Manchester United stars past and present have heaped praise on new Plymouth Argyle assistant head coach Mike Phelan.

Phelan on Sunday was appointed as Wayne Rooney’s assistant following the departure of Pete Shuttleworth by mutual consent. The 62-year-old boasts a wealth of experience, spending nine years as a Manchester United coach across two different spells - including under Sir Alex Ferguson and with Rooney in his first stint.

He was also assistant boss at Blackpool, Norwich City and Hull City, being appointed manager of the latter in 2016 during their spell in the Premier League. Unable to keep the Tigers in the top flight, Phelan returned to Old Trafford as a first-team coach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019.

READ MORE: Mike Phelan appointed Plymouth Argyle assistant head coach

READ MORE: Wayne Rooney: Plymouth Argyle 'on top of things' for transfer window

He now faces an entirely new challenge with Argyle, with Rooney hoping that the veteran can help steady the ship amid a dreadful run of form which has ended in back-to-back drubbings. If Red Devils centre-back Harry Maguire’s comments are anything to go by, Plymouth have certainly made a shrewd appointment.

The England defender sang Phelan’s praises once they were reunited at Old Trafford, having been given his first real opportunity in the Premier League by Phelan at Hull. “He always gave me lots of tips and lots of pointers from the top players that he’d worked with in the past,” Maguire said. “He’s got great experience and I had a really good relationship with Mike.

“To be fair to Mike, he was the person who took over at Hull and gave me my chance in the Premier League and I started playing regularly and started proving that I could play in the Premier League and I could handle myself there, so I owe him a lot.

“I’m really excited to be working with him again, he’s a top coach, he’s helped me through my years and I’ve always been in contact with him so it’s good that I get the chance to work with him again.”

Phelan, who played for United for five years between 1989 and 1994, also imparted his knowledge of former United legends Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic - which greatly benefitted Maguire. Maguire’s comments were backed up by United icon Paul Scholes, who was coached by Phelan before he was unceremoniously let go by David Moyes once the Scot took the reins in 2013.

Scholes noted in 2019 that Phelan is a calming influence in the dressing room, which is presently required with emotions and tensions at a high at Home Park. Legendary midfielder Scholes spoke of Phelan’s specific role at the club, which was less to do with coaching and more man-management.

“He’s just a very calming influence Mick [Phelan],” he told the BBC. ”He didn’t do much coaching [under Sir Alex Ferguson] to be fair that was left down to Rene [Meulensteen]. He just saw sense in stuff.

"He was calm, he was relaxed, whenever the manager would get a bit heated up he’d calm him down. He was good around the players, really good around the players. He has a great way about him, people got on with him.

"If you had a problem you could go to him. I think he’s doing the same now. If you look at the coaching staff Ole has got in and Michael Carrick is the same character as Mick, they’re all calming influences and it seems to be working.”

Phelan’s stint with the Pilgrims, which is expected to last until the end of this season, begins with the visit of Swansea City to Home Park for a Championship clash on Tuesday night. Argyle, 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.

A 4-0 defeat to Bristol City leaves Rooney's side in the relegation zone, with Portsmouth also able to leap-frog them with a game in hand if results go their way on Tuesday.

You can read more of our Argyle stories from Plymouth Live by clicking HERE