They were blowing smoke up his arse 6 months ago. Bloody hell, only just realised it's no longer Schumacher, shows how much attention l pay outside of league 1
Ridiculous decision, unless something has gone off behind the scenes. What sort of season did they hope to have after coming up ?. Out of them and Ipswich and Sheff Wensday, I always thought Ipswich looked the strongest.
We will know in 6 matches if it was a terrible decision or not. They were in free fall and really struggling but it's certainly a risky decision to get rid this late. I'd never even heard of Ian Foster but it looks like he was previously in charge of England U20s. Wonder if he's tried completely change the style and it's just not worked. Thing is with Plymouth, the first sign of success then the managers/head coaches generally walk out on them. Ryan Lowe did a decent job and set them up nicely but left to join Preston. Steven Schumacher, previously Lowe's assistant, picked up the baton and went on to win the league title last season and then started off ok this season but then he left to join Stoke. Interestingly Schumacher has done nothing since going to Stoke. I suspect with Plymouth a lot of their issues in terms of management and player retention is simply down to geographical location. Yes, Devon is a lovely part of the country, but they've got some ridiculous journeys up and down the motorways every other week. It must take its toll after a while.
It's something I've thought of before actually, and wondered if some managers and players and fans really don't want to travel that distance. Carlisle say they have exactly the same issues (at the other end of the country of course lol).
Just had a quick look on twitter. So apparently Ian Foster was completely out of his depth and had turned them into a laughing stock. He had no previous managerial experience in the football league. Lots of Plymouth fans saying he should have been sacked before the international break but it looks like he was given one last chance to save his job. Basically they've now gone from zero chance of staying up to having a small chance. . It will be interesting to see how they go over the next few games.
I've just had a quick look at Plymouth's managers since 2000. With the exception of Scotsmen Paul Sturrock (2000-2004) and Derek Adams (2015-2019) it appears no other manager/head coach has stayed longer than 2.5 years in the role.
Didn’t Conor Hourihane’s girlfriend say she was happy when he moved from Plymouth to here, as he’s a lot nearer her in London now?
Not helped by having to oversee 14 transfers over Jan including losing two of their most influential players (both loanees recalled by their clubs and sold to others).
I think loyalty in football went quite a while ago now.I can't remember the last testimonial game in England. Over the years at Oakwell i've seen testimonials for (in no particular order) Phil Chambers,Eric Winstanley,Johnny Steele,Barry Murphy.any others ?