Wayne Rooney has left Plymouth Argyle after nine games without a win, leaving the club bottom of the Sky Bet Championship.

Rooney was appointed on a three-year deal in May and left the club four points from safety after just seven months in charge of Plymouth.

His final game in charge came on Sunday, when Argyle beat a similarly struggling Oxford side 2-0.

Rooney said in a statement on the Plymouth website: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Plymouth board, particularly Simon Hallett and Neil Dusnip, with whom I have a good relationship.

“I would also like to thank all the staff, players and fans who made me feel welcome and made the club so special for their hard work and support during my time as manager and I wish them all the best for the future.

“Thank you Green Army for making games at Home Park so special, they are memories we will share forever.

“I would also like to extend a special thank you to my coaching staff of Kevin Nanskivel, Simon Ireland, Darryl Flahavan and Mike Phelan for their knowledge, dedication, help and support.

“Plymouth Argyle will always have a special place in my heart and I will continue to follow and follow their achievements.”

Wednesday, January 1st 12:25pm

Starts at 12:30 noon

Following Rooney’s departure, first-team coach Nan Skiver and club captain Joe Edwards will be in charge of Plymouth’s New Year’s Day clash with Bristol City.

A statement on the club’s website read: “Plymouth Argyle can confirm that the club and manager Wayne Rooney have mutually agreed to part ways with immediate effect.

“Joining Rooney in leaving the club will be assistant head coach Mike Phelan and first team coach Simon Ireland.

“First-team coach Kevin Nanskivel and club captain Joe Edwards will lead the team in the Sky Bet Championship match against Bristol City on New Year’s Day. Darryl Flahavan will continue as goalkeeping coach.

“We would like to thank Wayne and his team for all their efforts and wish them all the best for the future.

“The club will not be making any further comment at this stage regarding the status of our new first-team management staff.”

‘It’s not good enough’ – Rooney says after Oxford defeat…

Sunday’s loss to Oxford was Rooney’s 11th in 13 away games.

Speaking after the game in his final post-match interview as Argyle manager, Rooney said: “You have to think about every possible outcome and that’s normal for the results we’re going through. You have to feel, ‘We’ve got Can the players turn things around? Can I turn things around? “

“I’ll go back and try to prepare for Bristol but ultimately I understand football and how it works. I understand the fans. I’ve been there myself. As a fan you want to see your team win , seeing your team run, when your team loses, like we did, I know we’re doing a good job and unfortunately we didn’t get the result.

“It’s not good enough. We’re not creating enough chances, we’re conceding goals – we’re not doing enough to stop them scoring goals. Defensively it’s been going on for a few weeks now. We’ve been struggling to score goals, But we didn’t hurt them enough today.”

‘Looks like a perfect combination – but Rooney and Plymouth never worked together’

Sky Sports News reporter Mark McAdam:

Rooney’s time at Plymouth lasted just 221 days.

He signed a three-year contract in May and has developed a relationship with Neil Dewsnip, who has been the club’s sporting director for many years. He has overseen much of the club’s recent success and was Rooney’s coach when he was in Everton’s academy. It’s a long-standing relationship that goes back 30 years, so they picked Rooney in the summer as the man who could potentially lead Plymouth forward.

Rooney hasn’t had much success as a head coach. Things were a bit rocky at Derby County but they responded to everything that happened off the pitch with a real fighting spirit. We know things are not going well at Birmingham City and he has experience in MLS.

Plymouth feel they are looking for someone with experience and we know his playing credentials, but he is still new to management and not a good fit for the club.

Plymouth is a community club. It’s a good club with good people. The spirit here is great and the home park ground is great to go to as the crowd really support the team and they have had a lot of success under recent managers, going from League Two to the Championship.

At the time, it felt like a perfect fit for the club.

A young, hungry and ambitious coach, who we know and understand, who wants to play the Plymouth way and who the club believe, despite a low budget, can take them to a level in the Championship where they have never been before place. But that wasn’t the case, and things didn’t go well for Rooney and Plymouth.

Some results were achieved, but not good enough, which led to the board and Rooney deciding that the program had to end because it simply wasn’t working.

What’s next for Rooney and Plymouth?

More from Sky Sports News reporter Mark McAdam:

Rooney will stop at nothing to prove that he is a good manager and a good manager. He doesn’t want to sit around and wait, he’ll look for the next opportunity and will be eager to get back to work as soon as it feels right.

I don’t think this is the end of Rooney as a manager or head coach. I still think he had ambitions to succeed.

For Plymouth, they will have to take stock, reflect and review as they have had two managerial appointments that haven’t really worked. Rooney is the latest, preceded by Ian Foster.

The two previous appointments were very successful and interestingly both Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher are currently unemployed.

The key issue for the board to consider in its next decision and next appointment is to find someone who understands the city, the culture of the football club, the community spirit and the current group of players.

So you might think that someone like Lowe, who is eager to get back to work and knows the club, might say he would wait until the end of the season for a chance to lift Plymouth out of the bottom of the table and towards the top half of the Championship.

Plymouth upcoming fixtures

• Bristol City (H) – Championship – Wednesday 1 January, kick-off 12:30pm – Live on Sky Sports+

• Stoke City (A) – Championship – Saturday 4 January, kick-off 12:30pm – Live on Sky Sports+

• Brentford (A) – FA Cup – Kick-off 3pm Saturday 11 January

• Oxford (H) – Championship – Tuesday 14 January, kick-off 7.45pm

• – Live on Sky Sports + QPR (H) – Championship – Saturday 18 January, kick-off 12.30pm