Plymouth Argyle vs. West Bromwich Albion

Both looking to bounce back from home defeats last time out, relegation-threatened Plymouth Argyle will host top-six hopefuls West Bromwich Albion at Home Park in the Championship on Tuesday night.

The Pilgrims were outdone by a Leeds United side who seem destined for the Premier League, while the Baggies were bested by Southampton at The Hawthorns.

Following a six-game unbeaten run across the Championship and the FA Cup starting on New Year's Day, Plymouth's 2024 has taken a turn for the worse in recent clashes, with the Green Army now four matches without a win after Daniel Farke's Leeds arrived in Devon and flexed their top-flight credentials.

A sloppy opening period of the game from the Pilgrims allowed Italy international Willy Gnonto to give the Whites a lead at Home Park, and despite a much-improved second-half display from the League One champions, they were unable to earn a result, with £35m man Georginio Rutter doubling the visitors' advantage in the 72nd minute.

After collecting just one point from their last three Championship matches, Ian Foster's side are slowly being dragged towards the relegation spots in the second-tier standings, with 22nd-placed Queens Park Rangers just five points behind, although Plymouth have played a game fewer.

With the likes of Finn Azaz and Luke Cundle departing from their loan spells during the January transfer window alongside former head coach leaving to join Stoke City in December, the Pilgrims have been forced to reinvent themselves for the second half of the term, with Tottenham Hotspur duo Alfie Devine and Ashley Phillips joining on temporary deals.

Plymouth's form at their Devonshire base is single-handedly keeping them out of severe trouble at the wrong end of the division, with Saturday's loss to promotion-chasing Leeds being their first defeat at home in the Championship since October 7, when Michael Duff's Swansea City were enjoying a purple patch of form.

Moving onto another team who boast an enviable record in front of their own supporters this season, West Brom were beaten at The Hawthorns for the first time since December 2 on Friday night, when Russell Martin's top-two bound Southampton returned to winning ways following a shock defeat at Bristol City four days earlier.

Unlike any other side that has visited the Baggies in the Championship this term, the Saints dominated proceedings over the hosts and were fully deserving of their 20th maximum of the league campaign, with Ryan Fraser and David Brooks breaching the net of Alex Palmer either side of the half-time whistle.

There was a significant sub-plot behind Friday night's clash in the Black Country, with West Brom's new majority owner Shilen Patel in attendance at The Hawthorns for the first time since acquiring over 87.7% of the club, ending Guochuan Lai's seven-year spell of neglectful rule.

Massive credit has to be given to Baggies boss Carlos Corberan, who has managed to mould a close-knit squad - that struggled massively under Valerien Ismael and Steve Bruce - into a team that are comfortably in the conversation for a top-six finish come May, with Albion currently in fifth, one point ahead of Norwich City in seventh.

After Matt Phillips suffered a serious hamstring injury at the end of 2023, the Baggies needed reinforcements in wide areas to aid their playoff push, with all of Mikey Johnston, Andreas Weimann and academy product Tom Fellows coming up with decisive goals in recent matches.

Plymouth Argyle Championship form:
DWWLDL

Plymouth Argyle form (all competitions):
DWLLDL

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:
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West Bromwich Albion form (all competitions):
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Team News

Plymouth are set to recall Ryan Hardie to the starting XI after the striker started Saturday's match on the bench due to fatigue, with New Zealand international Ben Waine most likely to make room.

There is a similar narrative for centre-back Brendan Galloway, who could be integrated into a newly-formed back three for the Pilgrims alongside Spurs loanee Phillips and Lewis Gibson.

Darko Gyabi was unable to feature against his parent clubs Leeds last time out, but the youngster should return to the side on Tuesday at the expense of either Jordan Houghton or Adam Randell.

Mustapha Bundu returned to Plymouth's matchday squad for the first time in four games on the weekend following a calf strain, and the attacker will be targeting more minutes against the Baggies.

After returning from Africa Cup of Nations final defeat to hosts Ivory Coast, Nigeria's Semi Ajayi could start alongside the increasingly-impressive Cedric Kipre in the heart of West Brom's defence.

