Rooney - post Bristol comments

[Frank Butcher]

Keep digging....

Don’t need to. With a full squad we were competitive and doing OK - which a lot of people forget. With the B team not so much.

Sometimes the explanation is obvious.

 

[Sun Stonehouse]

Agreed , played in plenty of games where a “poorer” team won as they worked harder .
We aren’t working hard enough which I’m really surprised by.

Definitely not working hard enough, the amount of times I, ve seen our players lose the ball and just jog to try and retrieve it. It drives me nuts that total lack of desire and interest. Watch on Saturday honestly it's so frustrating, and I for one will be going mad if it continues, nothing wrong with being cr..p, but at least bloody try!!.

 

[warney]

So many successful Argyle squads in the past have been greater than the sum of it's parts. It's now a requirement for us the stay in this league with our budget. Currently we seem to be less that the sum of our parts!

 

[Steve Evans]

Definitely not working hard enough, the amount of times I, ve seen our players lose the ball and just jog to try and retrieve it. It drives me nuts that total lack of desire and interest. Watch on Saturday honestly it's so frustrating, and I for one will be going mad if it continues, nothing wrong with being cr..p, but at least bloody try!!.

they don't like wayne obviously.he has to go.

 

[PAFC123]

they don't like wayne obviously.he has to go.

If that’s the case, they didn’t like foster either, so now we have a team of shambolic players trying to push their weight around. Who has to go? The players just aren’t good enough. Rooney has some responsibility but the players really are terrible

 

[swedengreen]

To be fair it was as good as it got with our A team at Sheffield and Cardiff

Disagree with that. Sheffield featured Pálsson and Ogbeta, it can't have been our A team. We didn't know what our A team was at the time in any case...

Cardiff was a man down for more than half of it, and it was the only time this season we've been outplayed (or lost by more than 1) with something resembling our first choice 11, particularly defensively.

My view is that we have to wake up and smell the coffee and do everything possible to never put Pálsson or Ogbeta in the team again. Change system, play players out of position, get a U18 in. Anything. If we keep playing them and they keep getting targetted like today then Rooney deserves to be sacked.

 

[Steve Evans]

If that’s the case, they didn’t like foster either, so now we have a team of shambolic players trying to push their weight around. Who has to go? The players just aren’t good enough. Rooney has some responsibility but the players really are terrible

i disagree.with tactics this squad would stay in the championship.rooney is clueless.

 

[Yammerman]

I look forward to seeing him in the dugout next week. His comments were just honest as he always is and I'm not sure the players would disagree. I hope he turns it around, though the injuries to the squad have made a difficult task near on impossible. I'm not sure comparing now to past eras helps much as the gap between the have and have nots is so much more stark.
Some of the emotionally fueled vitriol on here towards Rooney. the team and Simon is just a lot of heat and light signifying nothing. I trust the board to figure out when things need to change as I always have done. I hope the crowd stick with the team next week as it's a very important game and they can really help. For all the negativity around today, the recent run of homes game have been unprecedented in there drama and that must count for something in what was always going to be a very tough season.

 

[cheshiregreen]

Disagree with that. Sheffield featured Pálsson and Ogbeta, it can't have been our A team. We didn't know what our A team was at the time in any case...

Cardiff was a man down for more than half of it, and it was the only time this season we've been outplayed (or lost by more than 1) with something resembling our first choice 11, particularly defensively.

My view is that we have to wake up and smell the coffee and do everything possible to never put Pálsson or Ogbeta in the team again. Change system, play players out of position, get a U18 in. Anything. If we keep playing them and they keep getting targetted like today then Rooney deserves to be sacked.

Point re Sheffield is that we employ people to identify what is our A team. Those staff presumably, having worked with the squad throughout pre-season thought that was the A team (at least ahead of kick off).

Also, at least one of the two mentioned by you was well known to our current head coach who, I would suggest, was quite instrumental in bringing him into our ranks.

 

[Tamargreen]

Disagree with that. Sheffield featured Pálsson and Ogbeta, it can't have been our A team. We didn't know what our A team was at the time in any case...

Cardiff was a man down for more than half of it, and it was the only time this season we've been outplayed (or lost by more than 1) with something resembling our first choice 11, particularly defensively.

