Look out for: Newport County

Players

Derek Adams will have a selection dilemma when Newport visit Home Park on Tuesday evening in the Checkatrade Trophy, formally known as the Johnstone Paint Trophy. Gary Sawyer who limped off at the weekend in the win over Blackpool will be doubt, as what he sustained in that match looked like a pulled hamstring, which occurred when he stretched to clear his lines. Adams has got players to cover this position; Ben Purrington will be favoured to come in at left back. As this is a cup game; could the likes of Vincent Dorel; David Ijaha; David Fox; Craig Tanner; David Goodwille and Gary Miller all be recalled to the starting line-up having sat out previous fixtures.

Argyle will come up against two former players when Newport visit; Paul Bignot and Plymouth born defender Ben Tozer have had spells with the Devon club. Another former player in the squad is goalkeeper James Bittner, the 34 year old, who made his Football League debut at Argyle at the age of 33 in the 2-1 victory at York in 2015, having been offered a new deal by Adams the goalkeeper decided to rejoin the Welsh side as reserve goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach.

There are number of players to note in County’s line up who are worth a mention, Jon Parkin is one of these players, having dropped out the League to join Forest Green, the striker has joined the The Exiles on a year long contract and scored his first goal in the 2-2 draw at Hartlepool over August Bank Holiday. Another notable player is Joss Labadie, a known playmaker who was a bright point in a dire campaign for Dagenham and Redbridge who were relegated last term.

Management

Derek Adams and his management team have seen Argyle come back from their disappointing start to winning the last three fixtures, and this has energised, right down to the subs bench. Adams has stated “They are a good group, and if you look at the bench, the quality we have is very good. That is a pleasing aspect. I can now put on players as a straight swap; it’s good to have that. I didn’t have that last season.”

There will be another former player returning to Home Park on Tuesday, Warren Feeney who was named Newport County’s manager in January 2015 after the resignation of former Pilgrims manager John Sheridan, having been the assistant manager. The former footballer has represented his National side, Northern Ireland, at International level, by doing this Warren became the third generation of his family to receive an international cap, behind his father and grandfather. Argyle fans wont actually see him on the touchline on Tuesday evening as he serves a two game touchline ban, from an FA misconduct charge during their fixture against Luton.

Tactics

Following Argyle’s third win in a row, the team now comes into this cup game full of confidence, hoping they can string together a run in the cup, which will see them also play AFC Wimbledon and Swansea City. Derek Adams will probably make a number of changes, as previously mentioned affecting his tactics as a result. This change may be in the formation as well as personnel, Adams started with a 4-2-3-1 against Blackpool, and is likely to stick with this. If Adams chooses a change in formation expect a change to the traditional 4-4-2 or 5-3-2. As Adams explains, “If somebody goes in and does well, then they have got a good opportunity of staying in for the next week. That will not always be the case because sometimes we will change formation, but I want to have a good dressing-room.”

Opposition Tactics

Newport County’s manager, Warren Feeney expressed his disappointment in their 2-2 draw with Hartlepool in their previous encounter, stating that his sides finishing in the final third was “not there” despite them playing nearly all of the game against ten men. This will be a point Feeney will hope to see improvement on at Home Park. In the 2-2 draw at Hartlepool, Feeney was forced to make two changes due to injury, with Jamie Turley and Jordan Green sitting out. This resulted in recalls for Jon Parkin and Paul Bignot.

Head to Head

Argyle and Newport have faced each other fifty-five times both in league and cup games. The first time the sides met was on 11th September 1920 in Division Three (South), the game ended in a 5-1 win for Argyle with Tommy Gallogley, George Sheffield (2), Will Dixon, Harry Raymond scoring the goals.

The last time the teams met was in League Two on 28th December at Rodney Parade, Argyle came out winners on this occasion, with a 2-1 victory, goals scored by Scott Boden (Newport), Jake Jervis and Ryan Brunt. Newport last travelled to Plymouth on 29th August 2015, Graham Carey scored the only goal of the game just before half time as Argyle won the fixture 1-0.

