Three weeks after he stood pitchside following Argyle’s 5-0 loss to Burnley, Miron Muslic was back, microphone in hand, with his team in a very different place.
Speaking to Argyle TV after his side’s comprehensive 5-1 win over Millwall, the Greens’ Head Coach thought back to that loss to the Clarets, and declared it the beginning of the recent turnaround in Argyle’s fortunes.
While going 5-0 down by half-time against Burnley was far from ideal, Muslic’s side got through the second half unscathed, and looked a different side taking to the field at Sunderland three days later, when they grabbed a deserved 2-2 draw.
Since then, Argyle have won three games in a row, beating West Bromwich Albion and then Premier League leaders Liverpool, before demolishing in-form Millwall.
“The turnaround started at half-time [against Burnley],” said Miron. “It took a lot of courage to go out [for the second half]. It was a good moment to change some things: to change the mentality, to change the attitude, to create a new working culture, a new DNA.
“I’m very happy and very proud, because it is not easy to find ground again, after Liverpool. I think we, as staff, have been very clear that [Liverpool] was a historic moment, no-one will ever take it away from us, but we have to collect points in our competition – and we did it.
“It’s a big win; a massive, massive win for us. Emotionally it was difficult for the lads, for all of us, after Liverpool. You have to find the right balance, because the Championship is our daily bread, but all credit to the lads, because they did it outstandingly.
“The plan was to go out and set the tone from the first whistle, to put them under a lot of pressure. We know if we keep our structure we can have our moments. I think the structure was there again, and we created goalscoring opportunities against a team that kept clean sheets in five of their last six games.
“It was a strong performance.”
Argyle made three changes for the Millwall game. One was a choice – Jordan Houghton in for Darko Gyabi – but the other two were enforced, with Tymoteusz Puchacz and Julio Pleguezuelo missing through injury, and Nathanael Ogbeta and Victor Palsson stepping up admirably to seamlessly fill their positions.
Muslic said: “Pleggy was out, Puszka was out, but Nat and Victor, they did fantastic. That is why I always say, it is never about the first 11, it is about the team, and about the whole squad. Everybody is ready to give it all, that is why I am very confident and looking forward to the next games.
“The new spirit we have inside us is that it is not about personal feelings, it is about the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is Argyle. We are ready to fight for the green and white.”
