Good morning, and welcome back to The Argyle Briefing.
Well, that wasn’t what we had in mind.
Five days after the dramatic Devon derby triumph, the plan would have been to use that as a platform to build some momentum at the start of the league campaign. Instead, Saturday’s result was about as disappointing as it gets.
Today, we’ll pick the bones out of the Pilgrims’ defeat to Stockport, what it tells us about this Argyle side and where they stand after the opening weekend.
🏆 LEAGUE ONE (SAT 15 AUG 2026)
🟢 Plymouth Argyle 1
Amaechi 79
🔵 Stockport County 3
Diamond 13
Wootton 26
Glover 49
Optimism was high after the Carabao Cup victory over Exeter, but it didn’t take long for reality to bite. Thirteen minutes, to be precise. That’s when Stockport’s Jack Diamond drove down the right flank and bore down on goal, and with the Argyle defence sitting off, he cut inside and fired off a shot that Matty Sorinola could only divert past the helpless Murphy Cooper in the Argyle goal.
Argyle were on the ropes and the Hatters took full advantage. Alex Mitchell lost possession on the halfway line and Diamond found himself in oceans of space down the right again, with Wes Harding only managing to clear his low cross against the leg of Kyle Wootton and into the net.
The hosts settled down a little bit afterwards and new signing Will Evans missed a huge opportunity to bag his first goal in green when he headed over from Malachi Boateng’s cross. That swung the momentum back towards the visitors and Cooper was called upon to prevent both Wootton and Diamond from extending Stockport’s lead before the break.
The resistance didn’t last long, though, and it was 3-0 a few minutes into the second half. Ryan Glover received the ball on the right and with Argyle sitting off again, he cut inside and drilled the ball into the far corner.
Stockport appeared to declare at this point, and that, coupled with a shift from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1, allowed Argyle to get a foothold. Xavier Amaechi came off the bench and pulled a goal back with a chest and half-volley into the bottom corner after Harvey White’s corner was only half cleared.
Things could have gotten interesting had Brendan Wiredu’s close-range tap-in — his first touch after coming off the bench — not been chalked off for an apparent foul on Hatters goalkeeper Oliver Whatmuff, but Argyle deserved nothing from this game.
👥 Argyle line-up
M Cooper, W Harding, M Ross, A Mitchell (J Pleguezuelo HT), A Hartridge, R Curtis, M Boateng, H White (B Wiredu 89), M Sorinola (X Amaechi 57), A Pepple, W Evans (B Ibrahim 65).
Subs (unused): J Storer, J Edwards, T Finn.
Yellow cards: Pleguezuelo 74, Pepple 90+4
Are we paying for pre-season?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but is Argyle’s pre-season schedule a reason for a slow start to another campaign? For the third year running, the Pilgrims have put in a disappointing performance as they lost their opening match (lost 4-0 to Sheffield Wednesday in 2024, lost 3-1 to Barnsley in 2025).
It’s not going to be the only reason, of course. In the two previous summers Argyle have had new managers with new systems. But this summer was, in theory, a far more settled one. One constant among the last three summers has been a lightweight pre-season line-up, which begs the question: is it leaving Argyle undercooked?
Argyle’s pre-season schedule tends to follow the same pattern every year, with the bulk of games coming against local non-league clubs like Plymouth Parkway, Truro City and Torquay United. The only higher-ranked team Argyle have faced in the last three summers are Bristol City, who have visited Home Park in each of the last two years.
Other than that, and two warm weather training camp matches against German side Eintracht Braunschweig and Orlando Pirates of South Africa, all of Argyle’s other pre-season fixtures have been against non-league opposition. These matches are often about fitness, but they need to prepare the team as well. Are these games going to prepare the team for the rigours of League One?
One theory is that clubs no longer want to make the journey down to Plymouth for a friendly. Frankly, that is fair enough. Most other teams have plenty of other options that are much closer, and many can probably get a flight somewhere else for less hassle.
If this is the case, then do Argyle need to offer to travel to other teams instead? It’s more travelling for a team that already does more of it than most others, and it’ll cost money — but should the club consider it an investment in the team? Put a bit of extra money towards better preparation, and if that turns even one early-season defeat into a win then that could be the difference between making the play-offs or missing out.
🌟 Player in Focus: Murphy Cooper
There were few positive performances from Saturday afternoon, but Cooper was one of them.
Argyle’s new number one was the reason Stockport only won by two goals, with the highlight of his day being two crucial saves when the score was still at 0-2.
First, he turned Wootton’s shot wide with the forward barely six yards from goal, and then he dived at Diamond’s feet to smother the ball before he could get a shot away.
Everything in front of him was a concern, but at least he had a solid game.
Time to ditch 4-4-2?