Look out for: Blackpool

Players

Derek Adams has only two injury concerns ahead of the game with Karleigh Osborne and Ryan Brunt still unavailable. Gary Miller is back in contention after sitting out the 2-0 victory against Mansfield; the right back had to serve a one match suspension carried over from his time in Scotland, which was delayed by an administrative error by the Scottish FA. Craig Tanner, who returned to Argyle on loan from Reading, is also in contention for a starting place.

When Argyle make the 320 mile trip to Blackpool they may come up against two former players who last played for the Greens at Wembley. Kelvin Mellor, who was offered an extended contract and Jamille Matt, who was on loan from Fleetwood at the time, both decided to further their careers away from Home Park. On Thursday, Blackpool also announced the signing of Jack Payne, a midfielder once linked with Argyle, who spent last season on loan at League Two outfit Leyton Orient.

A player of note at Blackpool is striker Mark Cullen, who was the club’s top scorer last season with ten goals, albeit in a difficult campaign. The prolific forward has already netted once this term in the 1-1 draw at Barnet.

Management

Derek Adams has seen his team come into this fixtute on a two-game winning run, coming after three defeats from their first three games at the start of the season.  Adams has mentioned the word ‘momentum’ and the fact that this has to continue to surround the players. “Last season was a very good season for us and we want to take it on to the next step,” stated Adams, indicating that both himself and the players want to achieve promotion this season, so momentum and stability is huge for the team.

Following Blackpool’s relegation to League Two, Gary Bowyer was named manager of the Seasiders on a one-year rolling contract as Neil McDonald left his role by mutual consent at the end of last season. Bowyer has seen his coaching career span eighteen years at Carshalton Athletic and three stints at Blackburn Rovers, two of which were as a caretaker. Gary most recent club was in fact Blackburn Rovers from 2013-2015.

Tactics

Graham Carey has stated the Mansfield win “was the most enjoyable game of football he has played this season.” The reasoning behind this statement is that Adams gave Carey free license to roam in his favoured position in behind striker Jimmy Spencer. This tactic is likely to be used again by Argyle on Saturday. Also, as the return of Craig Tanner was announced before last Saturday’s game, Derek Adams has now got the choice of at least some width in his team.

Argyle’s management have recently favoured a 4-3-3 formation, and this tactical alteration has been used in the victories over Notts County and Mansfield Town. This formation may well continue to be used at Bloomfield Road.

Eight of the first team players who participated against St Austell on Tuesday evening in the reserve fixture will be in contention on Saturday.

Opposition Tactics

Blackpool, who may well have two former Pilgrims in their starting line-up, like to get the ball into the box early, with high balls from defence and from the wings. Argyles’ defence would have to be wary of Blackpool’s play if they were to use the tactic.

In their last game against Wycombe, the Seasiders started off very slowly with it taking until the 35th minute before they got into the swing of the game. In this fixture, Blackpool dominated possession but were unable to make their opportunities count with only two shots on target. The home team will have to be on their toes if Argyle start the way they did against Mansfield last Saturday.

Head to Head

Plymouth Argyle will travel to Bloomfield Road for the first time in seven seasons as they face each other in League Two. The last fixture, which took place in on 1st October 2009, was in the Championship, where the Seasiders won 2-0 with goals scored infamously by Argyle loanee Marcel Seip, as well as David Vaughan. Problems have occurred off the pitch for both sides since that time, and both are still rebuilding in their own ways.

The first time these two teams met was in The FA Cup in 1929 at Home Park. Argyle came out 3-0 winners in this fixture with Sammy Black hitting the back of the net three times. The first time they met in the League was in 1933 at Home Park, with Argyle losing 3-0.

Look out for: Mansfield Town

Players

With both teams coming off the back of a win on Tuesday night, both Argyle and Mansfield will be eager to continue their winning streaks. Town won 1-0 against Yeovil while Argyle picked up there first points of the season against former manager John Sheridan.  Derek Adams made two changes on Tuesday night with Conor Smith and Ryan Donaldson recalled while David Goodwillie and David Ijaha dropped to the bench. Adams may well choose to name an unchanged team when they return to Home Park after three away games on the bounce travelling an approximately 1700 miles, with Adam stating “the travelling has taken its toll, with the players tired, both mentally and physically”.

Mansfield have had a great start to the season, with a 3-2 away win at Newport County followed by a 1-1 draw against Cheltenham before Tuesday’s victory, which has set them in good stead for the start of this campaign. However, manager Adam Murray will have to make a change to the team as Danny Rose was shown an early red card in the game against Yeovil; the defender will now have to sit out three games.

