"I don't think you can be critical" - Sky Sports pundit drops Plymouth Argyle, Wayne Rooney claim | OneFootball

Don Goodman has hailed Wayne Rooney's impact at Plymouth Argyle this season

Don Goodman has directed praise towards Wayne Rooney for keeping Plymouth Argyle competitive in the Championship so far this season.

The Pilgrims narrowly dodged an immediate return to League One by defeating Hull City at home on the final day of the 2023/24 Championship campaign before appointing Wayne Rooney as the club's new head coach, a decision which appeared to be a significant gamble at the time.

That's because Rooney arrived at Home Park with something of a fallen managerial stock, having endured a brief and bleak reign in charge of Birmingham City after being brought in to replace John Eustace. Blues, who were sixth at the time of Rooney's appointment in October, were later relegated to the third-tier as Plymouth survived at their expense.

The odds were stacked against Rooney and Plymouth heading into the current season, especially after the departure of highly-rated shot-stopper Michael Cooper to Sheffield United. Widely tipped as the favourites for relegation, a prediction which was fuelled further following a 4-0 thrashing at Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day, Plymouth have since gone on to outperform expectations under Rooney to a certain extent.

Plymouth Argyle's 24/25 form under Wayne Rooney

There have been peaks and troughs after 15 matches of the season for Plymouth, who have endured some rather inconsistent form in the Championship. Carrying on from the previous campaign, their home record has been solid and Plymouth have lost just one of their seven games played at Home Park, where they've claimed victories over the likes of Sunderland, Luton Town and, most recently, relegation rivals Portsmouth.

The win against Portsmouth, which was ensured by an 82nd-minute winner from Michael Obafemi, feels like it could be a crucial one. Despite still being so early into the season, the meeting was billed as a six-pointer and Plymouth found themselves in desperate need of three points and an uplift in momentum after suffering a 3-0 thumping away to Leeds United days earlier, where they had failed to deliver a single shot on goal.

Save for Saturday afternoon's hard-fought 1-1 draw at Derby County, Plymouth's form away from home has been a real concern and no team in the Championship has fared worse on their travels thus far. Along with the hammering at Elland Road, Plymouth also lost 5-0 away to a Cardiff City side who, at the time, had won just once in the league after nine matches.

Those defeats in particular invited significant doubt externally surrounding Rooney's tenure, although his job feels secure for the time being. Crucially, of course, supporters are onside when it comes to the ex-Manchester United star and Plymouth have headed into this month's international break in 18th place after taking four points from their last two matches, lifting them out of the relegation zone.

They're still only one point above 22nd-placed Cardiff, who they are separated from by no less than three sides in what's shaping up to be a very tight relegation dogfight, but many would've likely expected Plymouth to be in a similar position to bottom side QPR, for example.

Glaring issues remain at play, and Plymouth's chances at retaining their second-tier status for a second successive year will hang in the balance for as long as their miserable away form goes unchecked in particular, but they're keeping their heads above the water for the time being and have earned credit for exaclty that.

Don Goodman's Wayne Rooney, Plymouth Argyle praise

Sky Sports pundit Goodman has praised Rooney for making his side "competitive" in spite of their concerning away record, lauding the way in which the 39-year-old has won over supporters after starting the job in the worst fashion imaginable.

"Wayne Rooney has got the support of the ownership and backing of the fans. He's won them around after that shocking display on the opening day at Hillsborough, which was one of the worst I've seen at Championship level," Goodman said via Gambling Zone.

"There are question marks about the fact they can have a meltdown away from home occasionally but, aside from that, Wayne Rooney has made Plymouth competitive.

“While he has the backing of supporters and they remain competitive, Wayne Rooney gets a thumbs up from me. I don't think you can be critical of where Plymouth are in the table and the amount of points they've got. It seems he's trying to bring more structure to the way Argyle play."