Bristol City loanee Weimann was rested completely during the Southampton defeat but should play a part at Home Park, while Fellows and Grady Diangana are also pushing for starts.

Brandon Thomas-Asante continues to burden the central-striking responsibility for Corberan's troops due to the absences of both Josh Maja and Daryl Dike.

Erik Pieters has enjoyed more game time in recent matches because of the calf injury sustained by Kyle Bartley, who is expected back in early March.


Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:

Hazard; Phillips, Gibson, Galloway; Sorinola, Gyabi, Houghton, Miller; Whittaker, Devine, Hardie

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Palmer; Furlong, Kipre, Ajayi, Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt, Wallace, Swift, Johnston; Thomas-Asante

We say: Plymouth Argyle 1-1 West Bromwich Albion

Plymouth were simply outclassed by a team charging towards the Premier League on Saturday, and we feel that West Brom's patchy away form will give the Pilgrims a real chance of earning three points.

The Baggies will be aiming to put breathing space between themselves and the top-six chasers with a win on Tuesday night, but we think that Corberan's men will have to settle for a point.

Referee

Tom Nield.

So far this season he has issued 75 yellow cards and one red in 19 games.

He will be assisted by Matthew Jones and Alex James

Sunny Singh Gill is on fourth official duites.


Taken from around the WEB

Need to win this one but so do the Baggies, won't be easy but optimism rules....

1-0

Hardie

Same as my cov prediction, 2-1 ... hoping for a better outcome, behave bali.

I fancy us tonight out of all the so called top 6 and ex prem sides I really do fancy us to turn WBA over tonight can see this being a hard fought win us 2-1

Against a top 6 side so can't see anything other than another home defeat

1-3 to the Baggies

Honestly think that we're going down under this guy. For sure WBA have better players but then so did Watford, Boro, Sunderland and the rest of them who Argyle competed well with earlier in the season. Missing Azaz and Cundle? Definitely but the players brought in to replace them are doing nothing and look to be a million miles away from competing at championship level-Whittaker and Hardie, both in the top ten scorers in the league completely starved of any kind of decent service. Only hope is to get Forshaw fit and at least add a bit of class and composure to the team but on previous history that looks to be an unlikely scenario. Not normally one for knee jerking but that was very sobering tonight, maybe it'll look different in the morning but decisions made in January look to be very dubious at this moment.

Yep Foster is taking us down. He is completely out of his depth and the U19s he signed belong in L2/National league at the very best. There are no actual words for how bad that was tonight. Losing away and now losing at home. We will not get to 40 points this season.

FOSTER OUT NOW

Worst performance of the season by a long way. Never threatened, couldn't put any passes together, no-one seemed to be able to put their foot on the ball and exert any control. Basically we were out numbered in midfield and couldn't get the ball wide or provide any sort of service to Hardie and Whittaker. No shots on target tells the story.

I should point out though that we haven't been relegated as a result of tonight's performance.

PlymptonPilgrim wrote:

Worst performance of the season by a long way. Never threatened, couldn't put any passes together, no-one seemed to be able to put their foot on the ball and exert any control. Basically we were out numbered in midfield and couldn't get the ball wide or provide any sort of service to Hardie and Whittaker. No shots on target tells the story.

I should point out though that we haven't been relegated as a result of tonight's performance.

Maybe not Garry but it's going to take a massive improvement against Boro and Ipswich for Argyle not to be sucked into a battle to avoid 22nd spot.

It was that bad tonight I will say with all certainty that Argo will be relegated. And hallett this dogshit appointment is completely on you.

Carl fletcher with a beard. Sad, worrying times.

You just know on Saturday foster will start with the same shite line up and formation as tonight favouring his dogshit England U19s over Houghton, Edwards and Scarr. Or perhaps he might make one change - Waine for Hardie.

Who's going Exeter?

that was by far one of the worse performances at home ive seen in a long time maybe since the final days pf del bhey's reign.

totally out played dont think palmer had one save to make all game, mistakes all over the pitch Hazard needs to be banned from goal kicks or kicking fullstop hes terrible at distribution if he improved on that he'd probably be Celtic's number 1 now but hes not hence why hes here. foster hasnt got a clue what to do and did nothing to try and change our fortunes beyond the same exact subs and made far too late its like del bhey is guiding him in the background.

i cant say i blame foster entirely for us going backwards since he took over.