A player of note in the Mansfield’s line up is Matt Green; Green was the Stags top scorer last season with 16 goals, and has already netted twice this term, so Argyle’s newly formed defence will have to be wary.

Management

Derek Adams has admitted, “there is still room for improvement throughout the team”. With fourteen new players in the squad it is always going to take time for the players to gel, having only been around each other for six-weeks. As we saw last season, the players performed well away from home but not so much in front of the home crowd. Is this the reasoning behind Adams starting Jervis ahead of Goodwille, could there be a few players recalled to the starting lineup on Saturday? Do the players freeze in front of a big crowd?

The opposition manager on Saturday, Adam Murray became the youngest manager in both the Premiership and Football League, at 32 years old, after being appointed player-manager in December 2014 following the dismissal of Paul Cox. Before being as manager on a full time basis, the former captain of the Stags was named caretaker manager while in this role he oversaw a win against Argyle.

During Adam Murray’s time as Stags manger he has overseen twenty-six wins, twenty-one draws and thirty-seven losses, with a win percentage of 30.9%.

Tactics

Argyle switched formation again on Tuesday, shifting from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 with Carey and Jervis flanking Spencer, and Goodwillie dropped. Argyle were shaky defensively, with Notts having a shot cleared off the line and hitting the post before Luke McCormick made a fantastic late save to cling onto the points.

Carey and Jervis spent much of the time drifting inside, but Spencer was still isolated a lot and Argyle only managed eight shots in the entire match, half that of County.

Since the departure of winger Gregg Wylde at the end of last season, there has been a lack of width in the team, but this may have been rectified with the return of winger Craig Tanner. With a win and three points on the table, can this energise the Pilgrims to go on a winning streak?

Opposition Tactics

In Mansfield’s starting line-up, Argyle may come up against former loanee Ashley Hemmings in the game at Home Park, who started Mansfield’s win against Yeovil. Adam Murray will have to make one enforced change as Danny Rose begins a three game suspension. Aside from that, the rest of Murray’s selection will probably remain unchanged.

Head to Head

Argyle have faced Mansfield thirty-five times with the fixture meeting coming on 18th October 1958, in League Division Three. The Pilgrims won the fixture 4-1 with the goals score by Wilf Carter (3) and Peter Anderson.

The Pilgrims have the edge over Mansfield with seventeen victories, nine draws and seven loses.

Mansfield last travelled down to Devon last season on 16th February 2016 as Argyle came out 3-0 winners, with Gregg Wylde and Ryan Brunt (2) the scorers. Whilst the reverse fixture drew a blank for both sides early on in the 2015-16 season in a 0-0 draw.

Look out for: Notts County

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Players 

Derek Adams could name an unchanged side when they travel to John Sheridan’s Notts County for their third consecutive away game. Nauris Bulvītis made his Football League debut at the weekend, as he received international clearance late Friday, he showed great eagerness to make a good impression.  The only players still unavailable to Adams are Ryan Brunt (knee) and Karleigh Osborne (thigh).

Notts County haven’t started too well either, only having picked up one point themselves in the league, coming in their home draw to Stevenage. One familiar player in the Notts County squad is former premier League midfielder Alan Smith, who has gained valuable experience playing in the top flight for Leeds United; Manchester United and Newcastle United; where he was part of the Teeside squad which won promotion back to the Premiership in 2010 with a 2-0 victory at Home Park.

Managers 

Adams will be eager for his team to get their first points of the season, as they lie joint bottom of the table with rivals Exeter City, with only goal difference separating the two clubs. Following on from the defeat in the Play-off final, is the pressure getting to players and management this early on? Has the new deal from Adams come too early on in the season? Do the players still need to know each other’s game? What is next for Argyle? For me, Adams needs to look at bringing in wingers from the loan system sooner rather than later as we have limited width currently.

