Plymouth owner Simon Hallett has spoken positively about Wayne Rooney and his wider impact at the Championship club beyond just on-field results.
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Article continues below
Article continues below
- Plymouth owner lifts lid on Rooney
- Ex-Man Utd made positive impression
- Results & style trumped everything else
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Hallett discussed in an interview with the kind of things that Rooney achieved in his short coaching spell at Plymouth, which included knitting people together at the training ground by "literally knocking down walls" to create open working spaces.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Overall, Rooney's time at Plymouth will be remembered as the latest short-lived stop on his fledgling managerial career. In August, he was named permanent successor to Ian Foster, who had similarly struggled after replacing the very successful Steven Schumacher. Plymouth lost 4-0 against Sheffield Wednesday in Rooney's first game in charge and had only won four league games by the time he left on New Year's Eve, officially by mutual consent, sitting bottom of the Championship. And yet, Hallett remembers those seven months more fondly than results alone would suggest.
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WHAT SIMON HALLETT SAID
"Wayne literally knocked down walls," Hallett revealed. "He had walls between various people in the football department removed (at the club’s offices), so they sat together. He was wonderful around the club. He was very good with fans, to the point where we had to restrain him. I remember we were having a meeting with somebody and one of their staff said, 'My sister runs a local primary school, can you visit?'. And Wayne said, 'Sure'. But we had to say, 'Wait a minute, he is very busy!' I know it sounds silly because he's such a big celebrity and he's famous for some bad decisions, but he's a very decent human being. The impact he had saved the club from fraying."
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DID YOU KNOW?
Although Rooney seemed a great fit for Plymouth in many ways, Hallett admitted that the split was ultimately down to the former England and Manchester United captain insisting on a very specific style of play. Hallett added: "He was committed to a way of playing football we were simply unable to execute."
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