Herbie Gynn reports on a lacklustre Plymouth Argyle showing at Mansfield as pressure mounts on Tom Cleverley.
After coming back from the international break, Argyle have failed to grab a single point out of a possible nine, scoring just one goal in the three games. Sitting 22nd in League One while also being told we have a top-six transfer budget and a clear aspiration of promotion, the fans are getting increasingly irritable.
Peterborough and Blackpool are the only teams below Argyle in the League One table, both of which have sacked their manager. You can’t help but think that Tom Cleverley’s job is in serious jeopardy after the constant poor performances and the expectation of him versus the disappointing reality.
Captain Joe Edwards was in the starting XI against Mansfield despite being a doubt for the game. He passed his fitness test but felt his injury during the warm-up, meaning Conor Hazard took the armband and Wiredu took his place. Cleverley opted for Wiredu to play in the back three with Galloway and Ross, pushing Szucs into a right-mid position with Owen Dale on the other side. The midfield two consisted of academy graduate Caleb Roberts alongside Malachi Boateng. Lorent Tolaj claimed the number 9 spot again with the support of Bali Mumba and Owen Oseni behind him, with Mumba instructed to play close to the touchline while Oseni stayed central, acting as another striker.
It was an abysmal start for Argyle as they conceded in the first six minutes. Mansfield striker Rhys Oates flicked a header in behind the defence, which Galloway looked to deal with comfortably. With Wiredu also tracking back, it seemed he was unaware that Galloway had it under control. Wiredu attempted to clear the ball and completely scuppered the chance to clear his lines, giving Will Evans his fourth goal of the season and giving Mansfield an early lead.
The whole team just looked odd regarding players’ positions. When in possession, Oseni tucked in alongside Tolaj, leaving Mumba as our only width in attack on the left. Fixating on one side of the pitch to attack left us with all sorts of problems in the first half especially. With Owen Dale pushing on and supporting Mumba, as soon as Argyle lost possession it was remarkably simple for Mansfield to play a long ball down our left-hand side to an unmarked winger because we threw our whole left side into supporting Mumba in the attack. Owen Dale was exceptional in tracking back and not letting the Mansfield players have it easy; however, it was unfair to expect him to do that for a whole 90 minutes while others didn’t play with the same urgency.
And, as we’ve seen so many times this season, as soon as we concede there is a lack of desire and grit to get back into the game. The team’s confidence is at an all-time low. The players don’t seem to believe in each other, nor do they seem to believe in Cleverley’s system. The reluctance to actually sort this out and to get Argyle back to where we should be is becoming a growing frustration for fans. Very few senior players are embedded in this club, meaning there are so many players who don’t quite get what Argyle means to the fans and the city of Plymouth.
There were spells in the second half where we looked to be on top. We played with more persistence and confidence, and it led to chances: the best of which came when Dale played a long ball for substitute Jamie Paterson to run onto and charge down the covering defender. Paterson was able to nick the ball away from the Mansfield full-back and had a clear sight of the options in the box. He found the feet of 17-year-old Tegan Finn in the six-yard box, but his inexperience got the better of him and he was unable to find the back of the net.
It’s where yet another problem lies – a chance to equalise and make a game of it, and it falls to a 17-year-old academy graduate. Personally, I think Finn is quality and will go on and play at a top level, but we can’t rely on him to turn losses into draws or draws into wins. Likewise with lots of young development players that we need to nurture and improve. Instead, we are relying on these players with little experience to take the game by the scruff of the neck and win us games.
There’s a huge mixture of reasons as to why we’re really struggling, and it’s time to just face the facts.
Cleverley isn’t as good a manager as we thought he’d be when we appointed him in August. If we had a full squad with only one or two injuries, I still think we’d be around 12th-14th. I still believe he could turn into a great manager and learn different systems suited to the physicality of League One, but right now it just isn’t working.
To make matters worse, it seems he didn’t get the financial backing he was promised. And that which was spent wasn’t spent wisely, with too much going on long-shot, hopeful acquisitions. With more statement signings and ‘nailed-on’ first-team players, we could be in a much better situation.
As fans, we understand that not every single penny is going to go on the playing budget. We don’t expect to be the biggest spenders proportionate to our income – that has never been the way for Argyle.
But, surely, the board has to see now that not enough of our money went into the playing budget, and it is a key factor as to why we are third from bottom in League One. It isn’t enough to simply spend it more wisely; the allocation of funds isn’t enough to meet the recruitment needs.
I want them to have a good January window. I’d love it more than anything for them to right their wrongs and turn this around, because at the end of the day we all just want to see the best of Argyle.
Right now, that feels a very long way off.