Former Argyle manager John Sheridan, now in charge at Meadow Lane, will face the Pilgrims for the second time since leaving at the end of the 2014-15 season, as the club failed to reach League One. John’s first meeting with his former employers since leaving Argyle came after he took charge of Newport County, with Argyle coming away with a 2-1 victory. Before arriving at County in the summer, Sheridan had a stint at his boyhood club Oldham Athletic, saving them from what seemed like an inevitable drop into League Two, before signing a three-year deal Meadow Lane. With John Sheridan nearing his five hundredth game in management, the former midfielder has a win percentage of 34.4.

Tactics 

With the inclusion of Nauris Bulvītis in the starting lineup, Adams was able to rotate his squad to a 3-5-2 formation in the first half of the Carlisle fixture. Nothing really went Argyle’s way as they conceded in the thirty seventh minute and only had one shot on target for the entire duration of the game.

With neither team starting the season off how they would of liked will Derek Adams go for a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 formation? Adams has changed tactics and formations each half of the three games the Pilgrims have played. Is Adams still working out his best formation? It seems like that to me, there is a lot of frustration among fans due to the poor start to the season.

Opposition Tactics 

Notts County have only picked up a single point so far as that came at home on Saturday to Stevenage. John Sheridan, who has previously won promotion with Chesterfield from League Two has a vast amount of knowledge of how to gain the breakthrough to League One. With his time at Argyle, fans will know the former midfielder likes to play a 3-5-2 formation, as the team sheets came in on Saturday lunchtime that was the formation Sheridan went for. Captain Michael O’Connor along with Stanley Aborah and Jonathan Forte all called up to the starting line up, with Alan Smith, Graham Burke and Vadaine Oliver dropping to the bench. Could Sheridan’s favored formation be used against his former club on Tuesday evening in a 7:45pm kick off?

Head to head 

Argyle and Notts County have competed with each other forty-four times both in the League and Cup games, County have the edge over Argyle with twenty three victories. The first ever meeting came in the FA Cup in 1923, the fixture finished as a draw. The sides met for the first time in the Football League eight seasons later on 10th October 1931 at Home Park, what a cracker of a game it was too, with the visitors taking all three points in a 3-4 thriller, as consolation goals came from Sammy Black, Tommy Grozier and Jack Leslie.

The last time the teams faced each other was on 27th February 2016, the Pilgrims came out on top for this fixture winning 1-0, as the goal was scored by Graham Carey.

Look out for: Carlisle

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Players 

Changes will be made to the Argyle starting eleven which walked out onto the Madejski Stadium field on Tuesday evening, with Captain Luke McCormick, David Ijaha, Ryan Donaldson and Jimmy Spencer all looking for re-calls after being dropped in the defeat to Reading. After Derek Adams admitted that Reading ‘thoroughly deserved to win the match’ the Pilgrims will have to be on top of their game to get anything out of this fixture. Personally, Argyle are missing width in the game so I expect Adams to use the loan system to bring in further depth to the team in wider areas. Unavailable to Adams is central defender, Karleigh Osborne, who has yet to overcome a thigh injury which he sustained in the first week of pre-season.

Lifelong Argyle supporter Mark Ellis will lineup against the club when the Pilgrims visit Brunton Park on Saturday, as having previously played for Bolton Wonders; Torquay United; Forest Green Rovers; Crewe and Shrewsbury. With Ellis having seen out his contract at Shrewsbury, while on loan to Carlisle, he then signed a two-year contract with the club. Other players to take note of are; Jabo Ibehre, who has scored fifteen goals in thirty-six appearances since joining in June 2015; and Jamie Devitt, a skillful winger.

Managers

Having brought in fourteen players for the start of the new season, is it too early to start questioning the results? For me,  it is a tad early. I know we have had two bad results so far, as the new team players gel and get to know each other; no finger should yet be pointed at the management team. With the amount of players who departed last season, we all know it is going to take time for the team to synchronize.

Keith Curle has been in charge of the Cambrians since September 2014 following the departure of Graham Kavanagh. Over this time, Curle has overseen ninety-seven games with thirty-six victories, twenty-six draws and thirty-fives loses, with a win percentage of 37.1%. With the vast amount of managers coming and going Keith Curle stands at the twenty fourth longest serving managers in both the Premiership and Football League.

