Rooney started his coaching career at Derby County in the 2020-2022 period, leading the team in 85 matches with a winning rate of only 28%. His rate at DC United dropped to 26%, and at Birmingham it was 13%. Birmingham also fell 14 places, to 20th place, during Rooney’s time in charge. The 39-year-old coach said that it will take him a while to get over this failure and return to football.

Gary Neville was not much better when he was suddenly invited by Valencia to take charge in 2015-2016, despite having no experience as a head coach. Although they were in good form in La Liga, Neville only won 36% of their matches, only to be fired after less than four months . The time he was stripped of his leadership was at the end of March 2016, and at that time the team was only six points above the relegation zone.

Gary’s assistant at that time was his younger brother Phil Neville. Neither of them spoke Spanish, and they were unpopular with fans right from the beginning. Phil is also a former Man Utd player, later leading the England women’s team, Inter Miami and currently the Portland Timbers in the US. Under Phil, Miami ranked 11th out of 14 teams in the MLS East in the first season, then finished bottom in the second season and was fired by his former teammate and now the club’s owner – David Beckham.

The Neville brothers are probably not as bad as Paul Scholes. This talented former midfielder tried his hand at Oldham Athletic in 2019, in the Fourth Division, but resigned after just seven games, with a 14% win rate.

Another legend at Old Trafford, Ryan Giggs, has not been an official coach of any professional club, but once led the Wales team. Before he could make any mark, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Giggs is considered the most successful player of the Ferguson era, also with 13 Premier League titles, but encountered many off-field problems.

Roy Keane was once expected to become a good coach, because he showed leadership qualities when he played for Man Utd in the period 1993-2005. Therefore, the Irish coach was appointed to lead Sunderland in the English First Division, right after hanging up his boots. He helped the team win this playground, to win promotion to the Premier League. But in his first season in the top division, he only won 29% of matches, when the team ranked 15th. When Keane resigned, Sunderland fans took to the streets to celebrate.

Other coaches considered more successful in the Premier League include Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Hughes was the first coach under UAE boss Mansour Al Nahyan at Man City, but his win rate was only 47%, and then he was fired after just one year. In October 2023, he continued to be fired by fourth-place team Bradford.

Bruce has also coached mid-range clubs in the Premier League, with his best achievement being helping Hull City reach the FA Cup final in 2014. However, he has never tried his hand at big teams. Solskjaer is less experienced, but was given the right to lead Man Utd in the 2018-2021 period, helping the team reach the Europa League final. Since the post-Ferguson era, Solskjaer is the only coach to help Man Utd finish in the Top 4 for two consecutive seasons. This achievement could not be achieved by Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho or maybe even Erik ten Hag.

Gabriel Heinze has spent nearly nine years coaching since retiring, without winning any titles in Argentina. Similar is the case of Jaap Stam with Dutch and American clubs. Ruud van Nistelrooy once helped PSV win the Dutch Cup, but was not considered successful so he resigned immediately afterwards. Michael Carrick is making a bit of an impression at Middlesbrough, helping the team reach the semi-finals of the English League Cup, but is only ranked 12th in the First Division.

Ferguson’s former student, considered the most successful as a coach, is Laurent Blanc. He was a member of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, and played for Barca and many top European tournaments. After hanging up his boots, this former midfielder helped Bordeaux unexpectedly win Ligue 1 in 2009, not to mention the French League Cup. He has three more times to repeat this achievement with PSG, but the 59-year-old coach’s career is going downhill in Lyon.

Ferguson also has students from his time at Aberdeen such as Alex McLeish – who helped Birmingham win the English League Cup in 2011, or Gordon Strachan, who was four times the best coach of the month in the Premier League. But their success is limited to English football.

Not only former students, Ferguson’s assistants were also unsuccessful as “captains”. Steve McClaren once caused England to lose their place in Euro 2008, and is now back to work as an assistant at Man Utd. Carlos Queiroz failed when trying out for Real Madrid or the Portuguese team, Mike Phelan only won 25% of his matches at Hull City, and Brian Kidd and Rene Maulensteen were both soon fired by Blackburn Rovers and Fulham.

Ferguson’s influence on his juniors is not comparable to other legendary coaches such as Johan Cruyff, Bobby Robson or Marcelo Bielsa. Pep Guardiola became a great coach thanks to his years as Cruyff’s student. Robson also molded Jose Mourinho from an assistant interpreter into a two-time Champions League winning coach. Bielsa is the teacher of many top coaches such as Diego Simeone or Mauricio Pochettino. And even though he never played under Bielsa, coach Zinedine Zidane also went to Marseille to learn from the Argentine strategist.

McClaren once said that the secret to Ferguson’s success lies in his ability to adapt, when he said: “Ferguson can destroy a team and rebuild it and still be successful, because he knows what type of player is needed.” McClaren’s view is agreed by football expert Jonathan Wilson. Wilson also believes that Ferguson is “as good at developing football tactics as any other coach”.

Before succeeding at Man Utd, Ferguson also spent four years empty-handed. He himself once said that his situation at that time was different from the current coaches. “These days, football team owners come from all over the world, are ambitious and of course impatient,” Ferguson told Mirror in March 2017.

Ferguson is good at adapting, but it also takes time. Rooney himself also mentioned this word, after announcing his dismissal from Birmingham on January 2. “Time is the most valuable thing for a coach,” said the former Man Utd and England captain. “And 13 weeks is not enough for the team to change.”

It’s possible that a Ferguson student could be as successful as him if given more time, but no one can guarantee that. Nowadays, many coaches can be successful in their first season, even their first matches. The number of Ferguson’s students still playing is decreasing, and among them, it is difficult to find a successor to the legacy he left behind over the past 10 years.