Plymouth Argyle chairman Simon Hallett has insisted there are “no conversations going on” about replacing Wayne Rooney as manager.
Hallett, who appeared at a fans’ forum last night, was speaking after a number of media reports said Rooney was fighting to save his job, with the next two matches – at home to Oxford United and Swansea City – regarded as key.
Argyle are currently 21st in the Championship, two points above the relegation zone, and were thrashed 6-1 away at Norwich City and then 4-0 on the road to Bristol City in their last two games.
In spite of that, however, Hallett gave his backing to Rooney last night.
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In quotes, that were reported by the Plymouth Herald, Hallett said: “What we are going to do is not think about getting rid of him and changing him. We are thinking about how we can support him. So there are no conversations going on about replacing Wayne but there are conversations going on about how we can support him to help him become the great coach that we think is in there.”
He added how there would be some money available to spend in the January transfer window and revealed potential outside investment in the club.
After some initial misgivings when he was hired in the summer after a bruising spell at Birmingham City, Rooney won round a good chunk of the Argyle fanbase – who have appreciated his efforts to integrate himself in the city. There have been some entertaining performances at home, with some dramatic late victories and draws, including over Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers.
However their record on the road – a longstanding problem for Argyle – has been disastrous, with Plymouth conceding 27 goals in 10 games, losing eight and drawing two.
As well as the heavy Norwich and Bristol City defeats, they lost 4-0 to Sheffield Wednesday, 5-0 to Cardiff City and 3-0 to Leeds United on their travels.
After their loss to Bristol City on Saturday, Rooney said he was “embarrassed” by the performance.
In his post-match press conference, he told reporters: “I’ve tried going at the players. I’ve tried encouraging and supporting them. I’ve tried everything really so I need to keep trying to find the right balance to fix the away performances.”
Next up for Plymouth is Oxford at home, the only other Championship yet to win away this season.
At Monday night’s fans’ forum, Neil Dewsnip, Argyle’s director of football, who had an existing relationship with Rooney having previously worked at Everton’s academy, said it was unfair to judge the 39-year-old when the club had a terrible run of injuries.
It was revealed last month that Rooney’s spell as Argyle manager will be the subject of a documentary. Filming began at the start of the season, with cameras shadowing Rooney both on and off the pitch.
“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,” Rooney told the Plymouth Herald. “Once they get used to that it’s not an issue.”
Rooney’s wife, Coleen, is currently in Australia on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here which finishes with the final on Sunday night.
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