Tactics 

Following a second successive defeat at the home of Reading on Tuesday night, Derek Adams will be looking at changing the formation and tactics of the team, with regular first team players called back into the starting lineup.  For the past two fixtures, in the league and cup, Adams has gone with his favored 4-2-3-1 formation, so is it time for a change in tactics? As of last season, Argyle were able to rotate the formation of the squad rotating to a 3-5-2 with wing backs, Gary Sawyer and Kelvin Mellor, a possibility now Bulvitis is available as the third centre-back.

Opposition Tactics 

Carlisle, having drawn their season opener at Portsmouth and winning in the EFL Cup against Port Vale, have been tactically well drilled thus far. As an attacking side, they will look lively from kick off so Argyle will have to be wary to not be on the back foot too quickly on in the game. United also like to use long throw-ins so the newly formed Argyle back line will have to be astute when dealing with ball into the area from all corners of the pitch.

Head to Head 

Argyle and Carlisle have played each other thirty-seven times with the first meeting coming on 16th October 1965 in League Division Two, Argyle came out on top on this occasion defeating the Cumbrians 3-1, goals coming from Frank Lord and Mike Trebilcock (2).

Argyle slightly have the edge over Carlisle with the Pilgrims coming out with sixteen victories, eight draws and thirteen loses, with the last three points coming last season with Ryan Brunt’s free-kick and an own goal securing the victory at Ewood Park, Carlisle’s temporary home at the time.

Look out for: Reading

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1. Players

Argyle will come up against former loanee Craig Tanner when the Pilgrims visit the Madejski Stadium this evening. The midfielder was not included in their opening game but he could feature in the squad should Reading chose to rotate their team. As Tanner has decided to stay with the Royals in a bid to get first team football, tonight would be a perfect opportunity for the winger to stake his claim. Other noticeable players to look out for include Chris Gunter, who was part of the Senior Wales squad for ‘Euros 2016’ in Paris, and captain Paul McShane who narrowly missed out representing Republic of Ireland in ‘Euros 2016’. A final player of note who will be looking to make an impression is new signing Callum Harriott, a pacy winger who will look to run at Argyles defence on Tuesday night.

Argyle are still waiting for Latvian international Nauris Bulvitis’s clearance to be completed, so it’s a very slight chance the defender will be included in the EFL Cup. Manager Derek Adams has insisted it will be a ‘huge step up’ from the season opening defeat to Luton Town and has also confirmed there will be a few changes to the starting line up. Vincent Dorel could replace newly named captain Luke McCormick in goal for the first round tie at the Madejski Stadium. Ben Purrington and Louis Rooney could also have a part to play.

2. Managers

Jamp Stam will get the feel of a cup tie for the very first time in English football when his Reading side lines up against Argyle in the first round tie of the EFL Cup. The former Dutch international was named Brian McDermott’s successor on 13th June 2016 after Reading gifted him his first chance of management after being interim and assistant manager at FC Zwolle; Ajax and Jong Ajax.  He made a winning start in England after defeating Preston North End 1-0 at home on Saturday.

On the eve of Argyle season opener at home to Luton Town, Derek Adams put pen to paper on a new four year deal, following a fantastic first season in charge which included a play-off final appearance at Wembley. Adams first taste of Cup games came last season at home Park in the 2-1 defeat to Gillingham, with Carlisle and Millwall also ending Argyle’s cup interests last season during back-to-back matches in November.

3. Tactics

The Pilgrims first League Two fixture saw the player’s lineup in a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation in the first half, with a second half switch to 4-4-2 after the opening goal. For the early part of the game Argyle will want to keep the door shut and to maintain parity for as long as possible; an early goal would force Argyle to chase the game and leave them with an embarrassing score line.

With Argyle having three away games in a week, Adams should use the depth of his squad to deploy different tactics and formations. Argyle have the choice of playing a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2 formation, providing Sawyer were to drop to centre-back, unless Jordan Bentley were to be promoted to the first team.

4. Opposition Tactics

Reading, last season under the guidance of Brian McDermott, preferred to play in a 4-3-3 formation; this has since been repeated by Stam in his first game in charge. Liking to play with three attacking front players – one of which could be Tanner – much of Reading’s game plan could rely on forcing Sawyer and Miller onto the back foot. Starting with a 4-1-2-1-2 would be ill advised therefore.

