Wayne Rooney slams ’embarrassing’ players after ‘complete collapse’ and admits ‘nothing’s getting through to them’
WAYNE ROONEY ruthlessly ripped into his Plymouth players yet again following their 4-0 defeat to Bristol City on Saturday.
Argyle conceded three times in 13 second-half minutes as they continue to leak goals away from home.
It came just four days after they were thrashed 6-1 by Norwich at Carrow Road.
Plymouth are yet to win away from home this season and have conceded 38 goals in just 18 league games.
They now sit just two points above the Championship relegation zone.
Following the Norwich loss, Rooney gave a scathing assessment of his side by claiming his academy team could have performed better.
And in the wake of the Bristol City defeat, he criticised them in similarly blunt fashion by insisting they showed a “lack of character and fight”.
He said: “From there [in the second half], the players collapsed.
“Again, this is not something I haven’t told the players. They completely collapsed. It was the same at Norwich away, it was the same at Leeds away.
“When you want to have a career in football you need to dig deep at times, and dig deep within yourself.
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“It’s something I have done many times as a player, and I feel the players showed a real lack of character and lack of fight after we conceded the first goal, and that is very disappointing.
“Of course, we have got injuries – and that’s certainly not me making excuses – but those players who have come in have all had the game time. I have tried different ways, different systems.
“I have gone at them, I have tried to encourage them. I have tried to find the right balance between both.”
Worryingly, Rooney, who only took over in May, also revealed he has “simplified the game as much as I can” for his players but they continue to not understand his instructions.
He added: “Up to now, away from home, nothing is getting through to them.
“I think the biggest thing is when we concede a goal it looks like the game is over and you are looking at hopefully keeping it down to one goal, which is not a good place to be.
“I’m talking a lot on the players and I never like doing that but I think it is at a point now where the players need to understand that they need to give more and show more character, more fight, more desire.
“I have simplified the game as much as I can today for them, to not over complicate things.”
Rooney has won five, drawn five and lost 10 of his 20 games in charge.
And his next two matches could prove crucial in determining his future.
They face back-to-back home fixtures against 17th place Oxford and 12th place Swansea.
Since beating Portsmouth 1-0 on November 5, they have drawn two and lost two, conceding 13 in the process.