Wayne Rooney applauded for 'getting his hands dirty' at Plymouth as Alan Shearer reveals admiration for Man Utd legend not taking 'easy' punditry job over managerial role

Former Manchester United star Rooney took up the Plymouth manager job this summer and so far he has won two, drawn two, and lost three of his seven games in charge. After getting sacked by Birmingham City at the turn of the year, Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has praised the 38-year-old for continuing to try and crack management instead of just working on television.

He told Betfair: "I'm really impressed with how Wayne wants to stay in football. He had his time at Derby, Birmingham and went back over to DC United as well. It takes a lot of courage. He loves coaching, managing and, because of his status as a player, it'd have been easy for him to sit back and do the job I'm doing in TV. I'm sure he'd have had plenty of opportunities to do so. However, he still wants to go and get his hands dirty on the touchline. It's not an easy job to go all the way down to Plymouth, leave the family once again, so I admire him for doing it."

Rooney's Plymouth sit 16th in the Championship after a much-needed 3-2 win over high-flying Sunderland last weekend. While that was a morale-boosting victory, doubts still remain about whether the ex-England international is cut out for management. He is yet to post a win percentage of over 30 in his spells with Derby County, D.C. United and Birmingham, and time will tell if he can buck that trend at Plymouth.

Next up, Rooney's Plymouth team travel to top of the table West Brom on Saturday afternoon, before hosting Luton Town six days later to round off the month.