Why Plymouth Argyle’s recruitment is the envy of League One
Two excellent transfer windows have left Steven Schumacher's Pilgrims well-placed for the future
Ever since the EFL took an axe to the loan window in 2016 and ruled that January would be the last available opportunity for players to move between clubs, the end of the winter transfer window has taken on extra importance for the seventy-two clubs under its jurisdiction. For clubs chasing promotion glory or staving off relegation, the frantic search for the marquee addition whose influence could decide which fixture list they will be looking out for in June is even more intense.
Despite being on the verge of ending a 13-year absence from the Championship, Plymouth Argyle couldn’t have been further from the famous Sky Sports yellow ticker on Tuesday evening. Yet this was exactly how they planned it. Once again, Simon Hallett and Steven Schumacher showed why theirs is the most well-run club in the third tier with another flawlessly executed month of dealings.
Strategically, Argyle’s two transfer windows this season shared little commonality. While this would usually indicate incompetence or a rift between board and management, the mid-season additions complemented and addressed the only obvious flaw in what was an otherwise outstanding summer of recruitment.
Without the monetary might of pre-season favourites Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, the Pilgrims aggressively pursued the loan market; Finn Azaz, Bali Mumba, Sam Cosgrove and Nigel Longwijk joined Morgan Whittaker in signing on for the season. Instead of continuing this reliance on temporary recruitment, Hallett and Schumacher’s collective focus in January moved to the bigger picture, identifying permanent additions with the potential to produce long-term results for the Devonians in the very same positions where the loanees have earned plaudits.
Combative wing-back Saxon Earley, athletic forward Ben Waine and goalscoring midfielder Callum Wright all joined within the first week of the new year. Energetic midfield destroyer Jay Matete soon followed, signing on loan from Sunderland and Irish youth international Tyreik Wright penned a deal until 2025, injecting a thin squad with some much-needed depth and concluding Argyle’s business by 9th January. Even the outstanding Whittaker’s reluctant return to parent club Swansea City didn’t dampen the optimism emanating from the stands at Home Park as much as might have been expected.
As well as providing immediate cover in case of injuries, the more important consequence of these moves is that they represent an insurance policy for the club’s future. Countless EFL sides have reaped the short-term rewards of high-performing loan signings before narrowly missing out on promotion. Usually, these players return to their parent clubs, the pressure on the next batch of young prodigies proves insurmountable and the team inevitably plummets down the table, undoing the previous campaign’s progress. Despite being on course for a top-two finish, the Pilgrims are also well-prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Rather than being expected to play a starring role from the off, Earley will spend six months deputising for his former Norwich City teammate Mumba before being given regular minutes next season. Similarly, integrating Tyreik Wright into the squad already will make his task of filling Finn Azaz’s boots in the summer far less daunting. A permanent move for Sam Cosgrove is a more realistic future prospect, but if such a deal does not transpire then Ben Waine will have had six months to adjust to his long-distance move from the A-League before leading the line on a regular basis.
Allowing for a transition phase also removes the pressure of the price tags. The fees paid to secure the services of Earley, Waine and the two Wrights are not historically significant, but commanding any sort of payment as Argyle players brings a degree of expectation; Steve Maclean remains the costliest arrival in the club’s existence, despite costing just 500k in 2008. Therefore, easing the demands placed upon the new recruits is even more critical.
Even though the signings appear sensible at first glance, they are especially well thought-out given the wider financial context. While lucrative broadcasting deals continue to inflate the Premier League transfer balloon, Championship and League One clubs are still suffering from losing their main source of income during the pandemic. Naturally, this financial downturn has made clubs more risk-averse and even Plymouth’s more wealthy promotion rivals (Ipswich aside) have switched their focus away from paying fees.
Sheffield Wednesday have generally chosen to expend their financial advantage on high salaries for free agents and the terms of Derby’s EFL embargo have forced them into adopting a similar strategy. Barnsley’s largest January outlay was a modest five-figure sum for Irish right-back Barry Cotter, meanwhile Peterborough’s usual approach of gambling on young talent has been hamstrung by Darragh MacAnthony’s well-publicised desire to sell the club.
Such a drastic reduction in demand makes it a buyer’s market and subsequently Argyle, even spending moderately, can extract better value from their incomings. That they also received a rumoured 500k from Ipswich in this difficult financial climate for Panutche Camara, a talented and energetic midfielder but one who was only contracted until 2023 and had missed the opening month of the season with injury, only further demonstrates the negotiating skill in the Home Park boardroom.
If the five young prospects flatter to deceive, the money invested in them is not so vast that it will jeopardise the club’s ability to strengthen further in upcoming seasons. However, if they deliver as expected they will either form the spine of Plymouth Argyle’s first Championship squad since 2010 or be sold into the second tier in the future for a significant profit once the demand for such transfers has recovered.
For most clubs in their position, the next seventeen games would be do-or-die for Argyle, their only chance to be reacquainted with Championship football with the obvious consequence of failure being a return to mid-table obscurity as reality bites and the third tier’s more illustrious teams restore the natural order. However, thanks to a carefully crafted plan with low-risk and very high potential rewards, the Pilgrims will at best be entertaining teams fresh from a campaign in the Premier League and at worst enjoying another tilt at the upper echelons of League One in 2023-24.
That's an excellently written and exceptionally knowledgeable piece about my club.
As other comments have said, it's a really well written and informed piece about PAFC from an outsider. Nice work!