Where We Deserve To Be

IT may feel like longer, but it is worth remembering that the Ryan Lowe era is only six weeks old. According to the man himself, there is much more to come from his team in the season ahead.

He joked: “Six weeks? It feels like six months, doesn’t it?”

The Pilgrims’ beginning to life back in Sky Bet League Two raised expectations at Home Park, having flown straight to the top of the table on the opening day, but, the Greens have endured a mixed bag of results since the halcyon August days of Crewe and Colchester, leaving them just outside the play-offs as the league begins to take shape.

“We are where we are for a reason,” said Lowe. “We’d like to say that we’ve dropped four points, for definite, which would have put us in third.

“But, is that papering over some cracks where we can do better? Probably, yeah. So, I’m under no illusions that we’re in a position we deserve to be in. The lads know that, and the staff know that.”

While the Greens may not have reached the dizzying heights associated with Lowe’s promotion-winning Bury side just yet, the Argyle manager is confident that his team are on the right track and, most importantly, that they are enjoying their time at the club.

“You can see that the style of play is good,” he said. “Everyone’s enjoying it, everyone’s liking it, there’s certain aspects of the game where the opposition get a bit more of the football than we want, we don’t take as many chances as we should, we don’t get as many shots as we can.”

The aforementioned dropped points, as far as the coaching team is concerned, came in two 2-2 draws - against Salford City and Oldham Athletic. On both occasions, the Greens enjoyed periods of possession and chances, but soft goals conceded at critical times saw winning opportunities slip away. Fortunately, Lowe is confident that his side can overcome these teething problems in the short term, enabling an assault on the top seven of England’s fourth tier.

“There’s those elements to work on, but it’s not going to take another month,” said Lowe. “We’re an OK team at the moment, but I’ve said to the lads that we’ll become a good team, then a very good team, then an excellent team. Over the course of the season, those are the targets you want to get to, and at this moment, we’re probably in the right place.”