Ryan Lowe's Plymouth Argyle signing spree about to get under way

It is 10 days until Plymouth Argyle start pre-season training under new manager Ryan Lowe.

As it stands, the Pilgrims have only 13 players under contract and that includes in-demand striker Freddie Ladapo.

Portsmouth and Sunderland are leading the chase for the 25-year-old, who was Argyle’s 19-goal top scorer last season.

There appears to be a very good chance that Ladapo will follow Ryan Edwards, Yann Songo’o, David Fox and Graham Carey out of Home Park.

The other 12 players under contract include 19-year-old goalkeeper Michael Cooper and rookie professional Tom Purrington.

There are also four full-backs among them – Tafari Moore, Joe Riley, Gary Sawyer, who has signed a new one-year deal this summer, and Ashley Smith-Brown.

That means pretty much every other area of the squad will need addressing by Lowe.

Centre-back is a case in point, where the only options at the moment are Niall Canavan and Scott Wootton.

Both struggled for form at times last season and were also hampered by injuries.

So for all the talk of Lowe’s attacking philosophy, and the possible recruits he could make in that area of the pitch, centre-back must be a priority for him.

The future of Ruben Lameiras, who has been offered a new contract by Argyle, is still unclear.

However, the likelihood is that the Pilgrims’ 2018/19 Player of the Year will leave after being linked with a number of clubs this summer.

He is one of seven players to be offered new deals by Argyle but who have yet to be confirmed as signing them or not.

It would be surprising if the teenage trio of Luke Jephcott, Ryan Law and Cameron Sangster did not stay.

It is less clear whether striker Alex Fletcher, attacker Joel Grant – who has been linked with Colchester United – and goalkeeper Kyle Letheren will re-sign.

If Letheren was to leave, Lowe would need to bring in a first choice ‘keeper because, as good a prospect as he is, Cooper is probably not ready for that role.

Antoni Sarcevic is the only proven central midfielder in the Argyle squad so that is an area which needs a lot of attention.

The under-contract Conor Grant could be an option but is coming off an injury-hit first season at Home Park, which saw him playing either on the left of midfield or at full-back.

Up front, and assuming Ladapo leaves, Lowe is left with Calum Dyson and Ryan Taylor.

Taylor, if fully fit, would be a good option to play as a target man in League Two, but could not be relied upon as a regular goalscorer.

As for Dyson, he had a 2018/19 season to forget, making only two substitute appearances for Argyle in the Checkatrade Trophy after signing from Everton.

A loan move to Stevenage did not work out either as injury contributed to him not playing any games for them.

Purrington was one of four Argyle apprentices to be offered their first professional contracts.

Centre-back Michael Peck, midfielder Adam Randell and striker Klaidi Lolos are all expected to follow Purrington by signing up.

So far this summer, all the talk about players has been of those leaving Home Park.

Now, that is about to change, as Lowe prepares to start bringing in a wave of new recruits which will see him stamp his mark on the club.

It should be a fascinating few weeks, and an exciting one too for the Green Army.

UNDER CONTRACT

Niall Canavan, Michael Cooper, Calum Dyson, Conor Grant, Freddie Ladapo, Tafari Moore, Tom Purrington, Joe Riley, Antoni Sarcevic, Gary Sawyer, Ashley Smith-Brown, Ryan Taylor, Scott Wootton.

OUT OF CONTRACT, OFFERED A NEW CONTRACT, DECISION PENDING

Alex Fletcher, Joel Grant, Luke Jephcott, Ruben Lameiras, Ryan Law, Kyle Letheren, Cameron Sangster.

APPRENTICES OFFERED A PROFESSIONAL CONTRACT, DECISION PENDING

Klaidi Lolos, Michael Peck, Adam Randell

He'd better get on the phone pronto then, apparently he is good mates with Stevie G, so who knows.

What's the rush?

What’s the rush super silents budget will save uzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Lol

Not looking too good is it

Any day now

Whats the rush?

I reckon some of the wags will spend more money this summer than Lowe will.

Hopefully he's got some irons in the fire and not sat there thinking "shit, no one wants to come here...."

Though it is a bit worrying that the players we have been linked with seem to be well in the wrong end of 30...keeper 39 a defender 34 and a striker 32 I know it’s just speculation ..but got a bad feeling about the kind of quality of player we’re gunna be bringing in

RegGreen wrote:

Though it is a bit worrying that the players we have been linked with seem to be well in the wrong end of 30...keeper 39 a defender 34 and a striker 32 I know it’s just speculation ..but got a bad feeling about the kind of quality of player we’re gunna be bringing in

You can't win anything with kidz

A couple experienced players mixed with the young ones wouldn't be too bad.

