Plymouth Argyle told what they got "wrong" in transfer window - "severe" issue raised | OneFootball

FLW's Plymouth Argyle fan pundit has named what went wrong in the summer transfer window for the club this year

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Plymouth Argyle spent the summer planning for life in League One after suffering relegation from the Championship.

The Pilgrims appointed Tom Cleverley as manager following his departure from Watford at the end of the campaign.

It ended up being quite a busy summer at Home Park, with the club bringing in a total of 15 new players to freshen up the first team squad.

However, a difficult start to the new season will lead to a lot of reflection on their recruitment strategy unless their form can be turned around quickly to climb back up the table.

Plymouth Argyle’s summer business criticised

When asked what one thing the club did wrong this summer, FLW’s Plymouth fan pundit Luke Hodge claimed that a lot went wrong in the market.

He believes that the squad lacks experience, with the Pilgrims putting too much of an emphasis on bringing in young players.

“I think we got quite a lot wrong in the window, I don’t think it was the best window by far,” Hodge told Football League World.

“That’s not to knock some of the exciting youngsters that we signed, but an obvious lack of balance and a severe lack of experienced signings given that we’re a club that’s just been relegated and need to change our mentality.

“To start the season this year and having played five and lost four, and won one, we’ve got such a young squad that the minute we concede, we implode.

“It’s been a disappointing end to the window, and Tom Cleverley was first to admit that we were looking for an experienced head to come in, we ended up signing an exciting 19-year-old from Middlesbrough.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really excited to see him play, but realistically he wasn’t what we were looking for at that time.

“That’s not to say this side can’t improve, I think they will but, again, barring Joe Edwards and a couple of the players that like Galloway, we’re a very young and inexperienced side.”

Plymouth Argyle's transfer naivety

Hodge claimed that the club’s recruitment staff were too naive this summer, highlighting the fact they are all new to the role as a possible reason for why so much went wrong over the transfer window.

“Just last week against Blackpool, I think the signing of Alex Mitchell has been absolutely superb, and he’s 23-years-old and the way he plays — and it sort of shows how young a side we have — he looks like a 33-year-old,” he continued.

“He talks well, he demands, he’s strong, he’s a good centre-half.

“When you’re looking at him as your experienced head, and he’s 23, you know that you could be in a little bit of trouble.

“I also think our recruitment team have been poor.

“I think they’re all new into the role, so I think [head of recruitment, Tom] Randle, [head of football operations, David] Fox and Cleverley were all a little bit naive to think that we’re going to have a flock of players that are all willing to come down to Plymouth and sign for us.

“It never works like that, it hasn’t for years, we really need to show why they want to come down to Plymouth and why they should sign for us.

“And quite often we need to entice them with a little bit extra, because as soon as we’re competing against other clubs, as we’ve seen in this window, we come off second best.

“So we’ve missed out on several signings this season.”

Plymouth have endured a difficult start back in League One, with the team currently sitting inside the relegation zone after the opening six games of the season.

The Pilgrims have won just one game, earning three points from a possible 18, with a gap of nine points already emerging between them and the play-off places.

This season won’t be smooth sailing for Plymouth

Plymouth’s slow start to the season is a major warning sign to the club that this year won’t be smooth sailing.

There has been a lot of upheaval between the arrival of Cleverley as manager, the change in key personnel behind the scenes and the huge overhaul of the first team squad.

It will take these young players a while to get up to speed with working together, as well as with their new manager, so it’s no surprise they’ve hit a rough patch of form.

It’s too soon to suggest that it’s been a total disaster, but supporters are going to be underwhelmed if the side can’t turn it around quickly and push themselves back up the table.