Wayne Rooney returns to management this weekend when his Plymouth side take on Sheffield Wednesday, live on talkSPORT.
Rooney was sacked as manager of Birmingham City last season after just 83 days, but is now back in the second division with the Pilgrims.
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His new team narrowly avoided relegation last season and it will again be a difficult task to avoid a place in the bottom three.
Another team that finished bottom of the table was Wednesday, but the signing of Danny Rohl was a stroke of genius.
Rohl has turned the tide at Hillsborough and now the boys are considered contenders to reach the play-offs.
Sheffield Wednesday vs Plymouth: Rooney returns
Rooney’s career ended abruptly when he last coached a Championship club.
He was sacked as Birmingham manager after just 15 games in charge; the Blues only managed two wins during his tenure.
It was only his third job since his playing career and he would certainly have liked to have had a little more time to get things under control.
Unfortunately, that was not the case, but now, four months later, Rooney is back in a position at Plymouth.
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He expects another battle at the bottom of the table at the start of the season and will look to draw on experience from his time at St Andrews.
If things go well this year and the team manages to avoid relegation, the English football icon has high hopes for his new club. When he was appointed, he said: “Hopefully, at the end of the timeframe we have, we can get closer to the Premier League.”
At the moment it still seems like a dream, but Rooney’s goal is to make it a reality.
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Sheffield Wednesday vs Plymouth: Team news
New signings Max Lowe and Jamal Lowe are both expected to start on Wednesday.
Former Southampton right-back Yan Valery will also make his competitive debut, while James Beadle, on loan from Brighton, will start in goal.
Wingers Anthony Musaba and Djeidi Gassama will pose a major threat on both sides.
As for Plymouth, Morgan Whittaker remains at the club despite interest from European teams and will continue playing until a possible move occurs.
Victor Palsson, who formerly played under Rooney at DC United, is likely to start in defence, while proven goalscorer Ryan Hardie leads the attack line.
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- Plymouth have won five of their last eight league games against Sheffield Wednesday, but all three defeats in that series have come at Hillsborough.
- The last six league games between Sheffield Wednesday (3) and Plymouth (3) have been won by the home team since the Pilgrims won 4-2 at Hillsborough in March 2011.
- Sheffield Wednesday have failed to win their first league game in the last three seasons (2 draws, 1 loss), losing their opening game 2-1 at home to Southampton last season.
- Plymouth have won their first league game in four of the last five seasons (1 loss), having previously lost six of their previous seven opening games (1 win).
Sheffield Wednesday vs Plymouth: What was said?
Barry Bannan has warned Sheffield Wednesday fans that some mistakes will be made due to their style of play this season.
But the captain believes that the people in Hillsborough will “like” this tactic.
He admitted: “You will see problems when you look at Man City and they try to play from the back, Brighton.”
“I saw Brighton last year and they lost 5-0 to Everton, all because of losing the ball in pretty dangerous areas.
“But they stick with that style of play, go out next week and win that way.
“There will be some problems along the way, but I’m sure that if the fans stick with it, they will really enjoy the way the team is playing this year.”
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Sheffield Wednesday vs Plymouth: Coverage from talkSPORT
This championship duel will take place on Sunday, August 11th.
Kick-off in Hillsborough is scheduled for 4 p.m.
talkSPORT offers exclusive live coverage of the game, presented by Sam Matterface.
Commentary is provided by Adam Bridge and former Scottish striker Chris Iwelumo.
The game will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.
