Pilgrims in talks with an assistant
PLYMOUTH Argyle are in talks with a candidate over the role of assistant to newly-appointed head coach Wayne Rooney, the club’s owner and chairman Simon Hallett has confirmed.
Rooney was appointed by the Pilgrims on a three-year contract on May 25, and it was announced at the time that coaches Kevin Nancekivell, Simon Ireland and Darryl Flahavan would all be staying on. There is a vacancy for an assistant to 38-year-old Rooney, though, and Hallett said that Argyle were working to fill that.
“We are talking to a candidate for the assistant’s job but as in all these talks we can’t announce anything until we know somebody has accepted an offer and the legal work has been done,” Hallett said.
“I know the fans get impatient but we talk to lots of people and we can’t go around announcing before new hires are nailed down, so you get rumours the whole time. We can’t go responding to every rumour I’m afraid, but we will announce as soon as the candidate has accepted and the legal work is done.”
Flahavan and Ireland only joined Argyle earlier this year during the short tenure of Ian Foster as head coach, but Nancekivell has been a loyal servant to the club over a long period of time.
He and director of football Neil Dewsnip had two spells in interim charge of Argyle last season, first after the departure of Steven Schumacher to Stoke City in December, and then following the dismissal of Foster. They successfully led the Pilgrims to Championship safety as the team picked up 10 points from their final six fixtures.
Hallett stated that Rooney was ‘very receptive’ to Nancekivell, Flahavan and Ireland being part of his backroom staff. “He’s a head coach who is very open to ideas from his staff,” said the Argyle chairman. “I think it was one of the attractive features of Wayne.”