Plymouth Argyle head coach Ian Foster has received huge praise from Coventry City boss Mark Robins for his tactical setup at Home Park following the sides’ 2-2 draw on Wednesday night.
Ultimately, it was a disappointing night for the Pilgrims. After a goalless first half, the hosts took the lead not long after the interval through Morgan Whittaker, but this only lasted for 11 minutes when striker Ellis Simms found the equaliser for the visitors.
Fortunately, the game wasn’t level for long as Mickel Miller scored his first goal of the campaign to put Foster’s side in front once more and it looked as though the Devon club would seal all three points against the promotion hopefuls. That was until Liam Kitching levelled the scoring in the sixth minute of stoppage time to share the spoils.
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The draw did mean Plymouth Argyle maintained 15th place in the Championship, eight points above the relegation zone after Queens Park Rangers suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Stoke City last night.
Stability in the second tier was all that was required from Foster when he was announced as the new manager to succeed the outgoing Steven Schumacher. However, the former England U20s head coach was also keen to tighten up the defence a little as the Pilgrims boast the third-highest number of goals conceded in the division this term, primarily from Lowe’s tenure.
Nevertheless, Coventry boss Robins believes the 47-year-old has already managed to do just that. Speaking in his post-match interview on Wednesday night, Robins said [quotes via Plymouth Live]:
“He was in with us at Coventry City back in 2012. He was a coach in the academy at that point – always inquisitive, always wanting to learn.
“I think you can see what you are going to get from him. He has tightened it up. He doesn’t want them to be open. This league is really unforgiving if you turn the ball over and you are trying to be expansive.
“Unless you are really athletic you are going to get cut open, and that’s what has been happening. He will address that, has addressed that, has started to do that anyway, but also retaining that attacking threat,” Robins continued.
“It’s a really good attacking threat, good athleticism, a lot of confidence. Ryan Hardie stretches the defence, he runs his socks off, he’s a decent finisher as well. He puts you under pressure.
“They have got some real good footballers in the team and they can set them off on the way. They find space. They play the box – everybody plays it in a different way – but they have got the ability to play through it and then hurt you.
Writer’s View
Plymouth Argyle are too good to go down. The Pilgrims are one of the most exciting teams to watch in the entire league and have enough quality, with the likes of Whittaker and Ryan Hardie, to stay in the Championship for another year.
However, Robins is correct. Foster’s first point of protocol was to tighten up Plymouth’s backline while trying not to lose their attacking flair. It’s a work in progress, but the new manager is getting there, slowly but surely.
Deputy Head of Writing