It would be a big call to drop something that served Argyle so well last season. Cleverley’s switch to 4-4-2 was a pivotal moment in the campaign, with results taking a turn for the better soon afterwards, but was that upturn in form solely down to the formation anyway?
A League One side can surely find success with more than one formation, and Saturday showed that having two in midfield has some serious flaws. When Boateng and White pressed high, it left vast amounts of space between them and the defence that Stockport exploited time and time again.
When Cleverley switched to 4-2-3-1, adding that extra man in midfield, the team instantly looked better. One caveat here is Stockport also dropping their intensity, having already effectively secured the points. But, the team were no longer outnumbered in the middle and had greater control because of it.
It’s also far more suited to the current squad. Cleverley has mentioned several times that the squad has too many number 10s — namely Amaechi, Caleb Watts and Michael Baidoo — that don’t fit in a 4-4-2. Also, Ibrahim is more suited to a more advanced midfield role, and Tegan Finn and Freddie Issaka are more are more suited to the more attack-focused wide roles behind the striker, than the wide roles in a 4-4-2.
And, it would ease the ongoing striking issue. Argyle only have three senior strikers on the books, and it’s currently two with Owen Oseni injured, so if you play with two up front then you’re needing both to play 90 minutes. In a 4-2-3-1, one striker starts and you have at least one alternative on the bench if you need to change things. Right now, Argyle don’t have this option.
Even if Cleverley still feels that 4-4-2 is the way forward, Argyle still need a Plan B for matches like this, and 4-2-3-1 could be it.
🔍 Go Deeper
A way back for Amaechi?
Life comes at you fast, and this weekend may have been a bit of a rollercoaster for Xavier Amaechi. He started it on the bench after losing his place in the starting line-up to Matty Sorinola. At that point, you may have wondered if the writing was on the wall for Amaechi’s Argyle career.
Being overlooked in favour of another player who isn’t a wide midfielder has got to sting, and with Argyle needing to ship out players before they can bring any more in, could that be the motivation for Amaechi to find a new home before the end of the transfer window?
But, fast forward to 5pm on Saturday and his situation looks brighter. He replaced Sorinola just before the hour with Argyle already 3-0 down by this point, but he had a bigger impact on the game and even scored Argyle’s consolation. His effort, a chest and volley into the corner, did take a deflection, but his original strike was still on target.
He could have ended up with two goals, had he not scuffed a shot wide of Whatmuff’s left post ten minutes earlier. But maybe that goal could be the spark that he needs to reignite his Argyle career — could it be the confidence boost he sorely needed?
And, as mentioned above, a more permanent shift in formation to a 4-2-3-1 would suit Amaechi down to the ground. He has been one of the big victims of Cleverley’s successful shift to a 4-4-2 last season as he’s much more of an inside forward, cutting in from the right and getting a shot away, than a traditional wide midfielder that hugs the touchline and whips crosses in.
He could also play as the number ten in the middle of that attacking trio behind the striker. Suddenly, he’d go from being somebody that didn’t fit any position to being somebody that could play in three of them.
🆚️ League One results
Notts Co 1-1 Leicester
Oxford 2-2 MK Dons
Reading 3-4 Luton
Barnsley 0-1 Bromley
Blackpool 1-1 Wycombe
Bradford 2-0 Peterborough
Burton 1-1 Stevenage
Cambridge 3-2 Wigan
Huddersfield 3-0 AFC Wimbledon
Leyton Orient 1-2 Sheff Wed
Mansfield 2-1 Doncaster
Argyle 1-3 Stockport
The Bigger Picture
AFC Wimbledon’s heavy 3-0 defeat at Huddersfield, who had former Argyle man Bali Mumba sent off after an hour, keeps Argyle off the foot of the table.
Bromley marked their first ever League One fixture in style, with summer signing Victor Adeboyejo scoring the only goal in their win at Barnsley.
In fact, none of the four promoted sides lost on the opening day. Notts County came from behind to draw with Leicester, MK Dons let a lead slip in stoppage time as they drew at Oxford, and Cambridge survived a Wigan fightback as they won 3-2.
But the result of the opening day may well go to Luton, who roared back from 3-1 down at Reading to win 4-3, courtesy of a Gideon Kodua winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Jack Marriott even bagged a hat-trick for the Royals, but it ultimately meant nothing.
📊 League One Table
⚪ 19. Doncaster — 0 pts (-1)
⚪ 20. Leyton Orient — 0 pts (-1)
🔴 21. Barnsley — 0 pts (-1)
🔴 22. Argyle — 0 pts (-2)
🔴 23. Peterborough — 0 pts (-2)
🔴 24. AFC Wimbledon — 0 pts (-3)
🟢 Automatic promotion 🟡 Play-offs 🔴 Relegation
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Next edition: Friday’s Weekend Preview.
Until then, thanks for reading.
Matt Friday
Founder, The Argyle Briefing