Last week was a good one for one half of the Rooneys as wife Rhiannon booked a holiday to Switzerland.
That being said, it will be a worker’s holiday given it has come courtesy of Cymru qualifying for the Women’s Euro 2025 Finals after their 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland in the second-leg of their Play-Off at the Aviva Stadium last Tuesday.
Watching on was proud husband Nathan. Now manager of Larne, it was a relatively short jaunt down the M1 to watch his wife, playing at centre-back for the visitors, produce two vital blocks in the dying stages to send them to Switzerland next summer.
“It was a great evening at the Aviva last week, a special time for us both,” beams Rooney.
“It’s been a long time coming for her so I’m pleased she’s got that over the line. She’s sacrificed a lot of time with me, being on the road and being with different clubs, so it’s nice that she’s got rewarded. We’ll spend a nice period over the summer in Switzerland now.”
Nathan is hoping he can make it two good weeks for the couple in a row. Larne are in Baku ahead of facing Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk in their penultimate UEFA Conference League group match and there is history on the line for him, too, as the Invermen chase their first European main stage victory.
Unfortunately wife Rhiannon won’t be able to return the favour by attending in person herself, not only because she is away back to club Real Betis but because the game at the Sumgayit City Stadium, played on neutral soil due to the political situation in Belarus, is behind closed doors.
Despite the long travel, Rooney insists things have been smooth ahead of the game and, having come so close in their last two games against St. Gallen and Olimpija, there is a determination that they can finally pick up points against another team still looking for their first points in this year’s competition.
“We’ve still got to keep with that mindset in terms of the learning curve. Every time we come into these games we’re getting closer and closer with the results but the performance level these last few games within the competition is very strong,” points out the manager.
“We really want it, we really want to make more history and the chance is there in front of us. And then we get the chance to come back in front of our home fans again next week.
“We’ve switched off, we don’t need to know anything on the domestic side of things. Over the next 24 hours we want to get everyone as motivated as possible.”
It’s been two-and-a-half weeks since Rooney was confirmed as Tiernan Lynch’s successor at Inver Park and things have been frustrating since his arrival, not in terms of results but in terms of being able to get some momentum under his belt.
Mark Randall (left) and Shaun Want with Marko Brest of NK Olimpija Ljubljana
The Blackburn native travelled to Ljubljana to get to know his new squad despite handing the reins to Gary Haveron for their most recent European clash but Saturday’s postponed game against Loughgall due to Storm Darragh means he has been in the dugout for just two games, a draw with Cliftonville and a comfortable 5-0 BetMcLean Cup Quarter-Final win at Annagh United.
“The squad’s excited me. The energy’s been good around the building. The travel has let me see a bit of a different side to the players but the boys look after themselves,” adds Rooney of his early impressions.
“The level of training has been excellent the last couple of days before we came out so in terms of the message you want to see as a manager, we’re getting that in abundance. Now we just a run of momentum and hopefully each game we can keep adding to our previous games.
Everything I’ve done around the place is to show my energy, to be on the front foot with them. We’re well planned, well detailed. There’s an opponent out there that’s going to make things difficult for us but as long as I see strong glimpses of what we’re trying to implement then that’ll hold me in great confidence going forward.
“I would say in terms of the calibre of the club, it’s a lot higher than people think, and it’s really important we make sure that quality that we showed to get to this stage in the competition is talked about for a long time.
“The important thing now is about making sure the guys believe they’re as good as they really are. There’s a lot of competitions, so we need to improve ourselves every week. I’m excited by the knowledge and quality within the room.”
Of course, the added fixtures due to their European commitments – Larne don’t play this weekend after their game against Glenavon was postponed due to their lengthy travel home – and weather-forced cancellations means the games are piling up in the new year. Not that Rooney cares.
“It will keep us motivated,” he maintains.
“The more tournaments you’re in, the more it helps you in the latter stages. It’ll allow us to utilise the squad on a more precise basis. It opens up the understanding that everyone has to step in and get the job done now.
“I don’t class ourselves as utilising younger players in other competitions and moving players around for the sake of it, everyone has to step up and get the three points week in, week out.
“We’ll continue to roll for the winter period, we’ll have a focus for the next four or five games and then in the new year we’ll maybe have a chance to have a little bit of a mini pre-season and then we’ll look to align our next three to four fixtures after that.”