Wayne Rooney appointment can bring the best out of up-and-coming Plymouth Argyle duo: View | OneFootball

As one of the finest strikers this country has ever produced, there are few better role models for an aspiring forward to learn from than Wayne Rooney.

The former Manchester United man has the task of leading Plymouth Argyle into another Championship season after his appointment at Home Park next month, and will be looking to right some of the wrongs of last year for the Devon side.

It took a final day victory over Hull City to preserve their status as a second tier side in the previous campaign, with captain Joe Edwards popping up with the decisive goal in the first-half, and sending the onlooking Green Army into ecstasy.

But the new Argyle boss will be hoping there isn’t a repeat of that this time around and if he manages to get the best out of the attacking output that the Pilgrims possess next season, there will be plenty to cheer about on the south coast.

Ben Waine can learn valuable lessons from former England international Wayne Rooney

The Greens endured an arduous end to the previous campaign, as they failed to score more than once in any of their final 12 matches of the season, with Ian Foster being given the boot with six matches left to play in the hunt for survival.

The loss of creative outlets Finn Azaz and Luke Cundle in January - as well as former boss Steven Schumacher the month before - hit the Pilgrims hard, and they failed to replace those attacking sparks which led to a chalk and cheese season in terms of style of play, attacking output, and all-round feel-good factor.

But with another Championship season to look forward to and a new boss at the helm, Argyle can finally get down to business and aim for a return to their goalscoring exploits that they began the previous campaign with.

Only six teams had scored more than the 34 league goals the Greens had before Schumacher’s departure for Stoke City last December, with their fearless attitude taking the second tier by storm upon their return to the division.

That sort of form in front of goal can be repeated with Rooney in charge, with the Premier League’s third-highest goalscorer of all time looking to the likes of Ben Waine and Freddie Issaka to provide competition to Ryan Hardie in the final third.

The Scot netted 12 times in his 40 Championship matches last season, but was very much the main threat through the middle for the Pilgrims for much of the campaign, with star man Morgan Whittaker providing the threat from the flanks.

A 12-game goalless streak coincided with Argyle’s lacklustre form in front of goal to end the campaign, but even then Waine wasn’t trusted to lead the line on his own, and was mainly utilised as a substitute option.

Although the New Zealand international had plenty of desire and energy when he entered the fray, his ability to beat a man and find the net left much to be desired during his brief cameos, as he scored just twice all season in the league.

The Kiwi arrived in England to much fanfare in the January of 2023, with Argyle fans eager to see the young talent that had scored plenty of goals for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League, but a record of just ten starts in that time proves that they haven’t seen what they expected so far.

This summer could be the period to change all that though, with Rooney’s arrival likely to lift the confidence of the 23-year-old, with a clean slate and a new chance to prove what he can do to the new boss.

Like Waine, Rooney [pictured] was never blessed with blistering pace during his playing career, but made up for it with inch-perfect positioning on the football pitch, as well as an awareness of everything around him at all times.

Those qualities can aid a player in producing the goods in front of goal in the end, with the anticipation to be in the right place at the right time leading to plenty of goalscoring opportunities when the time comes.

The New Zealander has proven he has the predatory instinct when given opportunities to strike, with a match-winning brace against Leyton Orient in the EFL Cup last season, as well as a match-winning strike against Morecambe in the promotion-winning League One season in 22/23.

With a contract with the club that lasts until the summer of 2025 - although the club do have an option to extend that by another year - this could be Waine’s final chance to prove himself at Home Park this year, and if given the opportunity and right mentorship he could find another level that all Argyle fans are willing him to discover.

Argyle prospect Freddie Issaka has the perfect role model in Wayne Rooney

Big things are expected of Freddie Issaka at Plymouth Argyle, with the 17-year-old hotly tipped to be the next star emerging from the academy at Home Park.

The pacy front man has already shown glimpses of what he is about since making his debut for the club in August 2021, a moment in which he became the youngest ever Argyle player at 15 years and 34 days.

Last season saw him make a handful of appearances, mainly from the bench, as he got to grips with the professional game, and started to prove he has a bright future in the sport ahead of him.

The Wales youth international has scored goals for fun for the Argyle development side in recent years, and it is surely only a matter of time before he is given his big break with the first-team, with Rooney likely to put his faith in the striker from the start.

Having been thrown into the Everton side at 16 years of age, the new Argyle boss will know exactly what it takes to thrive as a teenager in the men’s game, and that emphasis was something that enticed chairman Simon Hallett into appointing him in the first place.

Hallett said last month: “It's about a willingness to use young players, particularly important at Argyle over the next few years, as we bring on the Brickfields development for our Academy.

“Many managers are reluctant to take risks with young players, and Wayne as an Academy product himself has shown pretty aggressively that he's prepared to use players at a very young age in the first team.”

Having worked with a number of young stars during his time as Derby County boss, Rooney made the most out of the skills of the likes of Louie Sibley, Max Bird and Jason Knight in their early days, and Issaka is another who could flourish under the gaze of his new manager.

With two aspiring young prospects at his disposal, it could be an exciting season ahead for everyone of a green persuasion in Devon, with Argyle looking to get back to their attacking ways, and a new boss ready to take the division by storm.