Everton have had success in promoting their legendary players to managerial positions at Goodison Park with Duncan Ferguson enjoying a long career off the pitch in the senior management team, but sometimes the idea of something is better than the reality.

When Rafa Benitez was finally given the boot back in January it wasn't long before, at the time, Derby County manager Wayne Rooney's name was thrown into the hat.

There was plenty of speculation surrounding a potential return to his boyhood club but it didn't ultimately happen.

Although the idea of being led to better things by Rooney would have been a fairytale for the Goodison Park faithful, the reality is that England's all-time top goal scorer is extremely inexperienced, and has had an unstable managerial career so far with no Premier League experience on his CV.

The 36-year-old who was dubbed a "fool" by talkSPORT's Simon Jordan for leaving behind Derby County after being relegated from the Championship, has joined his former teammate turned manager Phil Neville over in MLS to continue developing his managerial skills and experience.

Over his career on the sideline so far, Rooney's record isn't the greatest with 46.32% of his results ending in defeat and only 28.42% victories since taking on the managerial challenge. He has also picked up just 1.11 points on average from his time at DC United and Derby combined.

On the other hand, current Everton boss Frank Lampard has a much more attractive profile when it comes to churning out results with a 47.06% win rate and only 31.76% of his results have ended in defeat. Furthermore, he's got plenty of Premier League experience as a manager at Chelsea before taking on the difficult role with the Toffees.

Interestingly, both managers have held the reins at Pride Park early into their managerial careers but Lampard had the role in much brighter circumstances than Rooney, with financial problems plaguing the club throughout the current DC United boss' tenure.

Indeed, it would not be surprising to see the former Manchester United striker manage the Toffees one day but at the time when the job became available the team was in a very sticky relegation scrap at the bottom of the table and if unsuccessful his reputation could have been in ruins.

With that being said, when you consider Lampard's improvement this season in the Premier League already with Everton it was likely the right decision to put the club's fate into slightly more experienced hands at the time. That said, there is no doubt that the idea of Rooney leading the Toffees to victory and trophies one day will be a dream for supporters.