Plymouth Argyle are dangerously close to the Championship drop zone and the availability of Neil Warnock places further doubt over the short and long-term future of Ian Foster.
Argyle have had a mixed season so far as they battle against relegation back to League One after just one year in the league. They won the title with an incredible 101 point tally last term but it was always likely that they would be in for a relegation scrap in their first season back, in part due to the finances and resources at the club’s disposal compared with their second tier peers.
After a good start, Steven Schumacher left the club, and whilst Foster initially started off well, a downturn in form has left them just a few points above the relegation zone. Relegation is a real possibility, and Foster has come under increasing pressure at Plymouth, with supporters calling for him to be sacked after the 1-0 home defeat to Preston North End prior to the international break.
After Schumacher left to join Stoke City in January, Foster took over at Home Park, leaving his position as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq. In the last nine league games, Argyle has only won one, indicating a sharp deterioration in their performance that is concerning.
The Pilgrims, who are currently in 18th place in the Championship standings, will play their next match on Good Friday at Carrow Road against sixth-place Norwich City.
Carlton Palmer’s Neil Warnock verdict
The 75-year-old veteran manager has already handled two management posts this season. He began the 2023–24 campaign with Huddersfield Town, managing the team for the first eight games before handing the reins to Darren Moore in West Yorkshire.
Then, a few weeks after, Warnock got a job in Aberdeen in early February, but he quit after just 34 days. In that brief period, he had only won two games for the team, but he had enabled the Dons to go to the Scottish Cup semi-final.
Although he won 37 of 92 games as the club’s former manager from 1995 to 1997, his passion for the Devon and Cornwall region is widely known, having fallen in love with the region when he was a young boy.
Carlton Palmer, an ex-international for England, is pleading with the team to have courage and remain with Foster in the long run, as he finds Warnock to be too short-term a solution.
“Yes, the results have been disappointing,” he admitted, speaking exclusively to Football League World. “Plymouth are 18th in the Championship and have lost Schumacher, but Ian Foster has taken over.
“With one win, one tie, and four losses in the previous six games, the team is currently just two points above the relegation zone.
There have been rumours that Neil Warnock is free, and people are wondering if he ought to rejoin the team.
“He has experience managing there and is aware of the tasks at hand. When he took over at Huddersfield the previous season, he performed admirably.
“Leave Ian Foster to finish the job; you personally gave him the position.
“We acknowledge that it has been challenging and that the supporters are not pleased with the performances, but this was always going to be challenging after Schumacher left.
“Survival has been their ultimate goal, and it was always going to be tough in the Championship.
“The solution is not Neil Warnock. He is an interim manager. Moving forward with the football club, he is not the solution.
“I think they ought to show courage right now and declare, ‘We think we have the appropriate guy leading Plymouth, we
The sole rebuttal to Palmer’s claim that Warnock is merely a band-aid solution is that Foster’s long-term benefits are severely reduced should the team be demoted.
But Plymouth’s performance is concerning, particularly considering that teams like Sheffield Wednesday and QPR have improved under their new managers in most parts of the play.
That demonstrates the difference that can be made, even if it’s risky to make major alterations now when there are so few games left in the campaign.
Should someone be able to? It would be Warnock, who has the ability to instantly inspire a team fighting to avoid the bottom.
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