Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle at Hillsborough on Sunday | Wayne Rooney's side emphatically beaten in season opener
Monday 12 August 2024 08:28, UK
Wayne Rooney suffered a miserable start to life as Plymouth Argyle boss, as they were beaten 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday in his first game in charge.
It took Wednesday 14 games to register a win last season, but they mustered it at the first time of asking in 2024/25, largely thanks to Jamal Lowe.
The debutant struck in the first half and then forced Brendan Galloway's own goal in the second at Hillsborough. Josh Windass and Michael Smith added a late third and fourth on a dream day for the Owls.
It was a defeat that left Rooney with plenty to ponder after a dreadful start to life with Argyle.
Sheffield Wednesday controlled the first half, and two of their standout players played a huge part in the move that led to the opener on 35 minutes.
Barry Bannan's pass and Svante Ingelsson's lovely cross found the ball with Lowe in the middle, who made no mistake with the finish.
It was 2-0 on 52 minutes thanks to a calamitous own goal from Galloway. As Lowe's header back across goal struck him in the face and inadvertently flew into his own net.
And after 83 minutes a third was added. Windass was the beneficiary of his own pass into Anthony Musaba, who pulled it back for his team-mate to lash into the net.
With the last kick of the game it was four, as substitute Smith got in on the act, firing in from close range at the second time of asking.
Plymouth's manager Wayne Rooney:
"The scoreline was deserved. From my point of view the really disappointing thing was the basics of the game, winning duels and stopping crosses. We conceded four goals from four crosses. The basics of the game were not there.
"The really disappointing thing for me is as a team we didn't play with the confidence we've shown in the last few weeks.
"We didn't take the ball well enough or handle the crowd early enough. We allowed them to get a foothold in the game, and we let it run out and conceded two more goals.
"I'm disappointed and angry, because that's not the performance I wanted to see. We spoke about their threats from crosses. We spoke about Barry Bannan and we let him run the game and didn't get close enough to him. That wasn't acceptable.
"The players have to earn a right to play. You can lose football games, that happens, but there's a way you want to see your players run, work and tackle. We've had a lot of fans come a long way, and the perfomance we've given wasn't good enough.
"We have to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Luke Chambers on Sky Sports Football:
"If I'm Wayne Rooney now I'd be very concerned with the performance of the players. If that's how he's asked them to set up it's going to be a long season for them.
"It couldn't have been an easier start for Wednesday. They took last season into this.
Former Plymouth striker Jamie Mackie on Sky Sports Football:
"Credit to Sheffield Wednesday. They were favourites before the game and Danny Rohl has obviously worked a lot on things with the amount of possession they had and the opportunities they created. They were clinical and could have had more.
"The biggest concern for me was Plymouth off the ball and their shape. They got overrun in midfield and didn't change it until too late. Maybe he didn't want to look negative by bringing off a forward for a midfielder."
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"This game today was what we worked on for the last six weeks. We are fit, we can run and we played well with and without the ball. We had lots of touches in the opponents box, but it's just the start and we have to keep going.
"There were a lot of good things but we can be more clinical and we missed some chances. It was a good step but just the first one. There are 45 more to come. But if we play like this we'll have a good season.
"The atmosphere was great and I'm very proud of my team today. But now it's the next game that's the important one, and we're looking forward."
