Some Derby County supporters have taken to Twitter to comment on manager Wayne Rooney’s criticism of popular young attacker Louie Sibley after the Millwall defeat.
Sibley came onto the field with 20 minutes remaining and Derby trailing 1-0.
The popular attacker came closest to grabbing an equaliser for the Rams, hitting the crossbar from close range following an excellent in swinging corner from Nathan Byrne.
Derby pushed for a point but ultimately came up short.
Rooney felt his forwards needed to offer more in his post-match talk, before singling out Sibley for criticism which sparked several Derby fans to respond on social media.
Don’t agree when he singles people out, maybe he should encourage him rather than slate him when he was no worse than any of the others…gonna do his confidence a world of good
— keira_30 (@keira_30) March 13, 2021
Put him in his actually position rather then shoving him on the wing.
— Lewis Everett (@lewis_everett11) March 13, 2021
Critical of Sibley?! Unbelievable. Maybe should point the finger at Knight, Waghorn or Jozwiak who were all poor or himself for picking such a defensive team against 11 men behind the ball minnows
— Tris Weavers (@TrisWeavers) March 13, 2021
What’s happened to all the best young players under Rooney? Sibley, Knight, Bird, Buchanan have all gone backwards under Rooney. What’s going on now, is their coaching worse now?
— Nav Sidhu (@NavrinSidhu) March 13, 2021
I hope WR is trying to get a positive reaction from Sibley,but he needs to give him minutes on the pitch to show what he can bring.
— stephen lightfoot (@stephenlightfo1) March 13, 2021
The Rooney agenda against sibley becomes more and more apparent every game
— Bill (@Bashhh376) March 13, 2021
Try playing him in the 10 role where he is naturally gifted at and broke through into the first team in and you might find we have a player with creativity in the side. Plus goals
— Will Andrews (@willandrews0) March 13, 2021
Harsh calling him out a few experienced professionals in that team performing juat as if not worse but keep getting picked to START.
— In the next 24 to 48 hours (@timjacks1973) March 13, 2021
Sibley broke onto the scene last season, scoring on his full debut against Blackburn Rovers before netting a hat-trick in the 3-2 win at Millwall in the first game post lockdown.
The 19-year-old totalled five goals and two assists in the last nine games of last season.
But this year, Sibley has struggled to get going. He has made just three league starts since Wayne Rooney took charge, his last coming in the 4-0 defeat at Cardiff City.
Some Derby fans feel Sibley has been given little game-time to make a difference. Moreover, when brought on, he is often played out of position as he replaces a wide player.
It remains to be seen what Derby decide to do with Sibley this summer.
A recent report by Football League World claimed it is likely he will be sold on, with Leeds United chief Victor Orta previously saying how he was being monitored by the Whites.
Also see: Derby talent dumped by West Ham tipped to become among Ireland’s next breakout stars
Also see: Rooney says another Derby academy star is pushing for first-team debut after impressing