Nathan Rooney interview: Taking Gibraltar side Bruno's Magpies into Europe and d ...

Nathan Rooney had a taste of managing in Europe earlier this season. The Blackburn-born coach of Gibraltarian club Bruno's Magpies was 10 minutes away from the win that would have set up a Europa Conference League tie with Swiss side FC Basel.

"I felt like I was where I wanted to be," he tells Sky Sports. Two late goals for Crusaders ended that adventure but, having recently turned 33, Rooney's is just starting. And that run to Europe fully justifies his decision to step out of his comfort zone in England.

"The buzz around Gibraltar was amazing. People were stopping us in the street. We felt that support. Since we have been successful we have had two or three call-ups for players who had never been looked at before. We are changing the attitudes."

Football aficionados will be aware of Lincoln Red Imps, the perennial champions in Gibraltar, but within a year Rooney has Bruno's Magpies - a former pub team - in touch with them at the top. "We are showing there is a different way to succeed. Money is not everything."

Rooney has pedigree despite his young age, having coached in Blackburn's academy and with experience at first-team level with Fleetwood, Carlisle and Crawley. But ask him how he has done it and it is clear that he has had to adapt to a new life working abroad.

Trending

• England squeeze into T20 World Cup semi-finals with win over Sri Lanka
• PL Predictions: Leeds to thump Bournemouth, Forest to sting Bees
• Autumn Internationals: Scotland turn it around to lead Fiji LIVE!
• Chilwell to miss World Cup with 'significant injury'
• Transfer Centre LIVE! Atletico ready to cash in on Man Utd target Felix
• World Cup 2022 schedule, teams and draw
• How nervy England reached T20 World Cup semi-finals
• Reporter notebook: Are Man Utd now back under Ten Hag?
• Wolves confirm Lopetegui as new head coach
• Papers: Juventus and Barcelona join race for Zaha

• Video
• Latest News

"It is very continental. We have to work to the Spanish way of eating at 9pm and taking our training off that. That side we really had to focus on. We got that right so that the players were thinking, 'You know what, he has really bought into how I live off the pitch.'"

But he has tried to change things too. "We have made a conscious attempt to merge the cultures because there were aspects that we had to add in order to succeed. We increased the intensity, improved the structure and put the best players in their best positions.

Also See:

• Download the Sky Sports App

• Live football on Sky

• Transfer Centre LIVE!

• Football features

"I researched the team and I spoke to the senior players before I took the job. I felt like I had them straightaway. They were holding out for this. We got the team really fit. As soon as the first session was done, the lads knew what they had been missing.

"I am putting at least 10 hours a day into it and hopefully that professionalism has opened eyes out there. I went over for success." The team trains five times a week and, as he tries to learn Spanish, even Rooney's down time is focused on improving himself as a coach.

All this was a commitment given that Rooney was recently married to the Liverpool and Wales player Rhiannon Roberts. He is speaking over a coffee at Bristol airport having flown back to watch his wife play in Wales' recent World Cup qualifier in Cardiff.

"The flights back from Gibraltar are cheaper than a meal out," he says. "But it can be tough." At least, after 13 years together, she both understands and shares the competitive nature of the man she married. "We talk a lot of football. She has her badges too."

Lancashire remains their base. The pair met when Roberts played for Blackburn and Rooney was working in the academy, even coaching future England heroes Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh. "I was just trying to get as many hours as I could get."

He was just a teenager then. "I was working in the pre-academy set-up, supporting coach education for the women's department at 18. I got the A Licence at 22." He also worked with David Raya, John Buckley and Ryan Nyambe, finishing up with the U18 side.

But it was a move to Fleetwood at the age of 24 that really advanced his career, allowing him to work up close with Uwe Rosler, the former Manchester City forward who has also managed Brentford, Wigan and Leeds in a long and successful career.

"Uwe taught me a lot," says Rooney.

"I went in there and I was doing team meetings at 27 for people who were older than me. But he just gave off that feeling that you would never lose the game. He would never come off his way of playing and he instilled that confidence within the players.

"He was intense. The brown briefcase would hit the table at 7.30am and that is when the meeting would commence. He just oozed respect. He had that authority. The smiles would come at lunchtime. I don't copy him but it is just instilled."

At Crawley, he learned from Gabriele Cioffi, the Italian manager who has since made the incongruous journey from working in League Two to jobs in Serie A with Udinese and Hellas Verona. "He called me and wanted me to be his No 2," says Rooney, with pride.

"I have never looked back. Gabriele had that intensity to him as well. He would smile at the same time but the players knew they were being pushed. Very Gianfranco Zola-like in his attitude, one-versus-one football. I do think we will work together again."

Steven Pressley, at Fleetwood and Carlisle, has been an influence too, inspiring him to think creatively about tactics. But the message right now is that he is his own man.

Rooney describes his own idea of the game as aggressive with high intensity but is self-aware enough to know these are just words. "A lot of coaches say the same these days," he acknowledges. "Actually training that and seeing it on a match-day is the rewarding bit."

His first steps as a manager came last year in the Northern Premier League with Colne, a temporary measure during the pandemic because he wanted the experience. "I always wanted to be the decision-maker. That's the competitive edge."

Even that provided fond memories when former Premier League player Ryan Taylor was forced into the role of emergency goalkeeper in the FA Trophy following a red card and his team managed to end Buxton's 20-game unbeaten run, nevertheless.

"We were expecting it to finish 7-0 but he had the game of his life," laughs Rooney. "There have been a lot of different experiences in my career already but I have found which direction I am going in now. I am very content but I know what I need next."

That will be difficult to achieve in England. "It could take four promotions before I get anywhere near Europe again," he admits. But as he prepares to watch his wife's latest game, his focus is clear. "Rhiannon understands that my career is only just starting."

Back-to-Back Super 6 Winners?

Could you become the third Super 6 winner of the season and scoop £250,000 for free? Entries by 3pm Saturday.