There have been some mitigating components to Rooney’s demise at Plymouth – some avoidable, some not so.
As head coach, quite than supervisor, he couldn’t be held solely accountable for transfers, although his status within the sport performed an element in some gamers opting to affix.
Nonetheless, it was clear the signing of skilled Iceland defender Victor Palsson – who performed beneath Rooney at DC United – was one he had pushed for.
The previous Liverpool academy participant managed simply eight appearances beneath Rooney, fighting type and damage, and with the January switch window now opening it didn’t encourage confidence in his eye for a participant.
“To be honest to Wayne he is been dealt a difficult hand – we have now the smallest finances within the division, we’re a small fish in an extremely massive pond, we’re persistently punching above our weight and he needed to are available in and overachieve,” Bell stated.
“I do really feel for Wayne as a result of it’s a tough job – it’s tough to try to hold Plymouth Argyle within the Championship. We did it by the pores and skin of our enamel final yr and sadly, as a lot as I would like a better season, I believe we’ll in all probability need to do it the identical method once more this yr.”
One factor Rooney may actually not be blamed for was Argyle’s crippling damage record.
He has been with out the backbone of his crew, together with captain Joe Edwards – now caretaker supervisor – on-loan Toulouse livewire Ibrahim Cissoko and Morgan Whittaker, who scored 20 objectives final season and was the topic of a multimillion-pound bid from Italian giants Lazio final January.
It meant 16-year-old academy product Tegan Finn needed to begin their 4-0 defeat at Coventry on Boxing Day.
“Sadly, regardless of having an damage record the size of anyone’s arm, it isn’t labored out for Wayne and the time needed to come.
“Lots of people in defence of Wayne have requested: ‘Who may have accomplished higher?'”
“The easy reality is we do not know, we’ll solely discover out now.”