Wayne Rooney is considered responsible for Plymouth Argyle`s precarious position battling relegation from the Championship. This is the firm opinion of the manager who took over from him.
Miron Muslic, the current Plymouth boss, delivered sharp criticism of the former Manchester United and England forward. Muslic faces the challenging task of keeping the club from Devon in the second tier.
Plymouth currently finds itself rooted to the bottom of the league table, level on 43 points with Cardiff City but sitting below them due to an inferior goal difference. While they are three points adrift of safety, their goal difference of -37 is significantly worse than Derby County`s -9, making their fight for survival considerably harder.
Muslic`s mission to secure the Pilgrims` Championship status is an uphill battle, particularly given the club was promoted as League One champions just the previous season (2023).
With only two fixtures remaining, Plymouth will play Preston North End away before concluding their campaign at Home Park against already-promoted Leeds United.
Despite their difficult situation, Plymouth has shown some recent improvement, winning three of their last five games. Following a 3-1 victory over play-off contenders Coventry City, Muslic offered a scathing assessment of Rooney`s time at the helm.
The Austrian coach commented: “I think if I`m the head coach from day one we will be far, far away from the relegation zone, we will be safe five games ago.”
He stated with conviction: “I truly believe if I will be here with my staff from day one, we will be nowhere near where we are right now.”
Muslic highlighted the team`s strong performances at Home Park against formidable opponents as a source of confidence. “The performance today, the performance at Middlesbrough [where they lost 2-1]… We`ve taken nine points at Home Park against Norwich, against Sheffield United, against Coventry.”
He underlined the calibre of these teams: “These are teams playing for the Premier League and they all lost here in Plymouth at Home Park, that gives me the confidence.”
Last season, Argyle narrowly avoided relegation on the final day with a vital 1-0 win against Hull City, securing another year in the second division.
However, results have been significantly poorer during the current season, especially during Rooney`s initial period in charge. Rooney took over at Home Park, and his first match saw the team suffer a heavy 4-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday.
He left the club on New Year`s Eve, with Plymouth positioned at the very bottom of the table, four points away from safety.
