Wayne Rooney described himself as "angry" after watching his Plymouth Argyle side begin their Championship campaign with a meek 4-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
Rooney's first competitive game at the helm was one to forget as Wednesday ran riot at Hillsborough, with Jamal Lowe, Josh Windass and Michael Smith among the scorers.
The Manchester United and England great has now recorded just two wins in his last 16 Championship games in charge of Birmingham City and Plymouth, drawing four and losing 10.
Speaking to Sky Sports in the aftermath of Sunday's defeat, he hit out at his players for failing to do the basics against a well-drilled Wednesday side.
"The scoreline was deserved. We conceded four goals from four crosses. The basics of the game were not there," Rooney said.
"We didn't take the ball well enough or handle the crowd. We allowed them to get a foothold in the game, and we let it run out and conceded two more goals.
"I'm disappointed and angry, because that's not the performance I wanted to see. We spoke about their threats from crosses.
"We spoke about Barry Bannan and we let him run the game and didn't get close enough to him. That wasn't acceptable.
"The players have to earn a right to play. You can lose football games, that happens, but there's a way you want to see your players run, work and tackle.
"We've had a lot of fans come a long way, and the performance we've given wasn't good enough. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Wednesday racked up 30 shots totalling a huge 4.85 expected goals (xG) in Sunday's game, with 24 of those efforts coming from inside the Plymouth area.
Plymouth, meanwhile, amassed just five attempts worth 0.31 xG, hitting the target once and only recording eight touches inside their hosts' box.
Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 Plymouth Argyle: Rooney's reign starts with miserable loss
Wayne Rooney's reign as Plymouth Argyle boss got off to a miserable start as they were thrashed 4-0 by Sheffield Wednesday in their first Championship game of the season.
Sunday's trip to Hillsborough represented Rooney's first match back in management since he was sacked by Birmingham City in January.
Any hopes of a flying start to his time on the south coast were quickly dashed as Danny Rohl's team dominated from the off, eventually racking up 4.85 expected goals (xG) from 30 shots at goal.
Jamal Lowe converted Svante Ingelsson's cross on the slide to hand the Owls a 35th-minute lead, then the new striker saw a header deflect in off the unfortunate Brendan Galloway for 2-0 shortly after the break.
Wednesday added further gloss to the scoreline late on, Josh Windass stabbing home an 82nd-minute third before Michael Smith came off the bench to finish from close range in stoppage time.
While the resounding victory takes Wednesday top of the early-season standings, Plymouth prop up the second-tier table ahead of Monday's match between Luton Town and Burnley.
Data Debrief: Plenty for Rooney to ponder
Plymouth were thoroughly outclassed by a Wednesday team they finished just two points behind last season, leaving their new boss with plenty to think about.
They only managed five shots to the hosts' 30, facing a huge 24 efforts from inside their own area.
Since returning from a spell in MLS with D.C. United, Rooney now has a record of two wins from 16 Championship matches with Birmingham and Plymouth (four draws, 10 losses).
Mousinho 'gutted' as Portsmouth denied by late Leeds leveller
John Mousinho was "gutted" his Portsmouth side were unable to see out the final stages as they played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Leeds United in their first game back in the Championship.
Pompey, back in the second tier after a 12-year exile, took a 92nd-minute lead in Saturday's contest at Elland Road through a Callum Lang penalty, only for Brenden Aaronson to strike two minutes later.
The newly promoted side had earlier recovered from a Pascal Struijk penalty to take a 2-1 lead into half-time through goals from Elias Sorensen and Lang, before Willy Gnonto levelled early in the second half.
A point away at one of the promotion favourites can still be considered a hugely encouraging result, but the dramatic conclusion to the contest left Mousinho with bittersweet emotions.
"It's very difficult to sum up," he said in his post-match press conference. "It's a brilliant point, particularly where we were this time last week after a really poor week of football.
"The lads gave everything and Leeds know they've been in a game. But we are gutted not to win the game. On balance, it was a really good point.
"They're an outstanding side and have got some outstanding individuals. To feel we could have won here is an amazing feeling."
Leeds controlled much of the match yet twice trailed after a bright start in which they struck the frame of the goal three times in 10 minutes before Struijk's opener.
Farke's decision to take off goalscorer Gnonto and lively winger Daniel James with the scoreline at 2-2 raised eyebrows, and the German accepts his side lost their flow after that point.
"Our game was not great after the changes," he said. "Every player wanted to show their worth and were maybe over-motivated in the final 25 minutes. There were mistakes across the whole squad."
Portsmouth, who scored three goals from their five shots, are the first side to lead in the 90th minute or later in a Championship match and not win since Nottingham Forest against Hull City in May 2022.
Incredibly, Aaronson had an opportunity to win the match with one of the final kicks of the game, but he slotted wide when through on goal.
Mousinho admits his side were fortunate not to throw away their point, but felt the referee should have pulled play back before Aaronson got the shot away.
"I'd lost my head with the ref at that point," he said. "I thought it was a foul in front of the Portsmouth fans. Our player was dragged down with both hands.
"I thought the ball was going to nestle in the back of the net. I was really relieved. Having said that, if we had lost it wouldn't have changed the performance. I was grateful it went wide. We got away with one there."
Aaronson nets last-gasp leveller as Leeds and Portsmouth play out six-goal thriller
Brenden Aaronson scored a 95th-minute equaliser for Leeds United as they began their Championship campaign with a thrilling 3-3 draw versus Portsmouth at Elland Road.
Aaronson, who spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Union Berlin, squeezed his finish into the bottom-left corner deep into stoppage time to deny John Mousinho's newly promoted visitors a dream start to the season.
Pascal Struijk's early penalty gave Leeds the lead but they were quickly pegged back by Elias Sorensen's leveller, and Portsmouth then inched ahead on two occasions.
Callum Lang's stunning strike from distance put them 2-1 up shortly before half-time, only for Wilfried Gnonto to drag Leeds level just 54 seconds into the second half, beating Will Norris with a clever reverse finish.
Leeds dominated for long periods and should have killed the game off, finishing with 22 shots to Portsmouth's five and 39 touches in the penalty area to the visitors' six.
Daniel Farke's hosts were almost condemned to a shock defeat by Lang's 92nd-minute penalty, conceded cheaply by Jayden Bogle, but Aaronson had other ideas.
Elsewhere, West Brom fought from behind for a 3-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, with Josh Maja scoring a hat-trick.
Lucas Andersen put Marti Cifuentes' hosts ahead after 16 minutes, but Maja soon hit back with a near-post header before adding two more close-range finishes after the break.
Maja's treble made him the first Albion player to score a hat-trick in their opening game of a league season since Alf Bentley accomplished the feat in 1913-14.
Norwich City, who joined Leeds and West Brom in falling short in last season's play-offs, endured a miserable start to their campaign as they went down 2-0 to newly promoted Oxford United.
Mark Harris cut inside from the left before squeezing a finish through Angus Gunn's legs for 1-0, then Cameron Brannagan made the points safe with a side-footed finish in the 58th minute.
Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough also got off to a winning start, beating Swansea City 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium as Emmanuel Latte Lath continued his fine run in front of goal.
Latte Lath converted from the penalty spot 25 minutes in after Azeem Abdulai felled the marauding Isiah Jones, netting in a seventh straight Championship game.
He has nine goals in total throughout that run, which is the joint-longest scoring streak by any player since the Championship's 2004 rebrand, alongside Charlie Austin in 2012, Jordan Rhodes in 2013, and Aleksandar Mitrovic in 2021.
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