Is Rooney proving his doubters WRONG?

Plymouth Argyle manager Wayne Rooney was tipped by many to be the first manager sacked in the EFL Championship this season. On Friday night Sam Parking saw Rooney pick up his second victory to move Argyle up to 16th spot and over 1 point per game. Is he proving his doubters wrong already?
#PlymouthArgyle

[@humptydumpty9177]

Rooney has been out and about the town meeting the locals and learning the language and he's done an amazing job of getting himself accepted and liked. He's admitted he made a mistake at Wednesday with too many new players dropped into the team and then expecting a team performance, but now it seems that the team is starting to gel and it's all looking very exciting. More importantly and without writing paragraphs, it's written all over the faces of the players, they are happy and happy to play for Rooney, they are smiling and that's what makes a successful team! I'm not in the slightest concerned about relegation, I'm excited about a position in the play offs!

[@clementine2001]

Learning English?

[@humptydumpty9177]

@@clementine2001 Oh dear.

[@TimYarnold]

@@clementine2001 He said "Geddon bey" the other day.

[@peterryan8472]

@@clementine2001 the Janner dialect… 😀

[@24brad_hart10]

@@TimYarnoldwhere did he say that? Not doubting you just wanna hear it come from Rooney 😂😂

[@DerekSowden-vs1ef]

As a long time Argyle fan, I was not overly happy about WR being appointed, but I have to say I think the quality of football we are playing as t the moment is better than the Schumacher days. We are not financially big enough to trouble the top 6 positions, but we definitely won't be fighting relegation come March/April 25.

[@geoffpoole483]

Your reservations about WR's appointment were understandable, given what happened at Birmingham. Rooney deserves credit for having a go at management; few elite players go into club management let alone make a success of it.

[@FalseNi9e]

Same here, won't be fighting relegation. I think each week that goes by he gets more comfortable and the players are getting more confident. It's pretty exciting really 😂

[@J-Me86-UK]

Same here. I still think we don't have enough strength in depth but I will keep on supporting WR and my beloved argyle

[@sjplnym]

I quite agree, I like what WR is trying to do, and the way he is doing it, if we continue improving we won't have a problem. Do we have strength in depth? Could be a weakness if we lose a few key players to injuries.

[@AndyJean-q8t]

Argyle is a unique club and in part that's due to location. WR I think benefits from that and the media spotlight being slightly less intense. He also benefits from a stable financial club with limited expectations and an owner who encourages the manager to take risks. So far, very promising and the club is totally united.

[@StevieWotsa]

Think some of the comments towards you on the predictions are harsh both of you have been very balanced and unbiased both of you are probably one of the best pundits on youtube many of us can see that but you will always have one or two at every club such as life. Fantastic channel and full credit to both of you!

[@argyle83]

I totally agree 💚

[@selnor1983]

Yes Luton coukd have acored a couple. But equally we shoud have been 3-0 by the 20th minute. arguably we shoukd probably have had 5 goals. We outplayed Hull, and deserved more against Stoke. QPR was a loss when we went down to 10 men. Great battle for a point though. Really impressed with what Rooney is doing. Up the Greens.

[@connorhumphreys9637]

We have fallen in love with wazzaball down here, i was understandably a huge doubter when he got the job BUT its the best football ive seen us play in decades and look capable of beating anyone at Home Park under his guidance. Making believers of is all, Up The Bastard Argyle! 💚💚

[@Ralph-k5x]

As an Argyle fan, I think he's awesome! I love that ourselves and Rooney are the underdogs. And, we're proving everyone wrong!

[@john_michael_white]

I commented on your vid when he was appointed that Wayne Rooney would do a great job at Plymouth, and i got a little bit of stick for it. Nothing but respect for the fella, more power to his elbow!

[@peterryan8472]

Nice work Ben and Sam: a really balanced piece. A a Pilgrim, there is a lot to look forward to. One thought… Argyle is a massively well run club these times (as you have noted), Wayne Rooney is under very little pressure from above or from the fans really.

[@FalseNi9e]

Argyle fan here. He looks more comfortable on the sideline, laughing and the players have seem to embrace him and they seem more confident out on the pitch. Will we get promotion this season? No, but we can win some games and definitely stay out of relegation

[@mushtymushtythepackofchips7146]

As a green thru and thru, I was sceptical regarding WR appointment for obvious reasons. But the owners chose him and seeing as they are the reason that we are still a football league club, I support them wholeheartedly. They made a mistake with the Ian Foster appointment, but you saw then that they differ from many owners by giving him more than a fair chance before finally seeing the light and by some miracle, namely other teams doing worse than us we stayed up! Wayne will certainly get a good opportunity at Plymouth and all the media hype brings back memories of Peter Shilton, but if the balance is right with a great backroom staff and WR building a enjoyable relationship with the players and media. This could well be very good for Plymouth Argyle. On a personal note I would love to know who found and decided on the signing of Scuzs, Al Hajj, Cissoko, Tijani and Obafemi. They have certain added some wow to our squad which is great. Finally keep up the good work Ben and Sam, really enjoy your banter and analysis :)

[@Gnaf-mm5rs]

