Western Morning News (Saturday)
Neil Warnock’s words of encouragement for Lowe
Argyle boss says he and his staff are ‘on a learning curve’ after recent losing run
RYAN Lowe has had words of encouragement from one of his predecessors as Plymouth Argyle manager, Neil Warnock.
Lowe led the Pilgrims to promotion from League Two last season and they made a good start to the 2020/21 campaign at the higher level.
However, Argyle have lost their last four games in League One, including the 2-1 defeat against Ipswich Town at Home Park last Saturday.
Lowe met Warnock for the first time when the 72-year-old brought his Middlesbrough squad to Cornwall in pre-season and they played Argyle a couple of times.
They soon hit it off and that led to a recent, supportive phone call from Warnock to Lowe, for which he was grateful.
Lowe said: “We have never been through an experience like this, me or my staff.
“Okay, it’s not a big, overly concerning thing, but we had never lost back-to-back games with Plymouth Argyle.
“When we were at Bury we were always on the up and just kept winning, so this is a learning curve.
“I had a nice call off Neil Warnock last week who said ‘Keep going son, you are doing great, everything will be fine, we all have them games’.
“To me, I look at Neil Warnock as an idol for what he has done and what he has achieved.
“So when you get a phone call off someone like him, it’s perfect. And it’s not just him, it’s other managers
and coaches.
“They see what you are trying to do. (Ipswich manager) Paul Lambert, the other day after the game, was very complimentary of us, so we know we are doing the right things.”
Lowe gave his players and staff an extra day off after the defeat by Ipswich so they could ‘reset’ after a busy period of matches.
The training schedule was then adjusted to accommodate a double session on Thursday as part of the preparations for the away league game against Bristol Rovers tomorrow.
Lowe said: “There are more games coming thick and fast, and we have got the Christmas period, so I think to get the freshness in everyone - the staff as well as the players - is very important.”
When he received the phone call from Warnock, Lowe was travelling with Argyle’s director of football Neil Dewsnip.
Lowe said: “Neil (Dewsnip) has obviously been around a lot of people in football.
“He told me ‘That is the best phone call you will probably have this season’ because what he was saying and how he was saying it was
different class.
“We have built relationships with people. I don’t want to keep naming all the names but I will just use Neil (Warnock) because he was here previously.
“We have loads, and that’s because people see we are doing the right things. Texts come in all the time.”
Lowe added: “When you are doing the right things and the results are not quite there it’s tough to take.
“But if you keep doing the right things you will come out the other side. We will keep learning and it will do you in good stead along the years.”