It’s always great fun when a player joins Plymouth Argyle from Exeter City. The last two direct deals have been particularly enjoyable. Joel Grant and Caleb Watts were adored by the Grecians faithful, with one even given a special squad number, whatever that’s supposed to mean. When push came to shove, however, they made the swiftest possible exit. I suppose when you’re playing for the Bin Juice, and Devon’s Finest come calling, you obviously don’t say “no.”
Then there are those who don’t move directly, but still end up at Argyle having played for Exeter. That includes the Pilgrims’ latest arrival. I mean, he played 172 games for Exeter, and even scored against their main relegation rivals on the final day of the season. He must love them, right?! No. Of course not.
Displaying wisdom belying his 27 years, Alex Hartridge put his past aside to sign on at Home Park. Having started his career at Exeter, he was eventually let go by the Grecians, which clearly worked in their favour as they survived relegation in the 2025/26 campaign. Spells with Wycombe Wanderers and Burton Albion followed, before Hartridge was announced as Argyle’s first summer signing on Wednesday following the expiry of his contract at Burton.
Hartridge had a significant impact last season at this level. He made 45 appearances in all competitions, with detailed stats available for 44. That gives us a significant sample size of 3,740 minutes to analyse. It isn’t Malachi Boateng level, but it isn’t far off. As has become tradition, let’s see what we can take from those minutes, and assess where Hartridge may fit in now he’s in the greener part of Devon.
Defensive basics
With Hartridge primarily a centre back, the natural place to start would be his defensive contribution. Can Hartridge do enough to make a telling contribution for Argyle at the back? And is he tidy enough with his defending to limit the individual errors that have plagued some to have donned the green shirt over the years?
One notable headline is that Hartridge averaged 10.23 defensive actions per 90 minutes last season. As with many defenders, that’s broadly made up of clearances (6.71 per 90), including one occasion where he made 20 in a single game during a League Cup tie with Bromley.
Hartridge’s 10.23 is largely fine, though you certainly wouldn’t describe it as astronomical. Amongst those who featured at centre back for Argyle last season, only Wes Harding and Brendan Wiredu posted a lower figure in the league, and that can be partially explained by the fact they spent significant time playing separate roles.
| Player | Defensive Actions per 90 |
| Julio Pleguezuelo | 13.59 |
| Alex Mitchell | 13.25 |
| Mathias Ross | 13.24 |
| Victor Palsson | 12.37 |
| Kornel Szucs | 10.87 |
| Brendan Galloway | 10.50 |
| Alex Hartridge* | 10.23 |
| Wes Harding | 8.12 |
| Brendan Wiredu | 6.99 |
Defensive actions aren’t the only way to measure a player’s contribution at the back, nor are they perfect. Those actions are naturally reactive, dependent on the opposition’s attacking moves to occur. To complement the numbers, we can look at how successful Hartridge has been when entering into those actions and battles.
For instance, he made a total of 65 tackles last season, and was dribbled past on 19 occasions. That gives him an implied tackle success rate of 77%, which is Argyle’s exact average. Meanwhile, Hartridge won his ground duels at a success rate of 61%, which is certainly decent, but perhaps most impressive is how well he’s performed in the air. His success rate of 64% beats any of Argyle’s centre back options from last term.
| Player | Aerial Duels Contested | Aerial Duels Won | Success Rate |
| Alex Hartridge* | 236 | 152 | 64% |
| Julio Pleguezuelo | 47 | 30 | 64% |
| Alex Mitchell | 275 | 172 | 63% |
| Mathias Ross | 284 | 177 | 62% |
| Brendan Wiredu | 75 | 45 | 60% |
| Kornel Szucs | 66 | 38 | 58% |
| Brendan Galloway | 110 | 60 | 55% |
| Wes Harding | 54 | 29 | 54% |
| Victor Palsson | 13 | 6 | 46% |
How about defensive errors? Well, across last season Hartridge made one error leading directly to a shot, and three leading directly to goals (though one barely counts considering it was in a pizza cup game at Chesterfield). That total of four notable errors feels significant, considering it’s double the number any Argyle player made in the league last season. Hartridge’s high number of minutes played should be taken into account, but 0.07 notable errors per 90 is still higher than I’d like.
Hartridge’s last error leading to a goal came in the penultimate game of the season, as he handed former side Exeter the opener. Clearly, he was doing all he could to give his new employers an easy six points in 2026/27, but the Grecians looked the gift horse in the mouth.
Possession element
When it was announced that Argyle had signed Hartridge, a player who was a key part of the Burton defence who narrowly avoided relegation, I naturally had a stereotype in my head. My assumption was that he’d be a classic agricultural defender, who’d get his head on crosses and long balls but wouldn’t offer much with the ball at his feet.
I now believe that’s incorrect. Not in the sense that he won’t get his head on things – the previous section shows otherwise – but in the possession element. One of the most underrated parts of Hartridge’s game seems to be his ability with the ball at his feet.
