Wayne Rooney has been praised for his ‘emotional intelligence’ after it emerged the Birmingham City manager once picked up one of his players was unhappy – by the way he ate his breakfast.
That claim comes from Hull City boss Liam Rosenior, who subjected Rooney to defeat in his first Blues home game on Wednesday as the Tigers capitalised on a poor display to leave St Andrew’s with a 2-0 victory.
Rosenior, who has Rooney’s assistant at Derby County, spoke glowingly about his former boss in the build up to and aftermath of that game – and has continued to do so.
While Rooney takes his team to Southampton, Rosenior’s Hull welcome Preston North End to Humberside. In a wide-ranging interview with the Times, Rosenior discussed Rooney's qualities as a manager.
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“Wayne’s one of the most emotionally intelligent people I’ve ever met,” Rosenior said. "We were sat in the canteen at Derby and he always used to eat his lunch or breakfast sitting watching the players. There was a certain player who was eating breakfast and Wayne looks across and said, ‘He’s not eating his breakfast the same as he normally does, he’s having a different breakfast and he’s eating a different way, I need to speak to him.’ Wayne pulled him aside, speaks to him and something really bad happened in his family the day before.
“People don’t give Wayne the credit that he deserves for his intelligence. He’s so street-smart, he understands people straight away. Wayne saw that I was outstanding at what I did in certain areas of football and he allowed me to do that, and that is top management. We created a trust that still goes on to this day. He knows if he ever needed anything from me I’d be there for him and I know the same the other way around. He will prove himself as a manager over time.”
Rooney has lost both of his matches since succeeding John Eustace at Blues, when the team was sitting sixth.
