As Tom Cleverley heads into his first Devon Derby as Argyle boss, it is curious as to how the narrative for his side keeps changing.
Three weeks ago, Argyle had won four of their last five games, Cleverley was being shortlisted for Manager of the Month, and a slow start to the season had been arrested. Two below-par home performances have followed, though, against Wigan Athletic and AFC Wimbledon, and things seem less assured.
Somewhat perpendicularly, the ratio of points the Greens are picking up at home and away is skewing compared to what we have been used to. Of the 13 points Argyle have accrued, seven have come from seven home games, and six from five on the road, including wins in the last two away games. This is in contrast to the last two years, and even the start of this season, when Argyle found away points dreadfully hard to come by, but could rely on home comforts more often than not.
There lie some similarities with Thursday’s hosts. Exeter City’s 13 points have come from the same split, but they have played six games each at home and on their travels. They have one point from their last three home games.
References to the defenestration of form books when it comes to local Derbies has a touch of the trite to it, but there is probably some truth in it, too.
Cleverley has frequently pitched the notion that football fundamentals are, well, fundamental to success. He has never been more sure of that than now, on the eve of his first Devon Derby.
Speaking to Argyle TV, Cleverley was in no mood to dampen the importance of the match, saying: “You get some people who would think it's just three more points, and try to play it down, but there's no hiding from the importance of the fixture – for our current run of results, for regaining a spark and momentum into our season, and for local bragging rights. It's a really important fixture for us.
“I don't like to compare Derbies to one another because they are unique to those two cities, or those single city Derbies to that city.
“They come with their own unique little things that are special to those people and fan bases. So, until I've experienced one, I can't comment too much, but I understand the importance of it for sure.
“Current form does go out the window. There's a real excitement around everyone and that can sometimes bring out different performances, but they're a hard team to predict.
“They change system a lot. They vary a lot in and out of possession. They've been a bit direct at times, and they've been got the ball down and played at times.
“So let's make it about us. Let's try to take a grip of the game so we impose the kind of game we want it to be and that they don't have too much impact.
“Fundamentals become massively important. That's competing, that's duels, that's running hard, set-pieces, communication - things like that.
“We have to consistently churn out those performances, those fundamentals, that game management, that level of maturity, to class ourselves as a consistently winning team. That's the challenge. We will get there sooner rather than later; it's what drives me every day.
“It doesn't sound like rocket science, which it’s not. What we need to do as a team - this game more than ever - is build from a solid platform of a clean sheet.
“We want to improve and no better night to do it on than Thursday.
“Two real strong away performances showed good mentality, good character. We need to continue on that road because we start with our biggest one of them all on Thursday, and then we go on the road for a long time.
“Building that confidence away from home is really important for the next part of our season. Then, in a few weeks, we need to revisit the home form because you can't mount a sustainable challenge on the league if your home form is hit and miss.
“First things first, on Thursday, let's carry on the confidence from Luton and Burton, and put out the best version of ourselves.”
