Mike Phelan appointed Plymouth Argyle assistant head coach

Mike Phelan has been appointed as Wayne Rooney's new assistant head coach at Plymouth Argyle after the departure of Pete Shuttleworth by mutual consent.

Phelan is vastly experienced and spent nine years as a coach at Manchester United over two spells, including under their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson and when Rooney was a player there.

The 62-year-old, who also assistant boss at Blackpool, Norwich City and Hull City and had a period as manager of the latter when they were in the Premier League, has joined Argyle until the end of the season.

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Rooney said: "I am sad to see Pete leave the club. He is someone I have worked with very closely throughout my managerial career having first met at Derby County and he has also been a close friend. Pete has some personal matters going on which is where his focus needs to be and we all completely respect that and have mutually decided to part ways.

"Mike is someone I know well having worked with him when I was a player at Manchester United and he has vast experience at the highest level of football. I am really pleased to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing him get to work immediately.”

Shuttleworth joined Argyle when Rooney was appointed as head coach in May. He had previously worked with him at Derby, DC United in the United States and Birmingham City.

Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip said: "I firstly want to thank Pete for all his support and efforts since joining Argyle in the summer.

"We are thrilled to bring in someone of Mike’s calibre so quickly as a replacement. He is one of the most experienced coaches around having worked with some of the best players in the world and obviously has a relationship with Wayne already from their time together at Manchester United.

“We look forward to seeing his work have an immediate impact on the group and hope his experience will provide the perfect support to Wayne as we head into a very busy period of fixtures."

That begins with the visit of Swansea City to Home Park for a Championship match on Tuesday night. The Pilgrims, whose home game against Oxford United on Saturday was postponed due to Storm Darragh, have dropped to 22nd position in the table because of results elsewhere.

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