One player Reading will know about is Argyles number 10 Graham Carey, after a superb debut season at Argyle. Other than this, due to amount of new additions in Adams squad this year, many of the faces will be unfamiliar to Reading, so this game may be an interesting spectacle as Stam tries to second guess Argyle’s starting line up and danger men.

5. Head to Head

Argyles run in the EFL Cup, formally known as the Capital One Cup, isn’t very impressive, with the Pilgrims last reaching the second round stage four years ago after progressing past a youthful Portsmouth 3-0 at Home Park. Argyle have only made it to the second round three times since 1992.

Reading’s cup run is more favourable reaching the second, third and fourth rounds in the last four consecutive seasons. Their highest run in the cup came in their 2012/13 season when they were draw at home to Premier League Arsenal. Reading put up a fight as they went down 5-7 to the Londoners in extra time, despite having led 4-0 after just twenty minutes.

The last time the sides meet was in the Championship 2009/10 season when Reading came out 2-1 winners. The sides have played one another ten times with the Royals coming out slight winners with four wins, three draws and three loses whilst Argyle have won three times, drawn three and lost four. The last time the sides met at Home Park, however, Argyle ran out 4-1 victors, with Alan Judge (2), Kari Arnason and Ashley Barnes adding the goals – Gylfi Sigurdsson scored in response.

Writers's Predictions - Argyle Life

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Name: Adam Price

Champions: Luton Town

Automatics: Doncaster Rovers, Portsmouth

Play-Offs: Leyton Orient, Carlisle, Grimsby, Argyle

Relegated: Crawley, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Carlisle

Golden Boot: Danny Hylton – Luton Town

Golden Glove: David Forde – Portsmouth

Surprise package: Grimsby Town

Best Transfer: David Goodwillie to Plymouth Argyle

League 2 Player of the year: Dean Cox – Leyton Orient

Name Alex Druce

Champions: Portsmouth

Automatics: Carlisle, Leyton Orient

Play-Offs: Luton, Cambridge, Doncaster, Mansfield

Relegated: Newport, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Luton Town

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson (Leyton Orient)

Golden Glove: Mark Gillespie (Carlisle United)

Surprise package: Mansfield Town

Best Transfer: Milan Lalkovic (Portsmouth)

League 2 Player of the year: Milan Lalkovic (Portsmouth)

Name: Aly Whiting

Champions: Leyton Orient

Automatics: Argyle, Doncaster

Play-Offs: Portsmouth, Blackpool, Wycombe, Crewe

Relegated: Morecambe, Grimsby

Surprise package: Leyton Orient

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: Scott Loach – Notts County

Play-off winners: Portsmouth

Best Transfer: Adebayo Akinfenwa (Free Transfer to Wycombe Wanderers)

League 2 Player of the year: Graham Carey

Name: James Curno

Champions: Leyton Orient

Automatics: Argyle, Notts County

Play-Offs: Doncaster, Luton, Portsmouth, Carlisle

Relegated: Morecambe, Cheltenham

Play-off winners: Doncaster

Golden Boot: David Goodwillie

Golden Glove: Alex Cisak

Surprise package: Newport

Best Transfer: Jordan Bowery – Oxford to Leyton Orient

League 2 Player of the year: Graham Carey

Name: Luke Petherbridge

Champions: Luton

Automatics: Carlisle, Argyle

Play-Offs: Doncaster, Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Leyton Orient

Relegated: Stevenage, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Portsmouth

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: Christian Walton

Surprise package: Carlisle United

Best Transfer: Jimmy Spencer

League 2 Player of the year: Cameron McGeehan

Name: Josh Pope

Champions: Luton

Automatics: Argyle, Notts County

Play-Offs: Portsmouth, Grimsby, Carlisle, Cambridge

Relegated: Blackpool, Crawley

Play-off winners: Cambridge

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: Scott Brown

Surprise package: Grimsby

Best Transfer: David Goodwillie

League 2 Player of the year: Milan Lalkovic

Name:  Mark Matthews

Champions: Notts County

Automatics: Doncaster, Leyton Orient

Play-Offs: Argyle, Accrington, Luton, Crewe

Relegated: Cheltenham, Stevenage

Play-off winners: Accrington

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: Aaron Chapman

Surprise package: Accrington

Best Transfer: Isaac Vassell

League 2 Player of the year: Cameron McGeehan

Name: Nick Saunders Smith

Champions: Carlisle

Automatics: Portsmouth, Luton

Play-Offs: Leyton Orient, Argyle, Notts County, Cambridge

Relegated: Newport, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Leyton Orient

