🏆 LEAGUE ONE (SAT 3 OCT 2026)
🔴 Leyton Orient 0
🟢 Plymouth Argyle 2
Pepple 52
Evans 56
Top of the league again
It may not mean a great deal at this stage of the season, but being top of the table is never anything to be sniffed at, and yesterday’s result means Argyle are now the League One leaders for the first time since clinching the title and promotion to the Championship in 2023.
There are a few caveats. Bradford City, who we deposed yesterday afternoon, have a game in hand on us, while Sheffield Wednesday have two games in hand. Plus, there are still 39 games to go, and we certainly showed last season that where you are after nine games (17th) won’t necessarily be where you end up (8th).
Tom Cleverley rightly said in his post-match interview to Argyle TV that no-one in the team will be getting carried away by being top of the league in October, but that doesn’t mean the fans shouldn’t enjoy it. It doesn’t happen often for most fans — as above, it had been more than three years since we’d last been on top — so why not revel in it?
💬 Cleverley’s comments
On the result:
“That one feels very good to be honest. Not only because we’ve won the game and certainly not because we find ourselves at the top of the league, but because we suffered a lot this week. I think it’s the first time I’ve suffered into Tuesday after a defeat, but we worked, we understood as a group of staff and players and then we put it into action.
“It’s a hugely satisfying win, and it’s one of 46, we’ve got 37 more to go, but we have to understand the difference between the two performances in the last week and what gives us us the most effective way that we showed today.”
On what was said at half-time:
“Half-time was all about being calm because I thought we weren’t at our best, but the learning from last week is when you’re not at your best you don’t lose, and so to come in at 0-0 [is] completely fine, [I’m] calm. I thought we were a little bit frantic when we had the ball and that just took a cooler head.
“There was a couple of structural things. We changed the way we were pressing because they did something we weren’t expecting. The players deserve all the credit today, they were outstanding in the second half especially and there’s not many holes I can pick in that performance.”
On being top of the league:
“It means the work we’re doing has accumulated more points than anyone to this stage so it gives us belief, but the work must continue. Nothing’s won in October, no-one will be getting carried away, there’ll be no talk of us being top from my perspective anyway.
“Of course, the amount our supporters travel, follow and suffer, they deserve to be excited and sing about, but internally it was very much back to work on the coach. We needed to pick up the pieces from Torquay and Gateshead [Freddie Issaka and Caleb Roberts’ loan clubs] and see what we do from a team perspective on Tuesday [against Newport].
“But the satisfaction is the work we’re doing, the improvement we’re on has accumulated more points than anyone to this stage, but it’s October.
Bouncing back from Burton
Last week I wrote about while the Burton defeat didn’t feel catastrophic, the important thing was to show it was a one-off, that it wouldn’t happen again. Every team has a blip every now again, but the best ones make sure it stays at that and they bounce back with a positive result next time out.
Had Argyle lost again yesterday, then maybe there would have been some cause for concern. But we didn’t. We put in a solid shift, in the second half especially, and got the win to prove that last week was the exception.
This has been a common theme under Cleverley. We lost 20 times in all competitions last season — with 15 of those coming before the turn of the year — and we won the next game on ten occasions. We only lost four times in the league after Boxing Day during our brilliant run, and we won the next game three times.
Whether that’s down to good work on the coaching team, a strong mentality within the playing squad or a bit of both, it’s an invaluable quality that we’re going to need to retain if we want to sustain a push for promotion.
🌟 Star performers
Here are Argyle’s top three players according to WhoScored.
🥇 Will Evans (8.18)
A fine afternoon for the summer signing from Mansfield, who scored his third goal for the Pilgrims with a brilliant header. Besides that, his pass accuracy (75%) was the second highest of any Argyle player that made more than ten passes, he made the joint most tackles (four) and also won five aerial duels.
🥈 Harvey White (7.90)
Another good game for Argyle’s number seven. He made the most key passes (four) and the most crosses (seven) of any Argyle player.
🥉 Ronan Curtis (7.82)
After a quiet first half, Curtis’ header from a corner led to Pepple’s opener and he then provided a brilliant cross for Evans’ goal shortly after.
It’s great to have Joe back
For the first time since the final day of last season, club captain Joe Edwards returned to Argyle’s starting line-up to make the 288th appearance of his Argyle career, and while he may be turning 36 at the end of this month, there’s no doubting the influence he still has in this team.
Edwards had a knee operation in the summer and missed all of pre-season as a result, with his participation in Argyle’s fine start to the campaign limited to 74 minutes of action across three substitute appearances.
Father Time may be catching up with him, but it’s clear to see that he can still bring a lot to a side challenging at the top of League One. He slotted in at right-back, with vice-captain Wes Harding swapping to the other flank to accomodate the skipper, and he drove the team on towards the win.
His influence as a leader is undoubted, but his tangible quality is still there. He won more aerial duels (ten) than any other player on the pitch, he provided one of the six interceptions made by Argyle players and only Harvey White made more than his three key passes.
Joe90 is back, and long may he continue.
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Matt Friday
Founder, The Argyle Angle