"A difficult one" - Pundit drops claim on Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle future after shock Cardiff exploits | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer has given his verdict on Wayne Rooney's Plymouth position after 5-0 loss to Cardiff City

Carlton Palmer believes Wayne Rooney shouldn’t be judged on just one result after Plymouth Argyle’s 5-0 loss to Cardiff City last weekend.

The Pilgrims found themselves 2-0 down before Ibrahim Cissoko was sent off just moments before half-time.

Three more goals for the Bluebirds in the second half saw them consign Rooney’s side to a humiliating loss.

This was Plymouth’s third defeat in five games, leaving them with 11 points from their opening 10 fixtures.

Rooney is under pressure to succeed following his disastrous spell at Birmingham City last year, meaning results like last Saturday’s will have him under the microscope.

Carlton Palmer issues Wayne Rooney defence

Palmer has suggested that Rooney needs to be judged over the course of three to four months rather than by just one game.

While the result has left them under the threat of slipping into the relegation zone, the 58-year-old has claimed that survival from relegation would constitute a successful season for Rooney at Home Park.

“Plymouth Argyle suffered a crushing defeat to Cardiff City at the weekend, 5-0 loss to the side that was sat bottom of the table, managerless as well,” Palmer told Football League World.

“It’s a difficult one for Wayne Rooney.

"As soon as the club gets a result last week they were talking about ‘is Wayne Rooney changing peoples’ perception cause of what he’s doing at Plymouth?’.

"Then he loses the game, and because they’ve lost in the manner they do, they’re talking about ‘is this a real concern for Wayne Rooney?’.

“He’s got to find some consistency with his side.

“If we’d have said at the start of the season when Wayne Rooney took over at Plymouth, if they’re still in the Championship he has done a fantastic job.

“So, of course Wayne will be concerned with the fact that they capitulated and got beat 5-0, but I don’t think it’s a case of everybody now should be turning and saying ‘is this a problem for Wayne Rooney?’

“If you look at where they are, they’re on 11 points, so they’re basically level with Stoke in 16th place, and still only seven points off a play-off spot.

“I don’t believe they’ll be anywhere around that, but if they stay up comfortably then Wayne Rooney will have done a fantastic job with Plymouth Argyle.

“So I think what people have to do, rather than go from result to result, is give it a period of time and then analyse it and then see how Wayne Rooney has done over the next three or four months, not just over a period of a game where you get a heavy defeat.

“Because that can happen, you can have a bad performance, and you can lose four or five.

“They’ve picked up some good results this season.

“As I’ve said, they’re not in the bottom three, but it is close now with Cardiff City on eight points, Portsmouth on eight points and QPR on seven.

“It’s basically, you’re talking QPR, who are bottom of the league, six points can see you halfway up the table, that’s as close as it gets.”

Plymouth Argyle league position

Plymouth slipped down the Championship table last weekend following their 5-0 loss to Cardiff.

The Pilgrims are now 19th in the table, three points clear of the relegation zone after just 10 games.

Cissoko will now be unavailable for selection when the team returns to league action this midweek following his red card offence.

Next up for Rooney’s side is a trip to face Millwall on Wednesday evening in a 7.45pm kick-off.

Rooney can’t afford many more humiliations

Plymouth’s form over the first 10 games has been encouraging overall, but a 5-0 loss to Cardiff and a 4-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in that period is a cause for concern.

The next 10 games must avoid any similar humiliations, as Rooney needs to make this team harder to beat.

If they can maintain earning 11 points from every 10 games then survival is very possible this year, which would be a success for the team.