WAYNE ROONEY rocked up for training at 7am on his first day as Birmingham City boss and a security guard asked him: Who are you?
The former England captain turned down several job offers – including a moneybags proposal from a Saudi Arabian outfit – to take over at the Championship club following the sacking of John Eustace.
Rooney has not been able to sleep properly in recent days due to jetlag after flying back to the UK when he left his role last week with DC United in Washington.
And he decided to get to the training ground HQ before sunrise to begin work after signing a three-and-a-half year deal with the Blues.
Asked what surprised staff said when their new manager arrived so early, Rooney replied: “I don’t think he knew who it was!
“I couldn’t sleep! But I think it’s important as a manager, you set examples to the staff.
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“You want to be in, you want to be there, ready. There’s a lot of preparation as well that goes into the job.
“That’s part of the role and that’s something I’ve always done – get in early and make sure preparations are right.”
At the age of 37, this will be Rooney’s third managerial role, following a financial disaster with Derby County and then a poor display at the helm of MLS side DC United.
Garry Cook used to run the Saudi Pro League before becoming Birmingham CEO in June following the takeover by a US consortium at St Andrew’s.
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But during his time in the Middle East, Cook says he spoke with the ex-Manchester United forward about potentially moving to the oil-rich nation.
Rooney said: “This is no disrespect to any of the managers who have gone out there by the way.
“But for me, I felt my development, my pathway was a different way.
“For myself firstly to get back into English football is great. It’s what I’ve wanted to do.
“I’ve had opportunities over the last four to six weeks at other clubs as well to do that.
“But I think since speaking to Birmingham and seeing the ambitions of the club, where they want to go, where they want to get to, it excited me.
“I want to be successful. It’s clear this club wants to be successful and everything we spoke about really was very similar.
“It’s an exciting time and I’m delighted to be a part of it.
“I’m sure I will have a few sleepless nights. That’s part of the job. That’s probably why I’ve aged about ten years in the past two years.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
