Former Nottingham Forest and England defender Michael Dawson has told the Express that he believes Derby County's Wayne Rooney can go on to become a top manager after recently being linked with the Everton job. 

Rooney's first venture into management has come with the Rams and he has certainly done well so far at Pride Park, taking on a role that even the more experienced managers in the game would struggle to deal with.

Points deductions, transfer embargos and releagtion battles are just some of the challenges that have been thrown the way of the former Manchester United player and it is fair to say he has taken them in his stride to the best of his ability.

Now Dawson - a former teammate of Rooney's for England - has talked up the possibility of the coach going on to bigger and better things, as he stated the following recently:

"He's had to put up with everything possible from a first job and people say becoming a good manager is all about experience. He can't get any more experience with what he's been through.

"A points deduction, not being able to sign players, being rock bottom and trying to still provide that belief. With Phil Jagielka and Curtis Davies he's got a great spine in the defence and good characters. That can only help."

Everton boss Rafa Benitez is set to take charge of his side's game away at Chelsea this evening, with a heavy defeat sure to put the Spaniard under even more pressure at Goodison Park.

Rooney currently has a contract with Derby until the summer of 2023 and has said in the past that he would be willing to stay with the Rams if they dropped into Sky Bet League One.

The Verdict

It would be a massive step up for Rooney if he was to take on the Everton job and it's fair to say that he wouldn't be the only candidate for the role if Benitez did move on.

We have seen in the case of Frank Lampard that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, so Rooney will have to give his future a lot of thought before committing to anything.

He has done a superb job with Derby despite having numerous obstacles placed in his way, so you have to tip your hat to him.

Whether he stays if the club gets relegated or not is anyone's guess, but he is almost certain to have a good career in coaching wherever he ends up.