Saturday marks a new dawn for Plymouth Argyle. Well, one that should of happened 12 months ago. But relegation showed a club that had more problems than it liked to show.
Nevertheless demotion to the npower League 1 seems to have been the wake-up call the club needed. New management has given fans the hope they needed after a season of disappointment, few goals and a stadium re-titled "everyone else’s Home Park".
Under Peter Reid and his 'simple football', Argyle have started playing properly again and the pre season performances, particularly in Holland against giants AZ Alkmaar have proved it.
The team has lost several notable names from the team sheet including Jamie Mackie and Gary Sawyer and most recently Damien Johnson to Huddersfield Town but these have been justifiable to get rid of the deadwood that didn't want to be a part of the Pilgrims or to relieve the heavy financial burden that Plymouth have.
But Reid's invaluable contacts have allowed quality trialists to come to Home Park such as midfielder Anton Peterlin and defender Lee Molyneux that has added strength and depth to his side.
The weekend’s opening game away to Southampton will be a fantastic test to see how far the team has come as the Saints will certainly be no push-over’s as the side, touted as league favourites, only just missed out on the play-offs three months ago.
Then there will be the rest of the league which is full of top opposition with plenty to prove such as fellow demoted sides Peterborough United and Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon town and newly promoted Notts County so this season won’t be easy.
So to my prediction:
We are a championship team, the friendly away to QPR where we dominated for the majority of the match and defensively superb showed this, therefore if we can keep up the performances, even if it means grinding out those 1-0 wins that are a sign of a promotion winning team, with our strikers on top form consistently throughout the entire season, then I really do believe we have a realistic chance of going back up at the first time of asking either automatically or via the play-offs.
And of course you, the Green Army. Without you Argyle would be nothing. So keep up the fantastic support that makes us the force to be reckoned with.
And who knows...come May 2011, the League One championship may be back in the safe hands of ‘Le Keeper’ Romain Larrieu, six years since it was there last.
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