Argyle announced their new head coach on Friday, 13 June, with Tom Cleverley making the move to Devon to take the helm of the Greens.
The former Manchester United and England international player had a long Premier League career, making over 200 appearances in the top flight of English football, but made the switch to coaching following his retirement.
After a spell in charge of Watford’s academy over several months, the 35-year-old was handed the Hornets’ head coach role permanently after strong performances. Now, following his departure from the club, Cleverley joins Argyle ahead of their 2025/26 Sky Bet League One campaign.
Following some experiences playing and being on the sidelines in Plymouth, Tom couldn’t help but share his excitement and positive thoughts about taking the role and the Green Army at Home Park.
“I’m very honoured and really proud [to be here],” Cleverley told Argyle TV. “You can see the size of the club when you’re sat here [at Harper’s Park], the quality of the facilities, the stadium and the size of it in the background.
“As soon as I connected with people at the club, I knew this was a great move for me in my career. I feel like we're both craving real longevity and stability, and that's something that Argyle brings me. I can't wait to get started.
“I’ve had two experiences of being inside Home Park and the atmosphere, once as a player and once as a coach. It was a little bit of a different experience as the head coach as I was suspended that game, so I was really in and amongst it.
“I saw Andre Gray’s equalising goal go in when I was heading from the director's box to the tunnel, and I was as in amongst it as you can possibly get, so I understand how important the atmosphere can be and how good it is here, how passionate people are and ultimately how much the football club behind us really galvanises this community and that's important to me.
“I can't wait [to be back]. I'll have to be honest, as a player, I didn't always look forward to seeing the grass again after six weeks off. As a coach, I miss it after three days. This is why you do the long hours. This is why you don't retire as a player and play golf because of the smell of the grass, the sound of the studs clattering, and walking up to the training ground.
“This is football. This is why I love it. I can't wait to meet the players and supporters and get to work on the grass.”
A key factor in making the move down to the South West for Cleverley was his conversations with those at the club. However, he is also aware of the challenges that may come his and his staff’s way but feels the preparation and adaptation on the pitch can help overcome this.
He said: “I love how well-balanced and stable the club feels. That was both from looking at it from the outside, but when you meet Simon [Hallett], David [Fox] and Andrew [Parkinson], I felt well aligned. We’re in a results industry, we're in a short-term results industry, but there has to be a long-term vision, a real process to bring you long-term success and stability and to make sure that your performances are sustainable. I think Simon's someone who really understands that part of it.
“I think what I can guarantee the football club and its supporters is there'll be an incredible amount of hard work for me and my staff to make sure that this is a success. Not a short success, not a medium success, but a long-term success. We're a loyal group. We're very hardworking and in my opinion, we're a technically and tactically very good group, but that's for us to prove.
“No one loves winning football games as much as me and we'll prepare to win absolutely every single game, but we will also prepare something that I feel will give us real long-term stability, success and an exciting journey.
“I don't think there's a right or wrong way. I think there's a way that you believe in and there's a way to be authentic and my way is I'm more on the adaptable side of coaching and the rigid, ‘okay, if it's not working, let's do it better,’ way.
“I think there are some things that you have to be really consistent with, and that helps the players, especially out of possession. One thing I learned is that certain things are helpful to players in terms of consistency and repetition, but there are also things on and off the field that you have to adapt to as a coach. An important part for me is being able to listen and to let others have input.
“If something's not working, we don't rip the whole script up, but we can adjust it. We don't all of a sudden become a counter-attacking team, but that has to be an adaptation to make sure we're getting the best out of what we've got.”
Cleverley’s experiences in the Academy and with Watford have paved the way for an exciting approach and style of play, which he hopes to implement once pre-season gets underway soon.
“Academy football's an unbelievable grounding for a coach,” he explained. “In my eight months in the Academy, I was the coach, kitman, analyst, secretary, you do everything. You have to release young players, which comes later down the line when you're delivering first-team players bad news. It's a great grounding. In my eight months there, I think I coached 70 games, and you get flung into the hot seat, which I felt as prepared as I could be for. It was something I've thoroughly enjoyed.
“I've got a passion for developing people and players, and one for winning. Those two things are really helpful in the job I'm in and I couldn't recommend more the time that I spent there.
“As for us now, we have to work hard. We have to prepare well and thoroughly and there has to be a strong environment. I've been part of successful teams and part of failing teams and, yes, there is a difference in quality. There's a difference in budget, but the overriding thing is there's a difference in the environment and the culture, and how resilient the group is. Everything we do has to come from a foundation of that, be a good teammate, be a good person and then after that we can talk about technically and tactically.
“The players must feel a freedom to express themselves and from there will be mistakes. There will be and we’ll have to deal with failures and that comes back to the strong culture, but there will be a framework and clarity that the players have, but within that, they have to feel that they have the right to take risks to really express themselves. From there, hopefully we provide our supporters with an exciting football team to watch."
Our first interview with Head Coach Tom Cleverley is free to watch on Argyle TV here.