Great Expectations

ONE gets the feeling that Derek Adams probably does not have all that much time for the Grand Old Duke of York.

While having 10,000 men would be rather pushing it in terms of Derek’s squad availability, His Grace’s insistence on marching his charges to extremes is rather at odds with the Argyle boss’s philosophy. 

Adams’ side beat Exeter City on Saturday, 3-0 at Home Park, while other promotion contenders faltered. Talk about when you are up, you are up. From that zenith, the nadir of the week was surely the late comeback by Leyton Orient, to turn a 2-1 Pilgrims lead into a 3-2 victory for the Londoners. They do not believe they are down, they are down, just yet. 

From the high of beating the league’s in-form side, placed fourth at the time, to losing to  a relegation-haunted outfit on a wretched run of form, Adams may be the one person with a PL postcode to have maintained an even keel. He, and his players, of course. 

“It’s important that you are calm and collected as a manager,” said Derek, “and that is what we are at this football club. The other night we were two minutes away from winning the game. We didn’t defend and manage the game well enough to win. 

“It’s not about lifting ourselves up. We’ve been at this football club for a year and a half now. When you win a game, you think you’ve won the league, and when you lose a game it is the end of the world. That is the nature of the club, and the area. 

“We have be sure, and be calm. That’s what we are. For 88 minutes we’ve won the game; we’ve come off a 3-0 win against Exeter; we’ve beaten Cambridge; we’re one of the form teams in the league; we’re sitting second in the league, three points off top place with a game in hand. 

“We know there are 46 games in a season. After the first couple of games of the season it was all doom and gloom, then you go on a good run and everybody says you’ve won the league. I don’t get carried away with media attention etc. Everybody has an opinion, but at the end of the season you find out your position in the league. 

“This football club has been in the Championship, then went through the divisions. It’s got a very large supporter base, which is helping us greatly, but with that brings great expectation. 

“If you’re a Plymouth Argyle fan, you’ve got to be very happy.”