Wayne Rooney openly questioned his future as Plymouth manager after his side were soundly beaten by Oxford.
The Pilgrims fell to the bottom of the championship table on Sunday, with almost two months having passed since their last win.
Fellow Oxford strugglers were in the midst of a dismal run of their own, but any hopes of Plymouth finding a result they so desperately needed were quickly dashed as they traveled to the Kassam Stadium.
Ciaron Brown gave Oxford the lead after just 14 minutes, before Poland international Przemysław Placheta doubled their lead after an hour to seal a 2–0 win.
The result put even more pressure on Rooney, with his side four points from safety at the bottom of the second tier.
Asked after the match whether he has considered whether he is the right man to take the club forward, the former England captain admitted he was considering every possibility.
“I think you have to look at every possible outcome,” Rooney told Plymouth Live. 'I think that's normal with the results we're achieving.
“You have to feel: can you turn it around, do you have the players to turn it around, can I turn it around, can the coaches turn it around? These are all things we really need to look at.'
Asked about the reaction of fans who made the 400-mile tour, Rooney insisted he understood their frustration.
He continued, “I get it, I understand. I was there myself when I was young.
“I've been there as a fan and you want to see your team win, you want to see your team run, you want to see them tackle.”
'When you lose games, like we did, that frustration is there. I get it, I don't take it personally.
“I think we're all trying to do the right things to help us win games. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in recent weeks.'
Rooney arrived at Home Park this summer after Plymouth narrowly escaped relegation in the 2023/2024 season.
He achieved three wins and two draws in his first nine league matches in a solid start that saw the club move up to fourteenth in the table in early October.
However, the Pilgrims have endured a miserable run of form since then, taking just seven points from a possible 42, with a 1-0 win over southern rivals Portsmouth in November the last time they secured three points.
He added: 'I'm not going to stand here and attack the players individually or collectively.
“From my point of view, we came here, we tried to compete and we lost the game.
'Of course there will be discussions with players individually, but that is obviously between me and them.'
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