Image: Plymouth Argyle Football Club
In December, we put out a statement urging the club to part ways with Wayne Rooney. We said at the time that we didn’t want to do so—our contributors usually like to agree to disagree—but could not stay silent as he drove the club to all but certain relegation.
The fact we feel compelled to make a statement again now is a reflection not of a newfound taste for them, but the almost unimaginable depths the club has plumbed since then. We write, now, not to call for a head coach’s head—not merely, anyway—but with a broader request: for the leaders of the club, and Simon Hallett in particular, to show some leadership. The recent statements from incoming CEO Paul Berne, while surely well-intentioned, communicated a fundamental complacency about the dire predicament we are in. This is a club that gives the impression of being in utter crisis; change can be hard, yes, but if your car is careening into an abyss you don’t keep your foot on the pedal in the name of “stability.” The fans deserve, at minimum, to hear directly from Simon Hallett—now—and to be told exactly what steps are being taken to put this right. We fear that if this bare minimum first step isn’t taken, the clearly eroding bond between the club and its loyal fans could fray beyond repair.
When we wrote last December, we noted that we did so precisely because we felt the trajectory we were on was avoidable; sure enough, Rooney was sacked, and things improved, albeit too late. We believe the same is true now. We can get out of this mess. But only if those at the top show some leadership immediately.