Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney (Image: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Wayne Rooney has appointed former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan to be his No.2 at Plymouth Argyle.
Rooney had been assisted by Pete Shuttleworth at Home Park. However, the 45-year-old has departed the Devon club due to 'personal reasons'.
To replace him, Rooney has turned to Phelan who worked as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Old Trafford for five years. Before that, Phelan was an individual coach at United for seven years.
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Phelan has experience in the Championship having worked with Norwich City and Hull City following his exit from the club when Ferguson retired. Speaking on the appointment, Rooney said: "I am sad to see Pete leave the club.
"He is someone I have worked with very closely throughout my managerial career having first met at Derby County and he has also been a close friend. Pete has some personal matters going on which is where his focus needs to be and we all completely respect that and have mutually decided to part ways.
"Mike is someone I know well having worked with him when I was a player at Manchester United and he has vast experience at the highest level of football. I am really pleased to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing him get to work immediately."
Adding to Rooney's statement, Argyle's director of football Neil Dewsnip added: "I want to thank Pete for all his support and efforts since joining Argyle in the summer. We are thrilled to bring in someone of Mike’s calibre so quickly as a replacement.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Mike Phelan patrol the touchline at Old Trafford
"He is one of the most experienced coaches around having worked with some of the best players in the world and obviously has a relationship with Wayne already from their time together at Manchester United. We look forward to seeing his work have an immediate impact on the group and hope his experience will provide the perfect support to Wayne as we head into a very busy period of fixtures."
Plymouth currently sit in the relegation zone in the Championship but have a game in hand on most of their rivals after their match this weekend against Oxford United was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
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