Wayne Rooney’s job slowly coming under threat at Plymouth as side’s miserable run of form show no signs of slowing down.
Wayne Rooney’s facing a fight to save his job at Plymouth Argyle, with the manager under heightened scrutiny.
Four days after losing 6-1 at Norwich, Plymouth was thrashed 4-0 at Bristol City on Saturday. Although the former captain of Manchester United and England is not believed to be in immediate danger of losing his job, a loss against Oxford at home next Saturday would put his future in far greater jeopardy.
In the away end at Ashton Gate on Saturday, Plymouth chairman Simon Hallett witnessed a second-half surrender that Rooney called a “huge embarrassment.” It was not the first collapse under Rooney, as his team was beaten 5-0 at fellow struggling Cardiff City in October and lost 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday on the first day of the season.
After Plymouth’s loss at Norwich on Tuesday. Rooney, alluding to an alarming run without an away win all season, said. “We have got to get to the bottom of why it keeps happening – it can’t carry on like this. We were nowhere near good enough – we are down to the bare bones with injuries but that is no excuse.”
Following a record of only one victory in nine games. Plymouth is currently in 21st place in the Championship, two points above the relegation zone. After defeating bottom-place Portsmouth at home last month on October 5. The former England captain has only won one in his four league games as manager.
After 83 days on the job, Rooney was fired by Birmingham in January. Consequently, this is his first position since then. Neil Dewsnip, Plymouth’s director of football and Rooney’s childhood coach at Everton, was the driving force behind his appointment.
A behind-the-scenes documentary about Rooney’s progress at Plymouth, on the other hand, was approved following internal deliberations. Filming, which started last month, is not a distraction, the 39-year-old said.
“It has to be at the right times and anything which we feel could affect players on a match day, the access won’t be there,” he said.
“It happens nowadays anyway at most football clubs. They have their own internal cameras almost everywhere. So I don’t think it’s any different for the players or a shock for the players to have cameras around. Once they get used to it, it’s not an issue.”