Jethro wrote:

RegGreen wrote:

Though it is a bit worrying that the players we have been linked with seem to be well in the wrong end of 30...keeper 39 a defender 34 and a striker 32 I know it’s just speculation ..but got a bad feeling about the kind of quality of player we’re gunna be bringing in

You can't win anything with kidz

A couple experienced players mixed with the young ones wouldn't be too bad.

that wouldn’t be to bad but it’s not exactly building a team for the future though sounds pretty much the same getting rid of basically the old gloggers every season

RegGreen wrote:

Jethro wrote:

RegGreen wrote:

Though it is a bit worrying that the players we have been linked with seem to be well in the wrong end of 30...keeper 39 a defender 34 and a striker 32 I know it’s just speculation ..but got a bad feeling about the kind of quality of player we’re gunna be bringing in

You can't win anything with kidz

A couple experienced players mixed with the young ones wouldn't be too bad.

that wouldn’t be to bad but it’s not exactly building a team for the future though sounds pretty much the same getting rid of basically the old gloggers every season

That's true but a replacement for Fox in midfield in the Nalis type role and maybe an experienced forward to help bring on the likes of Fletcher etc , wouldn't be too bad.

Same with a keeper help Cooper develop, Defence is cover by Sawyer what he lacks in pace he has in experience,


But that's only what I would do, What happens is up to Ryan and Steven.

Going by a quote from Joel Grant,

Joel Grant wrote:

“I know a few players who played under him at Bury. I spoke to them and they had nothing but good words to say.

Who would have said that about Adams, if the word gets about that Lowe is a good manager to work under, that will pay more in our favor then
If Adams was still here,We don't need another Church or nardiello situation , where players are brought in injured or not to be used,

After Bury's court case was adjourned for another 6 weeks this week, and their players are still in limbo, I would imagine we are likely to announce some of them joining us in the coming days.

Probably looking for, 1 keeper, 2 x CB's, 2 x Midfielders and 2 forwards. 5 of these could be loan signings which don't usually happen until the last minute. I suspect that there's a keeper already in the pipeline which is why Letheren's offer was withdrawn. All in all, I don't expect to see more than the new keeper plus 2 or 3 others signing before the end of July.

Edited to add. Some outgoings, such as Taylor & Ladapo could well involve players coming in as part of the deal.

We are going to need one hell of a signing spree (Even though we are skint) to be able to put a competent team together. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we won't even start it.

Ryan Lowe, Steven Schumacher and Jimmy Dickson - Plymouth

Brian Jensen - Shrewsbury

Nicky Adams - Northampton

Jay O'Shea - Deciding between Plymouth and Brisbane Roar

Tom Aldred - Brisbane Roar

Danny Mayor - Seemingly set for Tranmere Rovers

Nicky Maynard & Dom Telford - Plymouth bound

Chris Stokes - Set for Stevenage

Joe Adams - Held talks with Brentford

For the people who will say "We will just play the kids" there will be none left, there about to be picked off one by one. We will have 0 players. Steve Dale has killed the club. Even if we survive for the rest of the season it will take us years to get this club back again.

Jordan Rossiter (currently at Rangers) is available for transfer after being left out of their pre-season tour squad. He's ex-Liverpool and England u19's captain, but was on loan at Bury from January this year.

Whether we can afford his wage (rumoured to have been on £10k/ week at Rangers), or whether he would move down here (another scouser) is another story. Bury fans think he'll join a top end league 1 club/ championship club but some have also mentioned Argyle as a possibility.

One word in this SELL, that it for us.

Rangers are looking to sell Jordan Rossiter as Steven Gerrard re-shapes his squad

Selling ALL our best players,  relying on kids as replacements, fans painting the stadium.  Have we gone into administration?

Plymouth Argyle have ‘a number of irons in the fire’ when it comes to new signings, according to chief executive Andrew Parkinson.
The Pilgrims are the only club in League Two yet to make any fresh additions to their squad this close season.

They have also seen several key players leave Home Park, with striker Freddie Ladapo being the latest departure, and some of the Green Army are anxious about the lack of replacements.
Ladapo completed a £500,000 transfer to League One club Rotherham United on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old became the Millers’ club record signing as he agreed a contract until the summer of 2022.
His exit follows that of Argyle playmakers Graham Carey and Ruben Lameiras over recent days.

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In Andrew Parkinson we trust.

Tony Waiters signed the best part of a promotion winning team on the same day! Mike Green, Phil Burrows, Ian Pearson, Mike Griffiths, Peter? Hardcastle, John Delve. I think they were all signed on the same day. Green and Burrows joining us in the third division from teams that had just been promoted to the then second division. Those were the days!