Rooney guilt helped Plymouth stun Brentford – Nancekivell

Plymouth Argyle caretaker boss Kevin Nancekivell believes his players feeling some “guilt” over Wayne Rooney’s departure helped inspire their shock 1-0 win at Brentford in the FA Cup third round.

Head coach Rooney left the Championship’s bottom club at the end of December and Nancekivell was in charge as they knocked their Premier League opponents out of the FA Cup courtesy of Morgan Whittaker’s goal.

“The players are probably feeling a little bit of guilt after losing the manager so they’re feeling remorse and want to make up for the wrongdoings of this season,” said Nancekivell.

“The last two games, they’ve given everything, they’ve stuck to the plan, they’ve got their blocks in, they’ve defended and had a desire to defend, and it just goes to show what you can achieve when you have that application.”

The victory at Brentford ended Plymouth’s run of 11 matches without a win and Rooney responded to the result on social media by posting that he was “so happy” for Nancekivell – who has had five separate spells in caretaker charge of the club – calling him a “legend”.

The match against the Bees was Nancekivell’s last at the helm, with Miron Muslic taking over as the new Pilgrims boss.

“It’s been a tough period. When you lose a manager you have to hold the fort – which we’ve been asked to do – and I’m pleased we’ve been able to give the supporters some cheers,” added Nancekivell.

“The players had to execute the gameplan and to a man they did that, they were outstanding and I couldn’t have asked for anything more, it’s down to the players and nobody else.”