Birmingham City figure jumps ship to join Championship club

First-team coach Pete Shuttleworth has officially departed Blues following Chris Davies’ arrival as the new head coach, signing on as Rooney’s assistant manager at Plymouth.

The 45-year-old recently joined up with ex-Birmingham coach John O’Shea at the Republic of Ireland camp, helping out ahead of international fixtures against Hungary and Portugal.

Shuttleworth has tended to follow Rooney around as the pair worked together at DC United and Derby County before a brief spell at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. The duo are now reunited again in the Championship.

Blues officially confirmed Shuttleworth’s departure on June 12, wishing him the best for the future. Before this more recent period as a coach, Shuttleworth was a scout for Birmingham in 2015 before taking on a tactical analysis role.

Rooney is delighted to welcome one of his preferred colleagues to Plymouth as the English second-tier club look to progress following survival from relegation last season. Birmingham finished one point behind the Devon-based club last term.

“He is an excellent coach with footballing ideals that match mine and Argyle’s but is also an outstanding motivator and has a real knowledge of tactical and performance analysis,” Rooney told Plymouth’s website.

“Ultimately, he is a great person who holds all the values that the football club and I look for and he will complement our current group of coaching staff perfectly."

Argyle’s director of football, Neil Dewsnip, added: “We are thrilled that Pete has agreed to join Argyle as Assistant Head Coach. 

“He is someone Wayne has worked with closely in the past and a coach who we feel will further strengthen our existing staff here at Argyle.

“Plans are well underway for pre-season, and I can’t wait for all the players and staff to come back together at the start of July as we look ahead to next season.”