Wayne Rooney was left embarrassed by Plymouth's performance as they lost 4-0 at Bristol City in the Championship on Saturday.
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Plymouth without a win in four gamesSit just above the relegation zoneRooney tore into players after lossFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
After a goalless first half in which Rooney's side managed just 29 per cent possession, the goals flooded in for the home team as Plymouth made it four games without a win. Bristol, now 11th in the Championship, had a total of 25 shots over the 90 minutes to the visitors' four.
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The defeat leaves Plymouth 21st in the Championship, just two points outside of the relegation zone, and head coach Rooney says his players must look within themselves for a solution.
WHAT ROONEY SAID
"Embarrassed, really, I think is the right word to use," he told club media. "After what happened on Tuesday at Norwich we came here with a game plan to try and be in the game going into the last 20 minutes and I thought for the first 50 minutes we were. Then, we concede the first goal and we collapse. It's exactly what happened at Norwich, exactly what happened at Leeds away – as soon as we concede a goal the players out there collapse and we look very fragile. It's very frustrating, very disappointing because, when you're going through this run we're going through with away games, you need to dig deep and find something within you. It's something I've done throughout my career and those players, if they want to have the career which you'd hope they'd want to have then they need to do that very quickly because they're not representing this club the right way."
He added to reporters: "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. 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."
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Plymouth's next game is against 17th-placed Oxford United on Saturday, followed by a clash with Swansea three days later.
