Plymouth Argyle stare down the barrel of relegation, following the desperately underwhelming tenure of head Coach Ian Foster, which lasted only 87 days.
PAFC chairman, Simon Hallett, alongside CEO, Andrew Parkinson have put full faith in Director of Football Neil Dewsnip and first-team coach Kevin Nancekivell to steer the ship away from the prospects of a return to the third tier, following their promotion only last season.
Argyle fans will certainly be familiar with who have been entrusted with the job at large, as Dewsnip and Nancekivell took the helm during the time between the exit of former manager Steven Schumacher and the appointment of Head Coach Ian Foster, managing four games.
Despite rumours that Argyle would sway towards the idea of a ‘firefighter’ (believed to have been EFL legend and former Plymouth Argyle manager, Neil Warnock, according to Talksport, Hallett and Parkinson opted for the two internal staff to oversee the operation, in a bid to remain in the Championship.
Six Remain
The age-old cliche of ‘so many’ cup finals to go, will be the case for any team that finds themselves in or around the relegation zone, come the end of the season.
The first of the six, see the Pilgrims, under new temporary stewardship, face albeit doomed Rotherham, away. If Argyle mean business and has ambitions to not leave this dogfight of survival to the last day, then three points are the only real result they should be accepting.
Another huge crunch match and a game in which the Pilgrims will be wanting to put an end to a rather worrying record will be against QPR, at home.
For the first time in the club’s history, Argyle have lost five consecutive home games, having also failed to score. With QPR being on a great run of form as recently, inspired by the appointment of Spaniard Marti Cifuentes, this will be no easy game for the Greens, so Arygle must see a return back to their stellar home form before Foster.
The hardest of the lot will undoubtedly be former Premier League Champions, Leicester City, who will be looking to return to the Premier League for the first time of asking. A lot of this game’s outcome may ride on what happens prior. Should Argyle get a result against QPR and finally win again at home, they could use this to propel them and give Leicester a real run for their money.
Back-to-back away trips follow, with the first being none other than Stoke City, now managed by former manager Steven Schumacher, whom Ian Foster replaced. A week after, a trip to London, will see the Green Army face Millwall. Both games will be a tough task, with all three teams being involved in the dogfight, making for what could be tight, nervy and emotional affairs.
Best case scenario, Argyle would be safe by the time they reach their concluding game, against Hull. But any football fan who’s been involved in a relegations scrap will know that a lot of the time, it comes down to the wire. A tough task against tremendous individual talents in Hull City will be yet another tough ask for Argyle, but home advantage here could be critical.