After all, The club decided to hire him an inexperienced coach with no managerial experience over more experienced managers who applied then when they did hire him instead of giving him funds to sign a defender and a striker which was all we needed at the time you loose all the loan stars, sell squad players who othered depth then dont give him funds to replace them with and as a result have him rely on bringing in inexperienced unready kids he once coached for a minimum of a week at a time for the england school boys when they had matches on loan leaving us with a weaker squad then what he took over and still lacking a defender and striker.
THEN when that's all over with you tell him to make do with what he has and don't hire him a sorely needed assistant, an additional coach or fitness coach which the squad sorely needs and the fitness levels are dropping fast is it any wonder we are doing crap now? They did very little to help this guy out and where penny pinching from day one.

The board decided to take the dirt cheap option with Foster as he isnt going to rock the boat and make demands and stick with a singlemind stubborn policy of attacking flair football headed up by other teams players who we bring in on loan that wasnt exactly working aswell in the championship away from home all while trying to push through a youth centre and womens hub at the brickfields thats taking priority over signing some players mainly ones like Azaz stating we couldnt afford him at £2.5m then BS us with stories of turning down £10m+ offers for Whittaker cause they dont need the money who sre they trying to kid.

The buck stops with the board and mainly Dewsnip and if Foster doesnt turn it around and the board cut ties he has to go aswell he was the one pushing the agenda of a head coach over a manager and this is what we have now. He struck lucky with the Schumacher when lowe left i imagine schumacher much like when holloway sensed it he knew what was coming in January budget wise and got out fast cant say i blame him in hindsight.

anytone see the post match press conference...
here is the transcript


It was a tough night at Home Park on Tuesday evening, as Argyle lacked their usual verve and sparkle at home, losing 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion.

At half-time, Argyle were level, the game was goalless and, although a bit of a stalemate, the Greens was more than in the game against a play-off chasing side.

After the break, though, Albion stepped things up, and like a 1,500-metre runner watching an opponent stride away, Argyle had no kick to give. By the time West Brom breasted the metaphorical tape, Cedric Kipre, Mickey Johnston and Tom Fellows had scored, and the game was well and truly over.

The defeat to Albion was the third home game against top-half opposition in seven days, following a slew of busy weeks, and the toll those fixtures have taken was visible.

Head Coach Ian Foster took the defeat, and its circumstances, on the chin, saying: “It's a really difficult night for us. We're obviously disappointed with the result.

“The second half looked like a really lethargic and tired performance. I get it and I understand why it was that.

“I can't criticise the players; I take responsibility. The players have done everything we've asked of them. It was just a really honest - but tired - performance tonight.

“We went with a team full of youth and energy to match them. We stuck with them; the first half performance was okay. Our structure was good, [although] we didn't pose the threat that we wanted to. We have to credit the opposition for their defensive shape and structure. We found it difficult at times to get through it.

“You could just see the way we played second half, too many negative passes, too many backward passes, setting the pressure on ourselves, and it made it difficult for us.

“When it goes 1-0, you have to force the issue a little bit. We tried and we huffed and puffed, but we just didn't have the energy. We didn't have the athleticism tonight that we normally show, but I get it. I totally get it. I felt for the players in the second half.

“They tried, they dug in, but [West Brom] are an excellent team and if you make mistakes against this level of opposition, you get punished.”

Argyle are back in action at Middlesbrough on Saturday, and Foster has stressed to need to analyse the West Brom game, then put it to one side, and focus on the trip to the North East to come.

“The big thing for us is togetherness,” said Foster. “As a group of players and staff, we have to stick together, we have to look after one another, we have to recover properly, we have to review the game and we have to plan accordingly for another exciting game for us at the weekend.

“We look forward to it but, at the moment, the players need rest. They need recuperation; we need to look after them. We need to come off them a little bit, because they'll be hurting after that. They care. We all do.”


im going off this new guy already i wont lie

I still can't believe how shit last night was. Foster's appointment will be a total disaster resulting in relegation very probably with less than 40 points in May. I would rather have Clueless Carl back. Get rid Hallett and do it now.

