Wayne Rooney: Former Man Utd striker to leave Plymouth Argyle by mutual consent | Football news

Wayne Rooney has left Plymouth Argyle after a nine-game winless run left the club bottom of the Sky Bet Championship.

Appointed in May on a three-year contract, Rooney leaves Plymouth after just seven months in charge of the club, four points from safety.

His last game in charge came on Sunday, when Argyle were beaten 2-0 at struggling Oxford.

In a statement on Plymouth’s website, Rooney said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Plymouth board, particularly Simon Hallett and Neil Dewsnip with whom I have had a great relationship.

“I also thank all the staff who have made me welcome and make the club such a special place, the players and supporters for their efforts and support during my time as head coach and I wish them all the best for the future.

“Thank you to the Green Army for making the matches at Home Park so special, they are memories we will share forever.

“I would also like to give a special shout out to my coaching staff of Kevin Nancekivell, Simon Ireland, Darryl Flahavan and Mike Phelan for their knowledge, dedication, help and support.

“Plymouth Argyle will always have a special place in my heart, and I will continue to watch and take an interest in their results.”

Following Rooney’s departure, first-team coach Nancekivell and club captain Joe Edwards will be in charge of Plymouth’s New Year clash against Bristol City.

A statement on the club’s website read: “Plymouth Argyle can confirm that the club and head coach Wayne Rooney have parted ways with immediate effect.

“Assistant head coach Mike Phelan and first team coach Simon Ireland will be leaving the club along with Rooney.

“First team coach Kevin Nancekivell and club captain Joe Edwards will lead the team for the Sky Bet Championship game against Bristol City on New Year’s Day. Daryl Flahavan will remain as goalkeeping coach.

“We would like to thank Wayne and his team for all their efforts and wish them the best for the future.

“The club will not be making any further comments at this stage, and information on our new first team management staff will be updated in due course.”

‘It wasn’t good enough’ – What Rooney said after the defeat in Oxford…

Sunday’s loss to Oxford was Rooney’s 11th defeat in 13 away games.

Speaking after the game, in what turned out to be his final post-match interview as Argyle boss, Rooney said: “You have to look at every possible outcome, that’s normal with the results we’re going through. You have to feel, ‘Do we have the players to turn it around? ‘

“I’ll go back and try to prepare for Bristol, but ultimately I know football and how it works. I understand the fans. I’ve been there myself. As a fan you want to see your team win, see your team run, I understand that the job that we are doing a good job.

“It wasn’t good enough. We didn’t create enough chances, the goals we conceded – we didn’t do enough to stop them scoring. Defensively it’s been going on for a couple of weeks now. We’re trying to score goals but we didn’t hurt them enough today.”

‘It seemed like the perfect match – but Rooney and Plymouth never took off’

Sky Sports News reporter Mark McAdam:

Rooney’s time at Plymouth lasted just 221 days.

He signed a three-year contract in May and has been in a relationship with Neil Dewsnip, who has been the club’s sporting director for years. He has overseen much of the club’s recent success and was Rooney’s coach during his time in Everton’s academy. It’s a long-standing relationship that goes back 30 years, which is why they picked Rooney this summer as someone who could potentially lead Plymouth forward.

As a manager, Rooney did not have much success. There were a few hits and misses at Derby, but they had a real fighting spirit in them with everything going on off the field. We know things didn’t go so well at Birmingham City and he had experience in MLS.

Plymouth thought they were getting someone with a lot of experience and we know of his playing ability, but he was still new to management and didn’t really fit in at the club.

Plymouth is a social club. It’s a great club with great people. There’s a really good spirit and Home Park is fantastic to go to because of the way the crowd really get behind the team, and they’ve had a lot of success under recent managers, going from League Two to the Championship.

At the time, it seemed like a perfect fit for the club.

A young, hungry, ambitious manager who we know and understand and wants to play the Plymouth way, and the club believed, despite the low budget, that he could take them to places they had never been in the Championship. It didn’t work out that way and it just didn’t work out for Rooney and Plymouth.

There were ups and downs and some positive results, but it just wasn’t good enough, leading to the board, along with Rooney, deciding it had to end because it just wasn’t working.

What next for Rooney and Plymouth?

More from Sky Sports News reporter Mark McAdam:

Rooney will be desperate to prove that he is a good manager and a good head coach. He will not want to sit, he will look for the next opportunity and he will be happy to return to work as soon as it suits him.

I don’t think this is the end of Rooney as a head coach or manager. I still think he has those ambitions to be successful.

As for Plymouth, they will have to take note, think and look as they have had two managerial appointments that have not quite worked out. Rooney was the most recent, and before that there was Ian Foster.

The two appointments before that were extremely successful, and interestingly, Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher are currently out of a job.

The key thing that the board will be thinking about with this next decision and this next appointment is getting someone who understands the city, the culture of the football club, the community spirit that it has and the group of players that are already there.

So you’d think someone like Lowe, who wants to get back to work and understands the club, would say he’d hang on until the end of the season to get the chance to take Plymouth away from the bottom of the table and up towards the top half of the Championship.

Upcoming matches of Plymouth

• Bristol City (H) – Championship – Wednesday 1 January, kick-off 12.30pm – live on Sky Sports+

• Stoke City (A) – Championship – Saturday 4th January, 12.30pm kick-off – live on Sky Sports+

• Brentford (A) – FA Cup – Saturday 11th January, kick-off 3pm

• Oxford (H) – Championship – Tuesday, January 14, kick-off at 19.45

• – live on Sky Sports+QPR (H) – Championship – Saturday 18 January, kick-off 12.30