Golden Boot: Jack Marriot

Golden Glove: Alex Cisak

Surprise package: Mansfield Town

Best Transfer: Jordan Bowery to Leyton Orient

League 2 Player of the year: Jamie Devitt

Phil Mansell

Champions: Leyton Orient

Automatics: Portsmouth, Doncaster

Play-Offs: Luton, Cambridge, Blackpool, Argyle

Relegated: Newport, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Plymouth Argyle

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: Christian Walton (Luton)

Surprise package: Cambridge United

Best Transfer: Jordan Bowery (Leyton Orient)

League 2 Player of the year: Jordan Bowery

Name: Rory Drake

Champions: Carlisle

Automatics: Leyton Orient, Portsmouth

Play-Offs: Notts County, Cambridge, Mansfield, Luton

Relegated: Morecambe, Newport

Play-off winners: Cambridge United

Golden Boot: Andy Williams

Golden Glove: Alex Cisak

Surprise package: Stevenage

Best Transfer: Nicky Adams (Northampton Town -> Carlisle United)

League 2 Player of the year: Dean Cox

Name: Sam Down

Champions: Luton

Automatics: Cambridge, Carlisle

Play-Offs: Portsmouth, Mansfield, Cheltenham, Leyton Orient

Relegated: Morecambe, Crawley

Play-off winners: Mansfield

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: David Forde

Surprise package: Hartlepool

Best Transfer: Danny Hylton

League 2 Player of the year: Piero Mingoia

Name: Sam Morcom

Champions: Leyton Orient

Automatics: Doncaster, Argyle

Play-Offs: Luton, Portsmouth, Cambridge, Notts County

Relegated: Morecambe, Newport

Play-off winners: Portsmouth

Golden Boot: Andy Williams (Doncaster Rovers)

Golden Glove: David Forde (Portsmouth)

Surprise package: Cambridge United

Best Transfer: Tommy Rowe (Doncaster Rovers)

League 2 Player of the year: Jay Simpson (Leyton Orient)

Name: Stan Beal

Champions: Luton

Automatics: Carlisle, Portsmouth

Play-Offs: Cambridge, Argyle, Mansfield, Barnet

Relegated: Newport, Crawley

Play-off winners: Cambridge United

Golden Boot: Charlie Wyke

Golden Glove: Scott Shearer

Surprise package: Carlisle United

Best Transfer: Danny Hylton (Luton Town)

League 2 Player of the year: Piero Mingoia (Cambridge United)

Name Tom Lannigan

Champions: Luton

Automatics: Argyle, Portsmouth

Play-Offs: Cambridge, Notts County, Hartlepool, Wycombe

Relegated: Crawley, Colchester

Play-off winners: Cambridge United

Golden Boot: Jonathan Forte

Golden Glove: Alex Cisak (Leyton Orient)

Surprise package: Hartlepool United

Best Transfer: Johnny Mullins (Luton Town)

League 2 Player of the year: Connor Chaplin (Portsmouth)

Name Tom Harris

Champions: Portsmouth

Automatics: Luton, Doncaster

Play-Offs: Argyle, Notts County, Leyton Orient, Grimsby

Relegated: Crawley, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Plymouth Argyle (3^rd Time Lucky)

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson

Golden Glove: Scott Loach (Notts County)

Surprise package: Grimsby Town

Best Transfer: Milan Lalkovic (Portsmouth)

League 2 Player of the year: Andy Williams (Doncaster Rovers)

Name: Tom Sleeman

Champions: Leyton Orient

Automatics: Portsmouth, Argyle

Play-Offs: Luton, Cambridge, Carlisle, Accrington

Relegated: Newport, Morecambe

Play-off winners: Cambridge United

Golden Boot: Jay Simpson (Leyton Orient)

Golden Glove: David Forde (Portsmouth)

Surprise package: Carlisle

Best Transfer: Jordan Bowery (Oxford to Orient)

League 2 Player of the year: Graham Carey (Plymouth Argyle)

Focus on Argyle: Adams' Targets 2016/17

Permission from Argyle Life to use photography.

