Wayne Rooney creating good first impression at Plymouth Argyle

Wayne Rooney has become Plymouth Argyle's 16th full-time manager (or head coach, as seems to be the modern way) during my 27 years reporting on the club.

I must have been to thousands of Press conferences with Rooney's predecessors in my role with The Herald and Plymouth Live, but his first meeting with the media at Home Park yesterday stood out for a number of reasons. First, there was the sheer number of people in attendance, not just local reporters but from far and wide. Sky Sports, the BBC and ITV were all represented.

It was very different from a usual Press conference at Home Park, where sometimes only three or four of us are there to ask questions of the manager/head coach.

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Then there was the length of it. It lasted 40 minutes, much longer than is typical, but perhaps no surprise given the amount of people attending, and also the range of topics to be covered.

Most of them were to do with Argyle, but there were questions also about Rooney's wife, Coleen, and their family, and whether they would be moving to Devon - the answer was no - as well his thoughts on England at Euro 2024 and the contract extension for Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.

Rooney is such a huge name in football and whenever he speaks at a Press conference as Argyle head coach he is always going to get asked about wider subjects than just involving the Pilgrims. It will be the new normal.

Of course, the 38-year-old is very familiar with dealing with the media. He has done it for all of his adult life, and to a very high degree of scrutiny. Still, I was struck during his introductory Press conference how relaxed he was.

One moment he was displaying his determination to make a success of his appointment as Argyle head coach, the next he was telling a humorous story, or coming up with a funny one-liner.

Apart from when the always entertaining Ian Holloway was the Argyle manager in 2006 and 2007, it was probably one of the funniest media calls I have been to.

Rooney joked 'I don't want to become the next Gary Neville' when asked why he wanted to be a head coach rather than continue his recent work as a TV pundit for the BBC. He talked about how he had 'sold it' to Coleen that Plymouth was 'the Monaco of England'.

Amid laughter from the assembled media, he added: "I don't think she quite believed me!"

Rooney also mentioned his preference for chicken and mushroom pasties to steak ones, and how Devon-born first team coach Kevin Nancekivell had 'told him off' about that. "He keeps putting a meat one in front of me," he said, again to more laughter.

Then there was the tale of a shopping trip which turned out to be quite eventful. "I went to Morrisons yesterday to get some food and some toiletries, and stuff. It was a self checkout and there was no bags so I'm walking out with all my shopping in my hands and people are asking for pictures. I'm sure it looks like I have just stolen a load of stuff from Morrisons - but I had the receipt with me, I promise."

Although questions were thrown at him for 40 minutes - and he had a training session with his squad to get off to afterwards - there was never any sense that Rooney was looking to end the media call and get on his way.

While there were plenty of jokes, Rooney also gave in-depth replies to a range of Argyle topics, such as the playing style he would look to implement and strengthening his existing squad. His seriousness about his new job was striking.

It was an impressive 'debut' as Argyle head coach in a Press conference environment, and added to the sense that he has won around a lot of the doubters who were against his appointment when it was first announced, particularly after his short and unsuccessful spell at Birmingham City last season.

Rooney is living in Plymouth, working in Plymouth, and ready to go out and about and meet the fans rather than hide away in his apartment. I think people in this city will appreciate and respect that, and you can feel they are rallying around him against his critics.

Ultimately though, like any manager/head coach, Rooney will be judged by Argyle's results, good or bad, on the pitch. He has always had to prove himself throughout his career in football, and it will be no different during his tenure at Home Park.