Lots of "noise" following last night's performance but everyone seems to forget what a turbulent couple of months Argyle have had. Manager and all his coaches have left, three very good loanees recalled to their parent Clubs and a February which seems to have consisted of playing ex PL teams every three or four days. It would have taken some Club to come through all that smelling of roses.

As it is, we have a 5 point (and goal difference) cushion over the relegation places with some teams below us changing managers at an alarming rate.

I suspect Foster's remit when he took the job was "Keep us up and we'll reboot in the summer"

I see no reason to worry that he won't achieve that.

Grovehill wrote:

Lots of "noise" following last night's performance but everyone seems to forget what a turbulent couple of months Argyle have had. Manager and all his coaches have left, three very good loanees recalled to their parent Clubs and a February which seems to have consisted of playing ex PL teams every three or four days. It would have taken some Club to come through all that smelling of roses.

As it is, we have a 5 point (and goal difference) cushion over the relegation places with some teams below us changing managers at an alarming rate.

I suspect Foster's remit when he took the job was "Keep us up and we'll reboot in the summer"

I see no reason to worry that he won't achieve that.

i see nothing but a guy on a hiding to nothing personally but as i said in here i don't blame him for it all. Should he remain in charge come summer as one thing is for sure there will be no reboot it will be the same penny pinching and loanees as before thats why they hired him cause a head coach has no real say in transfer dealings thats the board, jimmy dickinson and neil dewsnip now.

Angry wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

Lots of "noise" following last night's performance but everyone seems to forget what a turbulent couple of months Argyle have had. Manager and all his coaches have left, three very good loanees recalled to their parent Clubs and a February which seems to have consisted of playing ex PL teams every three or four days. It would have taken some Club to come through all that smelling of roses.

As it is, we have a 5 point (and goal difference) cushion over the relegation places with some teams below us changing managers at an alarming rate.

I suspect Foster's remit when he took the job was "Keep us up and we'll reboot in the summer"

I see no reason to worry that he won't achieve that.

i see nothing but a guy on a hiding to nothing personally but as i said in here i don't blame him for it all. Should he remain in charge come summer as one thing is for sure there will be no reboot it will be the same penny pinching and loanees as before thats why they hired him cause a head coach has no real say in transfer dealings thats the board, jimmy dickinson and neil dewsnip now.

That'll be the penny pinching that saw us sign 2 x £1million players and take a player worth twice that on loan?

Grovehill wrote:

Angry wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

Lots of "noise" following last night's performance but everyone seems to forget what a turbulent couple of months Argyle have had. Manager and all his coaches have left, three very good loanees recalled to their parent Clubs and a February which seems to have consisted of playing ex PL teams every three or four days. It would have taken some Club to come through all that smelling of roses.

As it is, we have a 5 point (and goal difference) cushion over the relegation places with some teams below us changing managers at an alarming rate.

I suspect Foster's remit when he took the job was "Keep us up and we'll reboot in the summer"

I see no reason to worry that he won't achieve that.

i see nothing but a guy on a hiding to nothing personally but as i said in here i don't blame him for it all. Should he remain in charge come summer as one thing is for sure there will be no reboot it will be the same penny pinching and loanees as before thats why they hired him cause a head coach has no real say in transfer dealings thats the board, jimmy dickinson and neil dewsnip now.

That'll be the penny pinching that saw us sign 2 x £1million  players and take a player worth twice that on loan?

which absolute peanuts in this league and rest assure most of that came with add ons and every penny spent the club will be getting back ten fold when they sell them on so its not so much spending big its investing and hoping for a large profit. Which is smart in someways but in others it showed this transfer window how little was in the transfer budget when we blew £2.5m in the summer and had nothing to spend in january.

That player worth twice that the club refused to spend the money to make him permanent saying they couldnt afford him but would BS us all in saying they dont need £10m+ offered for whittaker which im glad they didnt cash in on him but at the sametime it shows they werent prepared to give Foster the players he needs to push on and had to make do with loanees and most arent ready for this level.