Following their loss to Sheffield Wednesday on the first day of play, Plymouth Argyle supporters had to be worrying about the worst.

After matchweek one, Wayne Rooney’s team finished bottom of the table after losing 4-0 at Hillsborough in his debut game as the Pilgrims’ manager.

But after two months, Plymouth had climbed to 14th place in the Championship after winning 11 of their first nine games.

Their first victory of the season came at Home Park, when Rooney’s squad defeated Sunderland 3-2 to end their winning streak, possibly the most unexpected outcome of the season thus far.

The Devonshire-based team has now defeated Blackburn Rovers and Lincoln Town as well. They have amassed almost all of their points between this international break and the last one. Fans will nevertheless remember that Wednesday’s setback to Sheffield and how far they have come in only a few short weeks.

Rooney unpicks aftermath of Sheffield Wednesday defeat

Rooney needed to figure out where he went wrong and how he was going to rapidly solve it, as the Owls fans inside Hillsborough that day were jumping and cheering.

Early in the Championship season, games came thick and fast, forcing Plymouth to lick their wounds.The Pilgrims manager shared his initial views after the full-time whistle in an interview with Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Jill Scott, and Roy Keane on The Overlap.

“At first, I was calm and told them how I felt, telling them it wasn’t good enough,” he stated.

You will always lose games, but in this instance, we lost because we lacked effort, made insufficient tackles, and lacked aggression. I informed them that I would not tolerate that.

.

“But because I played too many of the young players, I made a mistake there. The first game of the season is taking place at Hillsborough, and for the new players I brought in from Europe, there’s a lot of excitement.”

Rooney went on, “We held another team meeting a few days later. I informed the players that I believed I should have introduced the new players more gradually while choosing my team.

“You’re going into it thinking we’re okay because we did okay in the preseason. That was a challenging day, but I also stated that it was my obligation.”

Rooney seems to have learned from his mistakes

The first few weeks of the season were very difficult for Rooney and his Plymouth team as they tried to recover from the dismantling at Hillsborough, even if they had rebounded superbly.

The previous Derby County boss appears to have learnt from his mistakes from that Sunday afternoon, as his team selections are now much more steady. He continues to trust players who have been with the club for a long time while also cautiously bringing in fresh stars.

 

With players like Michael Obafemi and Morgan Whittaker who can score goals to keep the team out of danger of relegation, the Pilgrims are incredibly well-equipped offensively.

Though difficult times lie ahead, there’s little doubt that Rooney and his team can keep their heads above the parapet and fend off the threat of relegation to League One if they can turn Home Park into a fortress.