Never up late enough to add to the comments in decent time but as an argyle fan I am happy with the style of football we're playing which I think is the biggest thing. I will however stick to my original statement when he was appointed. He won't be here long. Maybe not so much pushed anymore but he will be back up north with the first decent offer he gets after he has proved himself as per Lowe and Schumacher - albeit under Colleen's orders. Btw Sam it's fish out of water. You could be in danger of being accused of discrimination against freshwater fish by only saying sea😂😂

[@LeoDragon34]

Benjamin, is it really that fans want former superstar footballers to fail? Or is it more that those same superstar footballers, when they become TV pundits, have nothing interesting to say. Being a good footballer means being athletic, quick thinking and talented with your feet. Being a good manager requires strategic thinking, man management skills and being talented with your brain. These are very different skill sets and not many top level former players have them. I would be delighted to see Lampard, Rooney and Gerrard all succeed in management but I would be surprised if any of them do. Having said that, Rooney is definitely beating my expectations so far this season and good luck to him and Argyle.

[@fatbelly27]

He's had two good results so let's not get carried away.But he iis well liked at Plymouth and clearly loves the game. Good luck to him.

[@ArgyleGT]

Thanks Sam and Ben. As a HP season ticket holder, I have to say I am impressed with Argyle’s improvement. There is a joy about their playing style this season. It’s thoroughly entertaining, and that’s what all football fans want. It’s good for our glorious game.

[@J-Me86-UK]

His man management is really good. You can see that. The rest he brings we will see at the end of the season. We have shown we can play well against strong teams in sunderland and west brom (where we should have had a point minimum) in this league albeit luton have struggled early doors. HP will be a fortress. No teams will enjoy coning here. Anything above a 17th finish is progress. I think we can get to 14th if HP is that fortress. Gibson has been a boss. Captain Eddie is a beast. Szucs has come in and looked very assured. Cissokho and Whittiker with al Hajj and Hardie, Obefemi to add to that too. Consistency is key in this league. I think we are a little soft at CDM and at wing backs. Mumba is a wing back. Hes better running into space. Ogbeta has been poor. COYG 💚

[@PeteBaldwin]

It definitely seems like he's learned some lessons after his time at Blues. There's comments below mentioning how he's been out meeting fans etc - at Blues, he didn't even walk over to the fans at full time to give them a clap. It's far too early though to suggest he's suddenly become a good manager. All teams go through bad spells during a season - let's see if he can did Plymouth out of it when that happens or not.

[@AndrewPawley11]

I was disconsolate when Rooney was appointed and convinced we were for the drop. There's still a long way to go this season but, as Sam rightly notes, there are three worse teams than us in the division at the moment and for Argyle, given our resources, that is more than enough. Also, other commentators are right to underline the job he is doing building a rapport with the local community. I am happy to admit it now looks like I was completely and utterly wrong.

[@MatthewPinney]

Hopefully us greens can get some away wins sooner rather than later because we can't just rely on our home form to keep us up come the 'business end' of the season, just take one game at a time focusing on the tough match tomorrow evening up at Burnley, point would be ok and an unlikely away win will be a major bonus. COYG !!!!

[@richardtucker2572]

wasn't a big fan of we being appointed my teams boss.however he has won both the players and the fans around.he is popular with people in the city.the players love working with him and him with them.he takes time to talk to fans sign autographs.i think we will surprise a few teams.

[@Mike1974P]

But we all have are opinions..but me personally he has bought the fight and spirt into Plymouth with all the players seeing as we have played all top teams so far ..well done Wayne Rooney! Not there in the middle yet but are mumba he's a gem to be polished

[@Mike1974P]

You think so ???? No no hs pulling that team together no thinking behind your comments there he' is trying his dam hardest he was never a quiter in playing football and most certainly isint in life seeing as tho he could sit on his behind all day long he doesn't have to manage a team but I tip my hat to him 💯💯💯💯

[@nicholaspearce698]

#utba

[@n.j.4157]

He's won 2 games, let's not carried away here

[@TheRynator14]

True, but it's more down to the style of play that's getting us Argyle fans excited. Even when we lost to West Brom, we competed well against a top team away from home. We played well against Hull and with how we've started to click we would probably beat them now. We also were even with Stoke so would probably see out the draw there. But because we were still clicking together we subsequently drew and lost those matches respectfully. As you said, we can't get carried away. But I will say Rooney is miles better than I was expecting and certainly leagues above Foster as a manager

[@mikewilson8513]

BCFC....We are in league one because of Rooney. Beware You have only won 2 games all season. But I wish you well.

[@TheRynator14]

@@mikewilson8513 But the problem there was as they described in the video. Rooney's style of play was pretty contradictory of Eustaces, and trying to change that mid-season was never going to work. Rooney shares his blame of the fault, but it's also on your ownership for making such a silly change of manager

[@watts4433]

@@mikewilson8513you still had plenty of time to avoid relegation after Rooney left. You were garbage for a good 20 plus games after him leaving

[@mikewilson8513]

@@TheRynator14 I absolutely agree. Eustace was starting to get it right. It was serious learning curve for the new owners. I think they starting to understand footie (as opposed to "soccer" now) Excellent players, like Rooney (He was never a 'great' player) rarely make good managers. But I cant fault the Americans commitment. A great new stadium and facilities planned as well. They have spent more on Stansfield than the rest of League one combined. Best wishes for the rest of the season. I wish you well.

[@marcaspery3033]

A couple of good results doesnt change a thing. They may stay up again but it will be nothing to do with Rooney