"Chuffed" - Plymouth Argyle: Gary Lineker praises Wayne Rooney | OneFootball

The Pilgrims have looked a much improved side in recent weeks, compared to their opening outing.

Gary Lineker has praised his former colleague Wayne Rooney for the job that he has done to turn Plymouth Argyle's form around after a tough start to the season.

It's safe to say that the decision to make Rooney the next Plymouth boss in the summer wasn't one that was lauded and praised by all. He'd just come off the back of a horrible run with Birmingham City which ultimately started the domino effect that led to the club's relegation.

Having narrowly avoided the drop themselves, it seemed like a very big risk for the Pilgrims to bring in someone like the Manchester United legend, but that's what they decided to go with.

Argyle owner Simon Hallett has used his skills as an investment analyst to make some educated decisions since taking over his boyhood club, including on the management side of things.

His judgment looked like it might have failed him after the first game of the season - a 4-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday which had some immediately picking Plymouth to meet their relegation demise come the end of the season.

Could that still happen? Absolutely. It's a tightly-contested league from top to bottom. Even though there has been an upturn in form for the Pilgrims, they will know that they aren't out of the woods yet.

As much as Rooney has been doubted, he has seemingly turned things around with Argyle. Two wins in his last four games against Sunderland and Luton Town have made people take this team a lot more seriously, and more and more are taking notice of them and their players.

Gary Lineker on Wayne Rooney and Plymouth Argyle

Lineker, a fellow England legend, has said that he is happy to see Rooney doing better with his new club after a rocky start to life in the southwest.

He said on The Rest is Football podcast: "Wayne Rooney has won a couple of games on the trot. Have you noticed that?

"Because, obviously, we worked with him in the summer and he's such a great guy, and he was such a wonderful player, and we were all a little worried after his start. But two good wins now. Chuffed for him."

The two other co-hosts of the podcast, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer, also chimed in to praise the Argyle boss.

"Go on Wazza, lad," added Richards, while Shearer stated: "Brilliant. Good for him, man. Keep up the good work."

The two latterly mentioned hosts have a long link with Rooney. They were both on the pitch when he scored two of the most famous goals in his illustrious career.

Richards was only just behind the scouse attacker when he scored THAT overhead kick against Manchester City. Shearer, on the other hand, was a bit further away from the 19-year-old Rooney when he scored a pearl of a volley against Newcastle United back in 2005, but he would have had a good view of it.

Wayne Rooney is starting to get a tune out of this Plymouth team

It must have felt like the earth was crumbling beneath him when the 38-year-old was stood in the away side's technical area at Hillsborough on that first Sunday of the new Championship campaign. They looked all over the place, but one of the best things you could say about them now is that they look a different side.

Had they continued to put out performances like that, then they would have almost certainly been the favourites to go down.

For all the questions surrounding him, though, Rooney has turned this team into one that he described as showing "resilience," and "a lot of character." That could not be said about these players after their loss to Wednesday, so credit to Rooney for being able to turn things around.