Gary Lineker fires Wayne Rooney dig after Birmingham City, Plymouth Argyle struggles | OneFootball

Gary Lineker joked about Wayne Rooney's managerial ability after his tough spells at Birmingham and Plymouth.

Gary Lineker joked that Wayne Rooney wouldn’t know what it was like to manage a winning team after his difficult spells with Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle.

The Man Utd legend has taken to punditry since he was sacked by Argyle back in December, and he was working for the BBC covering the FA Cup final as Crystal Palace beat Man City thanks to an Eberechi Eze goal at Wembley to clinch the famous trophy.

The game didn’t pass without incident though, as City were furious that Dean Henderson wasn’t sent off for appearing to deny an obvious goalscoring opportunity by handling the ball outside the box when Erling Haaland would have gone through for an open goal.

Gary Lineker has Wayne Rooney dig during FA Cup final

As part of the half-time analysis, fellow pundit Micah Richards asked Rooney how a manager would go about things when they are in the lead, as Palace were a goal up at the break.

That saw Lineker step in, as quoted by Goal, as he joked that ‘his teams were never 1-0 up!’ before apologising.

To his credit, Rooney laughed off the cheeky dig, which was clearly meant as a light-hearted remark from the presenter.

The dig, however, will feel all-too-real for supporters of Birmingham and Plymouth. Both sides were relegated in seasons in which Rooney was in charge, and he's not fondly remembered at either.

Wayne Rooney’s next job is crucial for his managerial future

We all know that Rooney had a magnificent playing career, but he has struggled to make the same impact in the dugout.

In fairness, he did do well under very challenging circumstances at Derby, but his subsequent stints at DC United, Birmingham and Plymouth didn’t go as planned.

He can point to specific circumstances in each case as to why it didn’t work out, but the reality is that all managers are judged on results, and, at Blues and Argyle in particular, they weren’t good enough, which is on the manager.

From the way Rooney speaks in the media, he still has a passion and love for coaching, and you would think, because of his experience, he will have something to offer to players.

So, he will need to pick his next job carefully, even if it means dropping to a lower level, but it’s worth noting that he is still very young for a coach.