Western Morning News (Saturday)
‘We are positive, very optimistic that we can move on, keep plugging away and picking up points along the way. Once we get one or three, Argyle will be back where they belong’
RYAN Lowe has ‘full belief’ that he, his staff and the players can turn around Plymouth Argyle’s fortunes.
The Pilgrims’ boss accepts the criticism that has been coming his way is a part of football, but insisted he was still very positive and optimistic about the rest of the season.
Lowe described Argyle ‘as a wounded animal’ as they prepared to take on MK Dons at Home Park this afternoon. His side will be aiming to end a six-match losing sequence in League One, which has seen them drop to 19th position in the standings.
Their latest setback came when they were beaten 2-1 away to Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday, after which Lowe did not hide away from the difficulties Argyle were facing.
However, ahead of the clash against MK Dons, Lowe was back to his usual positive self.
Lowe said: “This place was rock bottom when we came here. We have done hopefully a good job to where we have got to now.
“Yeah, we are in a little bit of a sticky patch as such, but it’s not for the lack of trying.
“We put the game plan together for every game. I take responsibility for the first half (against Crewe).
“We changed the shape to try and counteract Crewe, who are a good team, and it didn’t work.
“We had no shots on target in the first half. Second half we had five attempts and three on target, and scored one.
“We have to look at these things. We are the new boys in the league as I keep saying.
“Once we start picking up points, and get the little bit of confidence back in the group, we will kick on I’m sure because we have got some good talent.”
He continued: “What we have done for the football club, we have been a breath of fresh air.
“It’s the first time I have said it, but a lot of people credit us on it. We are going through a sticky patch now.
“There are a lot of teams in and around who are going to be in the same situation, with Covid and the budgets.
“We have to be careful of what we do and how we go run our business.
“The chairman isn’t going to throw money willy-nilly, especially when we haven’t had fans in eight months and we are just getting them back.
“We are where we are, we have got our targets, we know where we need to be.
“Will we fulfil those targets? 100 per cent. I have got full belief in me, my staff and the players that we can get this little bit of bad luck out the way.
“We will move on in a positive way and keep building because we have brought the club back to where we feel it belongs.”
Argyle are level on points with 15th-placed MK Dons but are four places below them on goal difference.
Lowe said: “We are a wounded animal. Yeah, I respect MK Dons and what Russell Martin is doing there already.
“He’s another young up-and-coming manager, but for us it’s what Plymouth Argyle do and nothing else.”
With Plymouth remaining in Tier 2 of the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions, there will be a 2,000 temporary capacity crowd for only the third-ever league visit of MK Dons to Home Park.
Lowe said: “Yeah, we are having a bit of a bad patch at the moment but that will change, and they (the supporters) have got to rally our boys on Saturday.
“When we scored at Crewe, their fans rallied their team on and got behind them to make sure they didn’t concede again. I’m sure our lot are going to do that for us on Saturday afternoon.
“It will be a welcoming boost when they are all back and they are singing. We want to give them a win that they can be proud of.”
While Lowe has come under fire from some fans after the run of six successive defeats he has also received lots of supportive messages too.
Lowe said: “It doesn’t bother me. We take it with a pinch of salt. We have to take the criticism with the good as well.
“These people who are criticising will probably be praising us in a few weeks time hopefully.
“They probably praised us early on in the season because of the start we got off to and, yeah, rightly so.
“The criticism comes with football, but there is a lot of positive stuff out there that keeps us going.
“When you have got a positive chairman, a positive CEO and a positive board that’s all you need.
“You have to leave the negatives behind. There are people losing their lives on a daily basis and here is us playing football the game we love and managing a football club the fans love.
“We are very positive, very optimistic that we can move on, keep plugging away and keep picking up points along the way.
“Once we get our first one or three, whatever it may be, Plymouth Argyle will be back where they belong.”
The clash against MK Dons will see Lowe come up against one of his former clubs.
Lowe spent the 2012/13 season with MK Dons in League One, after moving from Sheffield Wednesday.
He scored 12 goals in a total of 34 starts and 17 substitute appearances before leaving for Tranmere Rovers so he could return closer to his home in the north-west.
Lowe said: “I enjoyed myself. It was a good club, the chairman (Pete Winkelman) was a fantastic bloke, and Karl Robinson, who is a good mate of mine now, was the manager at the time. There were a few Scousers there.
“I was travelling on a daily basis and it didn’t work. I actually left a lot of money behind at MK Dons because I didn’t want to be there when my heart wasn’t there. “But I respected everything they did, how they have done, and everything the chairman has done for the football club.
“It’s a fantastic stadium. They got to the Championship and tasted it. How far they can go from there I don’t know.
“In terms of the club when I was there, they looked after me extremely well, and my family, and yeah I had a good 10 months of football there.” Lowe made five substitutions during the defeat at Crewe - two at the interval and three during the second half - all for tactical reasons.
He has a near fully fit squad to select his team from for the game against MK Dons.
While not giving away too much about his thoughts over that, he praised midfielder Lewis Macleod for his two substitute appearances since recovering from a persistent knee problem.
Lowe said: “What I will say, I think Lewis Macleod has been fantastic after the long injury he has had.
“He has done everything spot on in terms of the fitness programmes and looks the player we signed, because he was early on in the season, which has given us a real boost.”
He added: “We have got to pick a team that we feel can win on Saturday afternoon and we have got the squad to do that.”