One aspect sticks out: Hartridge had more touches per 90 last season than any Argyle player. That’s particularly impressive when you consider how many minutes he played. Some players are outliers in these rankings because they only feature in a couple of games and their data doesn’t have time to level out. Not Hartridge, who tops the list despite having over 3,500 minutes under his belt.
| Player | Touches per 90 |
| Alex Hartridge* | 74.16 |
| Victor Palsson | 71.23 |
| Ayman Benarous | 68.70 |
| Julio Pleguezuelo | 66.17 |
| Kornel Szucs | 65.04 |
| Herbie Kane | 62.01 |
Perhaps even more notably, Hartridge managed this in a team that had less of the ball. Burton’s average possession in the league last season was 46.1%, compared to Argyle’s 47.6%. Yes, Argyle’s gradually reduced throughout the campaign as the style of play evolved, but Burton had little of the ball throughout. However, when they did have possession, they were happy to trust Hartridge to work the ball forward on a regular basis.
And work it forward he did. Across the campaign, Hartridge completed an average of 3.63 long passes per 90. Again, that’s a higher figure than any Argyle outfield player managed. And, in completing them with a success rate of 34%, Hartridge’s long pass success beat Argyle’s average of 32%. It was slightly behind Alex Mitchell (36%) but comfortably clear of both Mathias Ross (26%) and Julio Pleguezuelo (25%), both of whom look set to be Hartridge’s defensive competition next season.
Attacking threat
With the way football has changed, particularly across the last 18 months or so, set pieces have become a vital part of any team’s game. Argyle themselves particularly benefitted, with Derek Adams’ arrival as director of football coinciding directly with increased goal outputs from set pieces.
Defenders, therefore, have a significant contribution to make in the opposition’s penalty area as well as their own. Ross scored four league goals last season, all coming from corners, whilst Mitchell always felt a set piece threat in the second half of the campaign (although I was surprised that he never actually scored a headed goal during his Argyle loan spell). We can at least be reasonably confident that Hartridge can offer a similar threat.
Hartridge scored three goals across the course of last season. All of them were in the league, all of them were headers, and all of them came from set piece situations. Indeed, as I alluded to earlier, he actually scored in his last competitive appearance, notching Burton’s second equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient on the final day of the season.
Where Hartridge has surprised me, however, is how much more he offers in an attacking sense. He got one assist across the course of the campaign, but posted an expected assists total of 3.88. That’s more expected assists than any other centre back in League One. Yes, set pieces will play a role in that, but I think there are signs that Hartridge’s ability with the ball at his feet translates to attack as well as defence.
He likes to get himself into wide areas and put the ball into the box. Last season, for instance, Hartridge completed an average of 0.53 crosses per 90 minutes. It’s no surprise that this is more than the likes of Mitchell (0.03) and Ross (none), but I was particularly pleased to see that Hartridge’s figure comfortably beat a similar profile of player in Brendan Galloway (0.11). Hartridge’s cross success of 33% is also strong, notably outranking Ronan Curtis on 26%.
Indeed, Hartridge’s sole assist last year was from a cross. He put in a gorgeous ball to help his side double their lead against Stockport County in an eventual 3-0 win.
Naturally, Hartridge was primarily signed to defend. Used correctly, however, he may provide a significant attacking benefit too. Consider this: Hartridge created 0.19 Opta-defined big chances per 90 last season. That figure was good enough to beat the likes of Joe Edwards (0.10), Bim Pepple (0.08) and Owen Dale (0.14).
Fitting into 4-4-2?
So far, we’ve painted a picture of a player who can play the ball from the back like Lewis Gibson, can create chances, and was even more of a colossus in the air than Mitchell last season. Add in the location factor (Hartridge was born in Torquay before being made to suffer Exeter), and it makes complete sense that Adams was willing to sanction this deal.
The task now for head coach Tom Cleverley will be to create an environment where Hartridge can replicate his Burton form. That could prove tricky. I trust Cleverley, given how he succeeded in improving several players last season, but I also don’t fully believe Hartridge will fit into his preferred system. Not seamlessly, anyway.
At Burton, Hartridge primarily played on the left side of a back three. That position seemed to suit his skills perfectly. He was still a centre back, so was able to demonstrate his prowess in aerial duels whilst being in a position to influence possession when building from the back. Additionally, being in a defensive trio rather than a pairing allowed him to properly contribute at the other end, giving him license to over or underlap the wing back where necessary and get crosses into the area.
Cleverley’s 4-4-2, which will surely remain his preferred shape heading into next season given its recent success, doesn’t accommodate such a role. To fit in, Hartridge would probably need to line up either as a left back or on the left side of a central defensive pairing. I’m not necessarily sure either suit his talents.
At left back, the reviews aren’t great. Qualitative data from fans of former clubs would suggest he doesn’t have the pace to play a traditional full back role effectively. His former managers tend to agree; of the 211 career starts Transfermarkt have on record, only 11 have come on the left. So, centre back then? Hartridge would probably find such a role easier, but would playing in a duo negate one of his notable strengths in contributing to attacks?
Ultimately, I suspect we’ll see Hartridge play several different roles as an Argyle player, depending on the demands of any given game. Whether he’s truly seen as a successful signing will probably depend on how well he adapts to those roles, as well as circumstances that won’t be fully under his control.