Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom felt Plymouth Argyle was a perfect next step for Wayne Rooney to take.
The England and Manchester United legend was appointed as boss at Home Park, back in May. Five months after his 15-game stint at Birmingham City, Rooney returned to work – for his fourth job as a manager. He started off with Derby County and then moved to D.C. United for 15 months.
Now, Rooney is looking to help Plymouth establish themselves in the Championship – with it their second season back in the division. Argyle sit 21st currently, with 11 points to their name – only two fewer than 16th placed PNE. And, as for Rooney, there is certainly some admiration on the Preston boss’ part.
Heckingbottom responded, “Yeah, he has had a few jobs now, and like you say, he doesn’t have to do it.” “I think it’s a good club for him, but it’s because he wants to succeed.” The club is run really nicely, and I know a few individuals down there as well. I believe it’s a good fit for him to go and concentrate solely on the coaching and the football. And the fact that, as you say, no experience has stopped him; rather, it has only increased his hunger, and he has returned to attempt to succeed.
On the style of Rooney’s teams, Heckingbottom added: “I didn’t see too much at Birmingham, or over in the States. But, Derby and Plymouth, yeah I can see similarities. They had to put some young players in at Derby and went with them and coached them, in a similar shape. I think there are similarities there. But, a season in football is a long time and that was three seasons ago now. He will have learned a lot, and picked up little bits of information from people. So, even if it’s a 4-3-3 and it was a 4-3-3, he probably plays it totally different for certain people.”
Plymouth are down the lower end of the table, but that is certainly not down to their home form. PNE’s next opponents have picked up 10 of their 11 points, on home soil. In the eyes of North End’s manager, those games and performances are the only ones worth taking real notice of, at this stage.
“Certainly, we look at them totally different as a home side,” said Heckingbottom. “If you had a statistical breakdown of their season, you could probably ignore it. You would want a statistical breakdown of their home form and away form. So yeah, everything I have seen of them at home, they are a dangerous side – I think that is the best way to describe it. They have not really changed how they play, home and away, but they are much more dangerous at home.”
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