"Not lived up to the hype" - Plymouth Argyle: Success of Wayne Rooney recruit questioned | OneFootball

The defender hasn't had as much of an impact as some would have expected.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Plymouth Argyle are by no means out of the woods yet, but there are certainly fewer doubts about Wayne Rooney's managerial capabilities than there was previously.

After their opening match of the season against Sheffield Wednesday, the worst was feared for the Pilgrims. They looked so poor in that 4-0 loss at Hillsborough; the only bright spark was Ibrahim Cissoko on the left wing.

He's been one of the standout bits of recruitment by a Championship team this season. Despite his at times frantic nature, which got him sent off against Cardiff City, the 21-year-old Toulouse loanee has shown himself to be a very effective player at this level, helping Plymouth to pick up some points along the way.

While he has been impressive, another one of Argyle's acquisitions has surprised Chris, Football League World's Pilgrims fan pundit, for very different reasons to Cissoko.

Victor Palsson: Plymouth's most surprising player this season

The addition of Europa League and MLS-tested defender Victor Palsson brought with it the hope of a more solid backline at Home Park, but, according to Chris, the 33-year-old hasn't lived up to the hype, and he doesn't expect him to play ahead of their other options.

"During Argyle's transfer window, there were several players that were brought in who weren't very well known to the Championship scene, or even in English football," said FLW'sPlymouth fan pundit.

"With that, there were several players, we believed, who were based on history that Rooney may have had, as well as data-driven signings as we have had some in the past.

"One of the signings that were brought in that had a lot of hype, but has shown in recent performances that he hasn't lived up to that, is Victor Palsson - our Icelandic centre-back.

"Brought in by Rooney, he'd previously managed Palsson when he was with DC United over in the States.

"The Icelandic centre-back has several caps for his country, and recently scored on international duty. However, recent performances when he has played showed that he has not lived up to the hype that he was expecting.

"We believe that his performances when he came on, as well as when he has started, haven't really shown the capabilities of being a Championship centre-back.

"For example, during the Preston game at home on Saturday, he showed a fairly lethargic attitude in relation to defending, which led to the two goals in the first-half.

"I believe that there may be potential for him to improve, however, with the competitiveness of our other centre-backs, such as (Lewis) Gibson and (Kornel) Szucs, as well as (Julio) Pleguezuelo waiting in the wings, I find it difficult to start Palsson ahead of these other names."

Plymouth will have hoped to see more from Palsson

Having racked up 45 caps for his country, it is a surprise that the Icelandic defender hasn't been able to have much of an impact on this Plymouth team.

His age obviously dictates that he is closer to the end of his career than the prime of it, but that experience that he has of playing across Europe and across the pond, both at domestic and international level, just hasn't come to the fore since he joined Argyle in the summer.

All Championship seasons are battles of attrition, so he will be needed when bodies start to go down. When that happens, it's imperative that he rediscovers the form that convinced Rooney to sign him.