Plymouth Argyle were on the wrong side of a 6-1 thrashing in the Championship by Norwich City, after which Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney had a message for his stars
Wayne Rooney lambasted his Plymouth Argyle team following a 6-1 battering against Norwich City, citing how the youth team would have done better.
After being appointed as Argyle boss in May, Rooney has enjoyed a difficult start to life with the Championship outfit. With four wins, five draws and eight losses from their opening 17 games of the 2024/25 season, the Pilgrims sit in 20th on 17 points – just two clear of the drop zone.
November had seen a mixed bag of results for Argyle, with a 3-0 walloping from Leeds at Elland Road, a 1-0 home win over Portsmouth, and stalemates with Derby County and Watford before they turned their attention to Norwich on Tuesday evening. And Rooney’s side would’ve had a long journey back to the south west after losing 6-1 at Carrow Road.
Lambasting his side after the humiliating defeat, Rooney said: “I could probably put the under-18 team out there and they wouldn’t concede six goals, so I’m very disappointed, angry, frustrated and the next 24-48 hours are not going to be very nice for the players, but we need to get to the bottom of why this is happening.”
He added: “I feel for the fans who came here because I know the distance they’ve travelled to get behind the players and I know for any fan when you see your team put in that performance and get that result you’re not going to be pleased about it. I’m dealing with it, I’m trying to get to the bottom of why every now and again we’re having these results and hopefully I can do that sooner rather than later.”
It didn’t take Norwich long to get to work on Argyle during the clash, with Borja Sainz opening the scoring with just two minutes played – a cool and composed finish from the centre of the box after breaking the back line. Sainz doubled down in the 17th after slotting a right-footed one-on-one against Daniel Grimshaw home with ease, before Mustapha Bundu gave the visitors a glimmer of hope by netting on the stroke of half time.
A soaring header from Shane Duffy put the Canaries 3-1 up with 51 minutes played, before Sainz sealed his hat-trick in the 72nd with a perfectly placed curler from just inside the box. Anis Ben Slimane bagged a fifth on the 80-minute mark with a thunderous left footed effort, before Ante Crnac capped off a 6-1 win for Norwich when Julio Pleguezuelo slipped as the last man back.
Rooney will undoubtedly be feeling the pressure as the Christmas break fast approaches, having yet to really settle with a club since stepping into the world of management four years ago. The Manchester United legend took on a player/captain role with Derby in 2020, spending two years with the Rams before making the move to DC United.
Rooney mutually parted ways with the club in October last year after DC failed to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season, before signing as the manager of Birmingham City just three days later. While Rooney was welcomed on a three-and-a-half year contract with the Blues, he lasted just three months and was sacked in January after winning just two games out of 15.
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