TT INTERVIEW

Tom answers questions about his team Plymouth Argyle

ABOUT ME

Having previously supported Manchester United up until the age of 12, I first began supporting Plymouth Argyle in 2007 after watching them at Home Park for the first time as they defeated Leicester 3-0 in the Championship. My love for the club only grew from there, even through the administration period a couple of years later. I began watching the club more regularly, and occasionally went on a few away days whilst living in Plymouth for university during the mid 2010’s. Having seen numerous low points and relegations over the years, it’s the most positive era of the club I have seen.

RECENT YEARS AT ARGYLE

I don’t think there has been a better time, during my lifetime at least to be an Argyle fan. The positivity coming from the club both on and off the pitch at the moment is rather infectious. There’s a real feeling of something special happening at the and that is down to owner Simon Hallett and manager Steven Schumacher. The way in which we have gone about our recruitment and continued to over perform on our budget has been fantastic.

KEY PLAYERS

The game may come too soon, but if he was to feature then Morgan Whittaker who has just joined from Swansea for a club record fee. The forward/ attacking midfielder was phenomenal when originally on-loan at the club in League One season, and it was feared his recall might have derailed our season. Thankfully this didn’t turn out to be the case but his return to the club is certainly a welcome one.

Another, perhaps less known name to look out for would be youngster Freddie Isakka. The 16-year-old has been in great form during pre-season, and a loan spell certainly seems to be on the cards next season, but at what level yet is unclear. The Wales U17 international scored the only goal as we beat Hearts in our first pre-season match in Spain.

He's back and this time it's permanent. 😍

Morgan Whittaker signs a four-year contract with Argyle in a club-record deal. 💚#pafc
— Plymouth Argyle FC (@Argyle) July 17, 2023

POSSIBLE LOANS

With neither likely to be in Schumacher’s plan for the forthcoming season, 18-year-old pair Will Jenkins-Davies (midfielder) and Jack Endacott (forward) could be two potentially heading out on loan in order to gain some much needed first-team experience. Jenkins-Davies in particular is highly rated at the club, making a couple of appearances in League One, most notably being brought on to help see out Argyle’s 2-1 lead against promotion rivals Ipswich last season. With Torquay presumably looking to bounce straight back to the National League at the first attempt, it seems possible that they could receive preference over Truro who are in the same division.

THE MANAGER AND TACTICS

We regularly play in a 3-4-2-1 formation. This comprises of three centre-backs, two wing-backs, two holding midfielders, two attacking midfielders and a forward. Since Schumacher took over, our transfer strategy has been based around bringing in and developing young players.

January for instance saw us bring in Saxon Earley (Norwich), Tyriek Wright (Aston Villa) and Callum Wright (Blackpool) on permanent transfers. This supplemented the loans we had in Finn Azaz (Aston Villa), Jay Matete (Sunderland), Sam Cosgrove (Birmingham), and particularly standout players in Bali Mumba (Norwich) and Morgan Whittaker (Swansea).

The importance of this is that clubs will look at Argyle as an ideal destination in terms of geography and development for their players going forward. Multiple deals with the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich just go to show this is working.

TACKLING THE CHAMPIONSHIP

It’s hard to tell how we will get on to be honest, particularly as a lot of Championship clubs haven’t done a lot of business yet. There’s no doubt that our budget will be amongst the lowest in a fiercely competitive division that includes the likes of Leeds, Leicester, Middlesbrough and Watford. Ultimately survival would give Argyle something to build upon in terms of their vision to become a stable Championship club.

ADAM RANDELL

Randell has become one of the first names on the team sheet since returning from his stint with Torquay. He featured over 30 times in League One last season as we were promoted and our slight blip in form coincided with his injury. The Argyle academy has struggled to produce Football League standard talent in the past but the likes of Randell, Michael Cooper and even Luke Jephcott have all shown that the resources being poured into the academy development side of things is beginning to bear rich fruit.