Wayne Rooney ready to put his faith in Plymouth academy players

New Plymouth boss Wayne Rooney has vowed to give the club’s young players the chance to follow in his footsteps and make a name for themselves as teenagers.

Rooney, who burst onto the Premier League scene aged 16 at Everton, was handed the reins at Home Park less than five months after losing his job at Birmingham.

And the former Manchester United and England striker has backed his ability to develop potential talent in Devon.

Asked about his management style, the 38-year-old told Argyle TV: “Obviously I’ve had my playing career, which I’ve enjoyed, but if you want to get into management, you’ve got to move pretty quickly from there.

“I’ve put in a lot of work, a lot of time to try to develop as a coach, to try to improve myself, to try to get better and I want to be a coach that helps players, helps teams, develops players, academy players.

“And the academy players are very important, to try to improve them, because I was a player who broke into the first team at 16. I think a lot of young players are good enough but maybe don’t get the opportunity, so I have a real passion for that as well.”

Rooney, who admitted his journey to Plymouth through spells at Derby, DC United and Birmingham had its challenges, is excited about the latest phase of his career, which will see him link up again with the club’s director of football, Neil Dewsnip.

Dewsnip was Everton’s academy boss who helped him through the ranks and the pair will now work together to find the way forward for Argyle.

Rooney, who admitted the two men had not seen each other for around 10 years until Birmingham played Plymouth last December, said: “Obviously with Neil’s role at the club and my role at the club, it will have to be. I talk to Neil everyday now.

“I think at the end of the day the important thing is we’re both trying to do the right thing, we both want the right thing, we’re both on the same page now to make sure the club moves forward with players coming into football. club, style of play, how we want to go forward.

“This relationship now is going to be so important.”