Plymouth Argyle have appointed Mike Phelan, who will become Argyle’s new assistant coach, after Pete Shuttleworth’s departure by mutual consent.
Phelan has had an illustrious career, being known mostly for his time at Manchester United as assistant head coach, winning one FIFA Club World Cup, two English League Cups, two English Super Cups and three Premier League titles.
As assistant coach, one of his many responsibilities will be to help strategise game plans, which Argyle are in dire need of. The Greens have the poorest away record in the Championship this season, winning none, drawing two and losing eight. Scoring only 3 and conceding a whopping 27. This is something Phelan will look at straight away and evaluate why Plymouth are so poor away from home. Phelan spoke about the away form by saying, “It’s an attitude thing; I always found it was a mental and attitude thing; you got to go there with a belief, you got to turn up and you got to perform.”
Phelan’s vast amount of knowledge and experience as a coach is something that has been missing at Home Park under Rooney’s tenancy. When talking about Phelan’s appointment, Rooney said, “I think he’ll bring great experience to us as a coaching staff.” He’s calm and calculated in how he works, which I know very well. “He was my coach at Manchester United, so I know how he works really well, and I think he’ll fit in really well with the coaches we’ve already got.”
Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle continue their poor run of form after losing 2-1 to Swansea City. This now means that the Greens have only won once in their last 10 fixtures, now putting them 24th in The Championship.
The Pilgrims hope that by bringing in a coach of Phelan’s calibre, it will benefit the Greens, hopefully steering them away from the relegation zone.