to understand those little things is strange. I’ve tried to take the most out of this situation as possible.”

Derby striker Martyn Waghorn, meanwhile, said Rooney always looked to lift the spirits of the younger players and was a soothing presence on the sidelines. "He could sense there was anxiousness and just tried to calm it down as much as he can, saying don't worry, it'll be fine I believe in you," Waghorn told Talksport. "He's got that winning mentality, but in terms of relaying it across to the players, he's very relaxed. He brings a lot of calm in pressure situatons. A really good presence to have in the side."

But there is still the inescapable truth that Rooney is an inexperienced manager with fewer than three seasons under his belt and far from convincing results. Across all competitions with Derby and D.C. United, Rooney has won just 38 matches, a win rate of 27 percent, while drawing 36 games and losing 65. His teams have scored 138 goals, fewer than one per game, while letting in 186. It is not exactly a record that suggests he will be able to achieve great things with Birmingham, whose co-owner Tom Wagner wants to make the club "a beacon of sporting excellence".

And many Birmingham fans are wary of replacing a successful if unglamorous manager with a big name. When the club sacked Gary Rowett midway through the 2016-17 campaign, they were in play-off contention, but replaced him with ex-Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola, with disastrous results. Zola was sacked five months later and Birmingham only avoided relegation on the final day of the season.

Although Rooney has got a solid reputation as a coach, it is clear that his incredible playing career, in which he became all-time top scorer for Manchester United and England (he has since been overtaken by Harry Kane) while lifting every trophy in English and European football, was a huge factor.

"Wayne is a born winner," said Wagner. "We believe, with the support of his coaching staff, the club, and our supporters, he will take Blues forward on the next stage of our journey. His playing philosophy will help to realise the ambitions we have set for Birmingham City."

Rooney will also undoubtedly have got the seal approval from Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion. And Rooney has revealed that he wants to get the former quarter-back to meet with the players and instill his mentality on them.

“What is important for the players is to see Tom having an involvement,” Rooney said at his unveiling. “At different clubs, you see athletes getting involved, but they’re not really involved at all, just a name who is involved. It’s clear he’s fully involved in developing the club. It’s great for Birmingham to have him on board and invested in it.

“Tom Brady will have a lot of advice he can give to me, but one of the things I want to do when he is over next is get him in front of the players and get him talking to the players and get him sharing his story. It would be great for me to listen to that and I am sure it will be really inspiring.”

Unlike with Derby and D.C United, Rooney will be working within a club that is looking towards a bright future, rather than staring into the abyss. Shelby Companies Limited, the company launched by Wagner in a not-so-subtle nod to the Peaky Blinders, has big ambitions for the club and are clearly motivated by the success Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have had as owners of Wrexham. The American owners are redeveloping St Andrews and have clear intent to take Birmingham into the Premier League as soon as they can.

“It will be nice to focus on the training sessions and games, while having a team above me who I can have that trust in to make sure everything is right,” Rooney said. “Maybe that wasn’t the case at my two previous clubs.”

And rather than taking over teams at the bottom of the table as with his previous clubs, he is now inheriting a team already in a strong position, already in the play-off places and 10 points from the automatic-promotion spots.

"I love the fact we are in a good position. I love the challenge. I love the pressure of it," Rooney said. "That is something I have dealt with since I was a young kid, coming through from 16 years of age. It might be new to some of the players, so my job is to make sure that I get them ready for that."

On the other hand, Rooney will have no excuses for not succeeding with Birmingham. The time has come for one of the game's best-ever players to show he can be a top manager too. After three years fighting fires, Rooney must now show he can build something.