Simon Hallett took one big Wayne Rooney sized Plymouth Argyle risk | OneFootball

Rooney's time at Home Park couldn't have panned out any worse

There's no doubting that, in the landscape of English football, Wayne Rooney is one of the greatest players to come from these shores.

However, as good as the Manchester United, Everton and England great was over a lengthy career which spanned 764 games, 313 goals and brought a ridiculous array of trophies, the same cannot be said for his managerial career - with Plymouth Argyle supporters joining those at Birmingham City when it comes to having such a viewpoint.

Of course, it is a concerning trend that, in particular, when it comes to the Premier League, not one manager who has won the top division since its rebrand in 1992, comes from England.

There's no question that Rooney would have hoped to emulate the success of his playing days on the touchline in the Championship before making a step-up, but his disastrous stint at Home Park left many scratching their heads, and it was a risk which didn't pay off for Argyle owner, Simon Hallett.

Simon Hallett took a major gamble with Wayne Rooney appointment

Argyle managed to stave off relegation on the final day of last season at the expense of Rooney's former club, Birmingham, with many pinpointing Blues' fall from grace last term down to a disastrous spell of just two wins in 15 games, which saw the West Midlands side drop like a stone from the top six to 20th place.

Therefore, after Ian Foster's own bad spell at Home Park, it was imperative that the Pilgrims nailed the following permanent appointment, and not many expected it to be Rooney.

The decision was made all the more baffling by Hallett's admission regarding the Scouser's record shortly afterwards, which reflected on his difficulties at St Andrew's after performing admirably amid a 21-point deduction at Derby County and enduring mixed fortunes at D.C United.

“We know that his win-loss ratio is not particularly attractive, but actual results are not a terribly good way of looking at how much of an impact a manager has had on a team," Hallett stated.

“You can look at data to analyse style of play, and Wayne's style of play is consistent with what we want to see out of an Argyle team.

Wayne Rooney's belief didn't pay off at Home Park

Understandably, there was a steely determination on Rooney's part to prove the mass number of doubters wrong after his Devon move, but such optimism was immediately quashed after a 4-0 drubbing to Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the season.

In fairness to the 39-year-old, there was the occasional glimmer of brightness provided to the Home Park faithful, which were largely down to strong performances from Conor Hazard, Ibrahim Cissoko, Morgan Whittaker and Bali Mumba in particular, as the Green Army did emerge victorious four times on home turf, most notably against Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers.

However, the main issue was all home maximums came prior to the November international break, and the Greens' abhorrent away record continued from the second half of 2023/24 into this season, with Rooney overseeing just two draws.

Ultimately, pressure started to mount on the United great's back throughout his final nine games in charge, which returned no victories and several drubbings on the road, such as shipping six at Carrow Road against a free-scoring Norwich City side, as well as conceding four at the hands of Bristol City and Coventry City.

The straw that broke the camel's back was a 2-0 defeat to Oxford United on December 29th - a result which left the Greens firmly at the foot of the table by two points and four points from safety with half of the season left to play.

Rooney did show his class in a departure message which highlighted no ill-feelings, a stark contrast to his opinion after he was dismissed at Birmingham, and has already issued his burning desire to return to management at the "right club".

It remains to be seen what club that may be, but in the short-term, if this season is to end in relegation back to League One with Miron Muslic now at the helm, Hallett may never live down the decision to appoint Rooney to begin with, rather than a manager/head coach with proven experience in the second tier.