Plymouth Argyle news may draw Simon Hallett, Wayne Rooney doubts | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle fans may have doubts over the intentions of Simon Hallet after news broke regarding the documentary production.

Plymouth Argyle recently announced that filming had begun for a behind-the-scenes documentary at Home Park following the Championship side and manager Wayne Rooney.

Having appointed the Manchester United legend this summer, many questioned the decision given his ill-fated time at Birmingham City and DC United, but, at present, Rooney seems to be meeting his targets as his side currently sit 18th in the Championship.

Considering that Argyle have one of the lowest budgets in their league, survival has to be the main priority.

Hallet is firmly behind Rooney

Back when Rooney was announced as the Pilgrims head coach, some questioned it as a poor call after he contributed significantly to the Blues' relegation in 2023-24 and suggested Simon Hallett had chased a big name.

However, Hallett was quick to defend the appointment he made, stating this to TalkSport: "We believe that you can't just look at results, you have to look at the impact the manager has on the team. You have to look at the data, the underlying performances before the manager arrives and afterwards.

"That means looking at things other than just wins and losses."

So far, Rooney has done enough to back up Hallett's call but the Devon club are still locked in a relegation battle and the announcement of the documentary may leave some wondering whether the appointment had ulterior motives.

In recent seasons, fly-on-the-wall documentaries have become far more common at places like Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wrexham, among others. But, the teams that are usually followed tend to have a bit of magic ongoing at the club, with the likes of Hollywood at the Red Dragons and José Mourinho at Spurs.

Prior to this year, you can't see that any company would be over-interested in detailing Plymouth's season, but the arrival of someone like Rooney has increased interest.

With the former England international being a worldwide name, Hallett has likely seen an opportunity to put Argyle on the map. In addition, it should bring in some form of revenue which could be utilised on transfers or developments at the club in the future.

Whether this affects the players and management staff is unclear, but concerns will come from previous shows, where ex-Sunderland midfielder George Honeyman stated that it felt like he was on ‘Big Brother’ during Netflix's Mackems documentary.

Rooney will hope to eradicate this sort of noise, but if Plymouth's form takes a turn for the worse, many will begin to blame Hallett for authorising the filming.

Wayne Rooney outlines how he will deal with documentary

Rooney is certainly not foolish enough to fall into the trap of letting everything be filmed and speaking to Plymouth Live, he outlined how he feels this is a positive move for the club.

"It's something myself and the club have come together on. From the club's point of view it's beneficial financially," Rooney said.

Speaking about the access the filming crew would be given, the former Rams boss added: "It has to be at the right times. Anything which we feel could affect players on matchday, that access won't be there.

"I think it happens nowadays anyway, at most clubs they have their own internal cameras almost everywhere as well so I don't think it's any different for the players, or a shock to have cameras around. Once they get used to that it's not an issue."

While it will be an exciting addition for Plymouth and EFL fans, most at the club will just be hopeful they survive in the Championship. If they do, little will be spoken about how it is affecting the players, but if results falter, the documentary could become a lightning rod for criticism.