WAZZA GONE
Wayne Rooney axed by Plymouth after woeful run of form with Man Utd legend’s men bottom of Championship
Plymouth are four points adrift of safety at the halfway mark of the season
WAYNE Rooney has parted ways with Plymouth Argyle.
The ex-Manchester United star, 39, only took over at the start of the season but the Pilgrims are rooted to the bottom of the Championship table.
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Plymouth have not won since a narrow 1-0 victory over Portsmouth on November 5.
They have since embarked on a run of nine games without a win, including heavy losses 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City respectively.
Plymouth have also earned just two points on the road this season.
The club currently sit 24th in the league with just 18 points from 23 matches and are four points adrift from safety.
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A statement from the club today said: "Plymouth Argyle can confirm that the club and Head Coach Wayne Rooney have mutually agreed to part ways with immediate effect.
"Departing the club with Rooney will be Assistant Head Coach Mike Phelan and first team coach Simon Ireland.
"First team coach Kevin Nancekivell and Club Captain Joe Edwards will lead the team for our Sky Bet Championship match against Bristol City on New Year’s Day. Daryl Flahavan will continue as Goalkeeping coach.
"We would like to thank Wayne and his team for all their efforts and wish them well for the future.
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"The club will be making no further comment at this stage with updates on our new first team management staff in due course."
It comes two days after his side's 2-0 loss to relegation rivals Oxford United on Sunday.
Wayne Rooney's statement
WAYNE Rooney also today issued a statement after leaving the club.
He said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board of Plymouth Argyle Football Club, in particular Simon Hallett and Neil Dewsnip who I shared great relationships with.
"Thanks also to all the staff who made me feel welcome and who make the club such a special place, the players and fans for their efforts and support during my time as Head Coach and I wish them all the best for the future.
"To the Green Army thanks for making the games at Home Park so special, they are memories that we will share forever.
"I would also like to give a special mention to my coaching staff Kevin Nancekivell, Simon Ireland, Darryl Flahavan and Mike Phelan for their knowledge, dedication, help and support.
"Plymouth Argyle will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will continue to look out for and take interest in their results."
Wayne Rooney hits out at speculation he took mystery woman back to his flat and says ‘it’s simply not true’
Earlier this month, Argyle chairman Simon Hallett publicly backed Rooney.
The ex-England legend had also recently appointed Sir Alex Ferguson's former No2 Mike Phelan to replace outgoing assistant Pete Shuttleworth.
It marks the latest setback in a stuttering managerial career for Rooney.
It is a far cry from his playing days, which saw him amass 120 caps for his country and become England's all-time leading scorer with 53 goals before the record was taken by Harry Kane.
He also scored 253 goals for United on his way to winning the Premier League five times, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup three times and Club World Cup.
Rooney joined Derby County as a player in January 2020, before being named as part of a four-person interim management team in November.
The ex-England man officially retired from playing in January 2021 when he took sole charge of the club.
Derby were relegated to League One at the end of the following season under Rooney's leadership, but had been in administration throughout the entire campaign and suffered a 21-point deduction.
He resigned from the club in June 2022.
Rooney then returned to the MLS with DC United the following month, winning his first game in charge.
But his side picked up just nine points from their last 14 games and they mutually parted ways at the end of the season.
The ex-England captain then joined Birmingham City in October 2023 with the club in sixth place in the Championship.
Martin Lipton on Rooney's Plymouth tenure
BY MARTIN LIPTON
It's finally come to an end. His departure from Plymouth is no surprise.
In fact, it's been there screaming, on the wall, for a few weeks now. The question is, what next? He really believed he was going to be a manager, he felt he was cut out for it.
But at Derby he had less than a 30% win ratio, worse everywhere he's been since - at DC United, a miserable time with just two wins in 15 games at Birmingham and now leaving Plymouth with the Devon club staring relegation fully in the face.
It's tough. Rooney really cares, there's no doubt about it, I spoke to him in the US 18 months ago, his enjoyment in the job was clear, he was really dedicated to making it work. But it doesn't seem to work.
Maybe it's a bit of Glen Hoddle syndrome. When the former Spurs midfielder walked onto a training ground as a manager, he was the best player there still. It's the same with Rooney I suspect. Certainly lower down the leagues he will be much, much better - that was the level of talent he possessed.
If you're that good how do you make limited players, play, when they can't do things that come naturally to you.
