What Miron Muslic is doing will add to Plymouth Argyle fan fury | OneFootball

Ex-Plymouth boss Miron Muslic is doing a sensational job at Schalke.

It has been a rough welcome back to League One for Plymouth Argyle.

Following their relegation from the Championship, the Pilgrims sit 23rd under Tom Cleverley, with performances offering no hope of a climb up the standings.

Argyle appointed Miron Muslic at the start of this calendar year after a rough period under Wayne Rooney left the club languishing in the bottom three of the second tier. The Bosnian would become an instant hit among the fanbase and remained a popular figure at Home Park despite the campaign resulting in the drop.

However, following the end of the term, Muslic would make the switch to German giants, Schalke 04, currently sitting in Germany's second tier.

His record since will make Plymouth fans feel even worse, after their own disastrous start to the current campaign.

Miron Muslic has shifted momentum at Schalke

It is difficult to emphasise just how torrid recent years have been in Gelsenkirchen.

Behind Bayern Munich and arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, Schalke is the third-most successful club in Germany. And before the Bundesliga's formation in 1963, only FC Nürnberg had lifted more titles (8) than Schalke's seven.

Regular European competitors throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the Royal Blues began to fall, fall, and fall down the Bundesliga standings before their eventual relegation in 2021, before a subsequent promotion and relegation in the two following years.

Schalke joined a list featuring fellow giants VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV, FC Köln, Werder Bremen and more, all of whom had been sent to the 2. Bundesliga across the last decade, with all but Hamburg being relegated twice.

The 2024/25 campaign ended with the club finishing 14th in the standings, while the aforementioned Köln and Hamburg achieved automatic promotion - leaving the Miners as the undisputed colossus of the second tier.

Muslic arrived at a club desperately trying to avoid similar fates to the likes of Kaiserslautern, Nürnberg and Karlsruhe, who have found themselves stuck in second-tier obscurity. The subsequent shift in atmosphere around the club has been remarkable.

With three 2. Liga matchdays remaining until the winter break, Muslic's side sit at the top of the standings, with a four-point gap to Elversberg, who occupy the promotion/relegation play-off spot.

Schalke have the third-highest membership tally in the country with 200,000. The simple fact of the matter is that the Bundesliga isn't the same without one of its central cogs, and as of now, ex-Plymouth boss Muslic is on track to guide the club back to the top flight.

Miron Muslic's Schalke success will add to Plymouth fan fury

With five wins, one draw and 11 losses, Argyle have simply not got going following their return to League One, and fans are furious.

Before Muslic's arrival, Plymouth had racked up 0.84 points per game under the guidance of Wayne Rooney. This would be the biggest improvement under the Bosnian, as he hit 1.26 points per game in charge.

The big question for Plymouth supporters will not just revolve around whether Rooney should have been appointed in the first place, but what difference could have been made had Muslic been brought in just one or two matches earlier.

A strong character, Muslic won over Argyle supporters, and the rest of the football world after his inaugural speech as head coach.

While it wouldn't prove enough, Plymouth would certainly become more solid under Muslic, conceding a total of 34 goals compared to the 54 let in before his arrival.

It wasn't always pretty, with the Pilgrims ending the season with the lowest average possession in the division (42.3%), but the circumstances of Plymouth being a side scrapping for their lives have to be put into context.

The same charisma highlighted during his time in England has also completely won the hearts of Schalke fans, who can once again carry promotion dreams after a torrid period.

Since their derby day defeat to Exeter in October, Plymouth have won just one of their last four in the third tier, and performances have shown no signs of a sudden uptick in form coming.

As things stand, Miron Muslic is on track for promotion, while Argyle are staring at a relegation battle. Not only will it add further fury to the fanbase, but it also continues to make you wonder what if?