My view is that we have to wake up and smell the coffee and do everything possible to never put Pálsson or Ogbeta in the team again. Change system, play players out of position, get a U18 in. Anything. If we keep playing them and they keep getting targetted like today then Rooney deserves to be sacked.

Argyle were already 2-0 down at Cardiff with Colwill absolutely running the show in the same way that Bannan was at Sheffield. Much has been said about the shortcomings of Palsson and Ogbeta and indeed they would not have got near any decent Argyle team in this division in the past. In their defence however they are often totally exposed by the inability of the departments in front of them to get to grips with the opposition-Argyle are seemingly unable to engage with opposition midfields even in home games which undoubtedly contributes to the very high proportion of opposition touches in the Argyle penalty area as seen against Pompey and Watford. Tactical problem or a general lack of pace and aggression throughout the team? I don't know but it certainly wasn't as noticeable last season.

 

[swedengreen]

Point re Sheffield is that we employ people to identify what is our A team. Those staff presumably, having worked with the squad throughout pre-season thought that was the A team (at least ahead of kick off).

Also, at least one of the two mentioned by you was well known to our current head coach who, I would suggest, was quite instrumental in bringing him into our ranks.

Yes, mistakes have no doubt been made in both these areas, not denying that.

My point is just that there is a big difference in standard between our first choice 11 and some of the players we are currently playing due to injuries.

 

[Swaz]

""It's a big embarrassment.

"I thought we did OK in the first half and then in the second I could feel them coming at us a bit more and I made changes to try and help us with that.

"But after we conceded the first goal the players collapsed. This is something I have told the players. It was the same at Norwich away and Leeds away.

"When you want to have a career in football you have to dig deep at times. I feel the players showed a lack of character and fight after we conceded the first goal and that was really disappointing."

This is enough to get him sacked. Surely. The man is a disgrace. You simply don't do this.

I don't think Rooney is helping himself in now motivating the players for the forthcoming matches by coming out with comments like 'The players collapse when going behind' and 'Might as well have put the U18s out.' His man management and motivational skills are now shown to be severely lacking in gelling a playing squad together.

 

[Green 1886]

You can forgive a shortfall in ability if you match or exceed the effort. We don’t even do that. Set pieces are usually a leveller for “less able teams” (shall we say) our corners and free kicks are a joke. No creativity, just a stroll up to the the ball and a chip aimlessly into the area.

Anyone wanting to see what a team fighting for the badge, manager, fans looks like - watch QPR’s last 2 away games. We’re miles away from them and they’re currently below us. Won’t be long though, they’ll leapfrog us as they did last season

 

[swedengreen]

Argyle were already 2-0 down at Cardiff with Colwill absolutely running the show in the same way that Bannan was at Sheffield. Much has been said about the shortcomings of Palsson and Ogbeta and indeed they would not have got near any decent Argyle team in this division in the past. In their defence however they are often totally exposed by the inability of the departments in front of them to get to grips with the opposition-Argyle are seemingly unable to engage with opposition midfields even in home games which undoubtedly contributes to the very high proportion of opposition touches in the Argyle penalty area as seen against Pompey and Watford. Tactical problem or a general lack of pace and aggression throughout the team? I don't know but it certainly wasn't as noticeable last season.

My feeling with Cardiff (admittedly in hindsight) was that they were on top but not a class above prior to the sending off. Cardiff played very well on the day and everything they hit went in. Rooney subbed on two attackers on the hour and Argyle kept trying to storm forwards with 10 men which is mostly why it finished 0-5. In the last two games I've more got the impression we were trying to keep the score down and failing. Cardiff was bad, but there were mitigating circumstances and it wasn't *this* bad (even if it seemed like it at the time).

And what you write above is also true. But it's not our biggest problem right now.

 

[IvyG]

Here to read for non Argyle TV folk.

Rooney calls Argyle defeat at Bristol City a 'big embarrassment'

The Pilgrims' boss has seen his side concede 10 goals in the last two away games against Norwich City and Bristol City

www.plymouthherald.co.uk

Is this the best approach to our current dilemma?

Truth hurts, Rooney is right on all counts.