After an impressive first season with Argyle, Argyle Life sets Derek Adams the following targets for 2016/17:

1. Squad depth
Following the appointment of Derek Adams in the summer of 2015, he was left with just the core of John Sheridan’s squad. Adams set about bringing in experienced players from his extensive knowledge of the game north of the border in Scotland, players he knew would play well under his management setup. However, as the strain of the long 2015/16 season began to take its toll on his team and injuries mounted, quickly became aware that his squad was ‘threadbare’.
As injuries piled up in November and March, players were forced to cover unfamiliar positions and results dropped off, which cost the club valuable points and, ultimately, promotion. This time around, Argyle have clearly added more depth to their spine, with plentiful back up in goal, centre back, central midfield and up front. However, still missing is a spare right back and a set of wingers. Young wingers looking for a chance on loan are high in stock, and they will be just what the doctor ordered for a side that needs a little speed and skill on the wings.

2. Rotate more
A main reason that Argyle suffered so many injuries last season was that the team was simply run into the ground. Muscular injuries rose last season as Adams’ policy of hard work on the training ground and a lack of rotation on the pitch saw a group of 14 players play nearly all the minutes until injury struck between late October and early November. At its worst, no fewer than five first team members were absent; three didn’t return until the new year.
Now he clearly has a whole host of back up players that he trusts, a target for Adams must be to use them. Preventing the squad from becoming ‘threadbare’ once more must be a priority, and he can do this by smartly tinkering and rotating his first eleven to keep them fresh and hungry.

3. Trust Youth
A way Derek Adams could have dealt with lack of squad depth was by trusting and using the youth players to their full extent. When finally given their chance, the talent of these players shone through in the last home game of the season when Hartlepool were comprehensively hammered 5-0 at Home Park, begging the question, why weren’t they given a chance sooner?
On that day, after sitting on the bench for 22 games without receiving the call, young striker Louis Rooney finally made his debut for Argyle while Tyler Harvey made his first start despite having made a series of promising substitute appearances throughout the season. Both stepped up, recording two goals each, with Harvey also grabbing two assists. Though there is a perception that the youngsters are the weakest members of the squad, they do have something to offer and should certainly be afforded runs out cup fixtures at least.

4. Find a new leader
Following the departures of leaders Curtis Nelson, Peter Hartley and Carl McHugh, Derek Adams has bought in a total of fourteen (14) new players at the time of writing. The team that finished the Play-Off Final last season were a tight knit group with clear leaders, and it is apparent that Derek Adams must pick a new leader both on and off the field to lead and guide the players.
The captain’s armband in pre-season has been handed to four players: Gary Sawyer; Luke McCormick; Graham Carey; and Jake Jervis. For now, this suggests that Adams has identified these three players as potential captains but, though McCormick is currently the favourite, the leader of this new team this may not be known until the first game of the season versus Luton Town at home. Choosing correctly will be vital to any promotion push in 2016/17.

5. Game Management
Throughout 2015/16, results were consistently good until the turn of the year, but from the moment Northampton defeated Argyle at Home Park, the automatic promotion places began to slip from the Pilgrims grasp. They lost key games from winning positions due to a number of reasons: lack of squad depth; injuries to key players; weak mentality; individual mistakes; and tactical errors.
Goals in the last ten minutes of games became a feature of Argyle’s 2016, costing the side 11 points, ultimately the difference between the play-offs and promotion. Now, it’s impossible for Adams force consistency out of his players, but in these cases he could have changed formation to 3-5-2. Such a system is perfectly designed for teams defending leads as it puts more men behind the ball and leaves two strikers in attack to poach goals on the counter, just as Argyle did nearly every time they utilised this formation.

6. Promotion
There is one main target and one main target alone for Derek Adams: promotion. Though he had the best of Sheridan’s play-off team from the previous season, topped up with his own additions, some fans still made the excuse the team wasn’t his. There can be no more of that now. Only 3 of the 22-man squad played under Sheridan; this is entirely Adams’ team.
When asked about the new signings, Adams backed them ferociously, citing the examples of Carey and Jervis and arguing he had ‘right blend’ in the team. There can certainly be nowhere to hide this year if this team fails to achieve promotion after he ripped apart the old one.