I still think there's a chance for Rooney, it isn't the end. It seems almost inevitable that at some point he will be handed the reins to his boyhood club, the chance to manage Everton. But for now it seems a long way away.
This will be brutal, this will be hard, it will hurt.
Let's hope for Rooney he doesn't let his own inner demons, the ones he's talked about in the past, descend on him now. That he can cope with this adversity, come out firing and prove that next time, he has what it takes.
But he was sacked after winning just two of his 15 games in charge.
It also comes after Rooney hit out at speculation he took a mystery woman back to his flat, insisting "it's simply not true."
Trolls claimed a video posted on X showed him letting an unidentified woman into his luxury Plymouth pad.
But he hit out and explained they were actually a couple who had given the football legend a lift home and his son was present at the time.
Posting on his Instagram stories, the angry football icon said: "I am aware of a video circulating online.
"The video shows a man and woman looking around my apartment.
"The couple kindly gave me a lift home and were in there at the same time as my son who was visiting.
"Footage is from last summer, it is annoying that at least one online newspaper has chosen to edit the footage to make it appear has though a woman entered the apartment on her own.
"That is simply not true."
In the video, Wazza – wearing a grey tracksuit – unlocks a door to his rented luxury apartment in Plymouth as an unidentified woman stands waiting.
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Rooney is then filmed walking past a huge flatscreen TV, with the camera later panning around to show a kitchen and dining table.
A woman can be heard saying “What time does it end?” while a man holds a blue baseball cap saying “this is the hat that he wears all the time”.
Another video shows the guests looking around Rooney’s bedroom and huge ensuite bathroom, with the girl saying “Wow” while the man says “Oh my f***ing god”.
A club spokesman confirmed the apartment videos were not recent as Rooney spent Saturday evening with his team in a hotel near Oxford’s ground preparing for the game.
Rooney took over at Home Park in May, succeeding Ian Foster.
It was the Man Utd legend’s first managerial role since he was sacked by Birmingham City in January.
The 39-year-old initially guided Plymouth into mid-table by the start of October.
But the Pilgrims’ stuttering form – especially on the road – saw them drop into the relegation spots just before the festive period.
Plymouth’s away record is the worst in the entire Football League having taken just two points from 13 games.
A 4-0 Boxing Day drubbing at Coventry City left Plymouth bottom of the table.
And they followed it up with another defeat on the road to Oxford.
The board decided to part ways with Rooney following the defeat, just days after he insisted he was the man to lead them forward.
Rooney guided Plymouth to victory in just 4 of his 23 league games at the helm.
His team have leaked 51 goals, the most in the division, and last won on November 5.
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The axing also comes after Wayne and wife Coleen spent weeks apart while she took part in ITV's I'm A Celebrity,.
It saw Coleen take part in Bushtucker Trials and living in the jungle camp.
Wayne Rooney's record-breaking career
WAYNE Rooney took the football world by storm when he made his debut for 2002 with Everton.
He quickly became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer aged 16 years and 342 days and was named the BBC's Young Sports Personality of the Year.
The striker joined Manchester United in 2004 and spent 13 years at Old Trafford. He went on to make 559 appearances for the Red Devils and scored 253 goals. To this day he is still the club's all-time leading goalscorer.
Following his spell with United, Rooney returned to Everton for a season. He also spent one-season stints with D.C. United and Derby County at the end of his career.
As well as his impressive club career, Rooney is also England's second-highest goalscorer with 53 goals in 120 appearances, behind only Harry Kane.
After hanging up his boots, the England icon turned to a career in management.
He took charge of Derby County in 2020 and managed to just about save the club from relegation from the Championship at the end of his first season.
However, with Derby handed a 21-point deduction the following campaign, he was unable to keep them up again and subsequently left.
Then came a 15-month spell in charge of MLS side D.C. United. He failed to impress during his time in Washington and parted ways with the club at the end of the 2023 regular season.
Rooney was controversially handed the Birmingham job in October 2023, replacing John Eustace with the club doing well and sixth in the Championship table.
However, in 15 games he suffered nine defeats and managed just two wins. He was sacked in January 2024 with Birmingham down in 20th. The club were relegated to League One at the end of the campaign.
He returned to management in May with Plymouth Argyle but managed just five wins in 25 games. The United legend now finds himself out of work once again.
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