Wayne Rooney admitted he felt “embarrassed” acknowledging the support of the Plymouth Argyle fans after Bristol City thrashed the Pilgrims at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon.
The Robins picked up a first win in three Championship games as four unanswered goals in the second half saw Liam Manning’s side claim all three points and a first victory at Ashton Gate since September when they beat Oxford United.
Scott Twine opened the scoring as he deflected Anis Mehmeti’s goalbound effort past Daniel Grimshaw, but the Albanian international didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoresheet himself as he scored twice in quick succession with two excellent right-footed finishes before Sinclair Armstrong put the icing on the cake with a composed strike late on.
Despite Argyle’s struggles on the road this season, the Green Army filled the Ateyo Stand and were vocal for the entirety of the contest and Rooney was quick to lay blame on his squad for collapsing in front of the travelling fans.
“Reflection from the game at the end is a big embarrassment if I’m being absolutely honest,” Rooney said in his post-match press conference. “I know the support the fans have given us, they’ve come here in numbers and it’s the same on Tuesday and the same today, it’s very difficult walking over and feeling embarrassed to show our appreciation to the fans.
“Within the game, I made the changes to try and keep us in the game and not concede really and I felt we did ok with that first half. Second half, I could feel Bristol were coming at us a little bit more and I was trying to get Andre [Gray] and Michael [Obafemi] onto the pitch to try and help us from a different tactical point of view and then obviously we concede the first goal.
“From there, the players collapsed and again this is not something that I haven’t told the players, they completely collapsed and it was the same at Norwich away, it was the same at Leeds away and when you want to have a career in football you need to dig deep at times and dig deep within yourself. It’s something I’ve done many times as a player and I feel the players showed a real lack of character and a real lack of fight after we conceded the first goal and that’s very disappointing.”
Plymouth have failed to win any of their 10 games away from Home Park so far this term and have only managed to pick up two points on their travels, conceding a miserable 27 goals in the process.
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Saturday afternoon’s defeat leaves the Pilgrims sat just two points above Hull City who occupy the final place in the relegation zone with pressure mounting on Rooney from supporters and pundits alike as the novelty of his appointment begins to wear off. Even with the growing frustration, the former England international remains confident he can turn things around at Home Park.
“Of course, I think we can,” insisted the Argyle boss. “The one thing we have got is good home form so that’s kept us in the position we’re in, in the league, thankfully, at the minute.
“But we have to do more, have more fight, character, everything that I’ve spoken about away from home because you’re going to have difficult moments at difficult places with difficult atmospheres to play in and at the minute we’re not responding to that.
“There’s going to be a lot of conversations or meetings as a group and individuals and I really hope the players can see and feel how much this hurts. I want them to understand that I’ve come into this football club to try and improve it, I’m a winner and it hurts so much when you see performances and results like we’ve had. I want to see that in them, I want to see that pain and hurt. When you see that, you know there’s something there to help them get through it.”
With pressure mounting on Rooney, it remains unclear whether he will still be in position when Bristol City make the trip to Home Park to face Argyle for the second time this season on New Year’s Day.