Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley is under no illusions that he needs to start picking up points following their dreadful start to life in League One.
After suffering relegation from the Championship last season, the Pilgrims embarked on a summer of change. They had to contend with the unexpected departure of Miron Muslic, leading to Cleverley taking over the reins.
The 35-year-old built a big reputation after his first managerial role at Watford and was tasked with guiding his new club back into the second tier at the first time of asking. However, they are already facing an uphill battle after tasting four successive defeats. As a result, they currently sit in the bottom four.
Cleverley Pulls No Punches
Plymouth will be looking to kickstart their season tomorrow when they welcome Blackpool to Home Park. They have brought in two new arrivals to their defensive line this week in Alex Mitchell and Mathias Ross, whilst they are expected to complete a deal for Port Vale striker Lorent Tolaj in the coming days.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s clash, Cleverley bemoaned his side’s luck thus far, but admitted it is up to his players to put it right:
“The biggest thing our football club needs – no secret – is a win. It was a game on Tuesday that could have gone either way. At the minute, those games are going against us; we’re getting punished for every micro-mistake, for every refereeing decision.
“We still have to do everything we possibly can for a top performance to take chance out of it. I think the addition of new players helps with that chance.
“The big challenge is transferring from the training ground, onto the stadium, where the consequences are a little bit more. I’ve tried helping the lads with a few techniques to do that. Experience helps with that, and we’ve got a lot of new players, young players who are desperate to prove themselves.
“These things will take time. I’m positive we’ve given them enough emotional support to deal with that for Saturday, and they’re in a good frame of mind to perform.”
Writer’s View
Make no bones about it, Plymouth need to start winning. They are expected to challenge for promotion and although the season is still in its early stages, they are in danger of leaving themselves too much to do. Cleverley’s position is not under threat by any stretch but he will be judged by what happens on the pitch. Blackpool are a team who have also had a poor start, so they will see this as the ideal fixture to pick up three points.
