Dimitar Berbatov thinks Wayne Rooney could still become manager of Manchester United despite his recent sacking.
Rooney parted ways with Birmingham City earlier in the week as the Blues slumped down the table to become relegation candidates, with the club in sixth spot when he took over from John Eustace.
The former United and England striker has failed to impress as manager of Birmingham and DC United, while his time at Derby County was beset by financial problems beyond his control.
Three spells as manager without notable success has led many to believe that Rooney will find it hard to work his way back into management.
His former teammate at Old Trafford, Berbatov, still thinks that Rooney could one day become United manager.
He told Betfair: “It's a very tricky situation. Birmingham were sixth when Wazza took over, and now they're 20th in the table. It's a major disappointment to go from the top six to 20th and the statistics speak for themselves - he only won twice in 15 matches. It's difficult to defend that.
“On the other hand, he did not have the time to prove himself. In today's football, though, the most important thing is the results. You need to get the results first to give yourself time to build on your vision. You can't build on your vision while going through bad results.
“Unfortunately, you don't get time so easily in football. Maybe if he was given more time he would have turned things around, but again, the results are the most important thing in modern football.
“If the other results in the league were different and even if you're losing games you don't drop down the league, you stay in midtable, then maybe it's going to be a different picture.
“But Birmingham are near the bottom of the table and they have big ambitions, so it's led to the decision to sack Wazza. It's a pity. I sympathise with him because I know he wants to be a manager and one day maybe he'll be manager of Man United - I still stick to that.
“His time at Birmingham shows every footballer who'd like to go into management that even if you're a big name, it can't save you from the sack.”