Next season, Caleb Roberts will be hoping to play football on the first team on a regular basis, and his new manager will be keen to give him an opportunity.
Three weeks following his appointment, Wayne Rooney will be firmly seated at Plymouth Argyle’s table as preparations for the forthcoming season get underway inside Home Park.
After the Pilgrims defeated Birmingham City on the last day of the previous season to retain their Championship status, the former Manchester United player has been given the responsibility of leading the team to new heights.
The Argyle directors were drawn to the new manager in part because of his willingness to include players of all ages in the mix. His history of developing young players also suggests that he has no problem using academy graduates in the team.
Caleb Roberts will be delighted to hear that in the future of the approaching season, with the young player prepared to fight in the next few months for a spot in the Greens’ starting lineup.
Wayne Rooney’s commitment to youth can benefit Plymouth Argyle
Rooney is accustomed to being thrown into the deep end and succeeding because he came up through the Everton ranks as a young player, having made it to the Premier League at the age of just 16.
During his tenure in Devon, the Argyle manager had not hidden his intention to deploy youth products; players like Roberts, Issaka, and Will Jenkins-Davies were probably salivating at the news last month.
“Obviously I had my playing career, which I loved, but you have to move on pretty quickly if you want to go into management,” Rooney remarked.
“I’ve invested a lot of time and effort into trying to better myself as a coach and to help teams and players. My goal is to be a coach who develops players and academy players.
Since I was a player who joined the first team at the age of sixteen, I believe that academy players are extremely important and should be improved. I’m really passionate about that because I believe that many young athletes are capable of being great players but may not get the opportunity.
Roberts made sporadic appearances in the previous season, most notably in the FA Cup 1-1 draw with Leeds United, but he has already begun to establish himself as a player deserving of a shot at a regular first-team spot.
His first start for the team outside of the EFL Trophy came in that Elland Road game, and he made the most of it by playing well in the middle of the park and demonstrating that he could compete at the level.
Argyle signed the adolescent to a longer-term contract at the beginning of the previous campaign, keeping him with the team until the end of the 2025–2026 season, after he inked his first professional deal with the team in October 2022.
Roberts didn’t get much playing time in the second division because Argyle’s primary goal in the second part of the previous season was to survive the Championship. However, with a new beginning over the summer, the midfielder will be eager to seize any chance that presents itself.
Caleb Roberts will be looking to Adam Randell and Mike Cooper as inspiration in Plymouth Argyle career
Adam Randell and Mike Cooper [shown] are two examples of how well the transfer from Argyle’s youth programme to the first squad can go, so Roberts won’t have to look far to see how easy it can be.
Since joining the development squads as teenagers, the two had made 64 appearances in the Championship combined in the previous season, demonstrating their significance to the Argyle setup.
Randell joined the team in 2018 and has since made over 100 appearances for his childhood club. He participated in all but one of his team’s games during the previous season, and his persistence and range of passing in the middle of the park have been a spark for Argyle in recent years.
Cooper’s impact has been as significant. At the age of 24, the highly regarded goalie had participated in over 150 games for the Pilgrims, and his skill between the sticks had often been the difference in deciding games.
With Rooney leading the way, Roberts will have the ideal opportunity to carve out his own path at Home Park this season. If he can gain some experience in the field early on, he may be able to secure a spot in the starting lineup for the Argyle midfield next season. Whether he can handle the pressure or not is a matter for debate, but one thing is certain: he will be given the opportunity to shine.
