Former Everton star explains what he told his side after opening 4-0 defeat in August
Everton FC news: The former Everton player has enjoyed a better run in the manager dugout of late in the Championship.
Former Everton star Wayne Rooney has opened up on what he told his Plymouth side following their tough start to the season.
They began the Championship campaign with a disappointing 4-0 away defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, before going onto lose three more games in the league and one in the EFL Cup second round. As it stands, they sit 14th in the table but they’ve managed to beat Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers and Luton while narrowly losing away at Burnley in what has been a turnaround in form.
Rooney has been nominated for the manager of the month award alongside John Eustace of Blackburn Rovers, Burnley boss Scott Parker and Sheffield United's Chris Wilde for September. However, when speaking on the Overlap’s latest episode of ‘Stick to Football’, he revealed what he said to his side after that sizeable defeat on the opening weekend of the season.
“Initially I was calm. I told them what I felt that they weren’t good enough, we didn’t have enough energy, enough tackles, not aggressive enough. I messed up in that game, however. I brought in too many of the new players. Too many of the new signings we brought in from Europe.
“You’re playing at Hillsborough, big atmosphere, first game of the season so a few days later at another team meeting, I told them I should have picked a different team. It was my responsibility but it was a hard day. Even the games we’ve lost, West Brom and Burnley away we should have got something out of them recently.”
Having been ridiculed for his time at Birmingham City, where he took over the club with the side in 5th place and was sacked after 15 games and 83 days in charge with the side languishing in 20th place. They were later relegated to League One. As mentioned, the former Derby County and DC United boss is experiencing the most positive run of his managerial career so far.