Wayne Rooney is handing over the coaching job from Birmingham City’s backroom team

Wayne Rooney has handed the Plymouth Argyle job to Pete Shuttleworth following his departure from Birmingham City.

Shuttleworth, who earned the title of assistant head coach, was always likely to follow Rooney to Home Park after the former Blues boss was offered a Championship gig by Plymouth. Shuttleworth was part of Rooney’s coaching staff at Derby County and DC United before following him to the Blues last October.

Rooney commented: “Pete is someone I’ve known for a long time, working together at previous football clubs. He is an excellent coach with footballing ideals that match mine and Argyle’s, but he is also an outstanding motivator and has a real knowledge of tactical and performance analysis.

“Ultimately, he is a great person who has all the values ​​that myself and the football club are looking for and will complement our current coaching group perfectly. I look forward to welcoming him to Argyle and working closely with him when pre-season starts in a few weeks time.”

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Shuttleworth was continued by Tony Mowbray in January, but Gary Rowett redeployed him when he arrived on an interim basis in March. Shuttleworth, 45, completed coaching courses during the off-season and recently reunited with former Blues coach John O’Shea, who is in charge of the Republic of Ireland on an interim basis.

Ashley Cole is the last manager remaining from the Blues’ appointments last October, now that Rooney, Carl Robinson, O’Shea and Shuttleworth have all moved on. Whether Cole will be part of Chris Davies’ coaching staff remains to be seen.