When Rooney arrived at Pride Park at the beginning of the year, many predicted him to one day sit in the hot-seat at the club. Joining as a player-coach, the former captain of Manchester United, Everton and England, was clearly taking the initial steps on a pathway to become a future club manager.
The awe of the player has certainly been felt inside the dressing room, a contributing factor as to why Derby have trusted the Englishman to now step in momentarily - a leader on and off the field needed to help guide the club out of the bottom three.
Given the context, it wasn't a surprise to see Rooney be initially granted the label as the betting favourite to be the next permanent manager of Derby at 5/4. Football is all about results though, and the 35-year-old did not get off to the dream start that he would have wished.
The 3-0 defeat to Middlesbrough was particularly deflating, and the 1-1 draw with Wycombe was simply frustrating. Such results have showcased just how tough the job at hand is for any manager coming in, due to the depleted numbers in quality in the squad. Inevitably, Rooney's price has slightly been on the drift. As of Tuesday, he is 6/4, but did go into 8/1 last week.