Football Season Review

Plymouth are coming from a roller coaster of a season which saw them look like being certain to be relegated during the first third of its duration, only for them to end up missing out on a play-off place only narrowly. The Pilgrims, who finished second in League Two a year earlier to win promotion, collected only six points from the fourteen games they played between the start of the season and mid October and looked out of their depth in the third tier in that stage. Their results started to pick up in mid October and got gradually better over time and they went to enjoy a seventeen game run between early December and mid March during which they lost only once. Derek Adams's men did particularly well at home during this spell, having had a spell of eleven home games during which they recorded ten wins. What is particularly remarkably is that there was no obvious cause of this huge upturn in fortunes. Holding midfielder Toumani Diagouraga did sign as a free agent, but he ended up leaving and joining Fleetwood and Plymouth maintained the same level of play without him, as relegation became less and less of a fear and a top six finish started to look like a real possibility. However, the Pilgrims were dealt with an injury crisis late in the season, with an injury suffered by Ryan Taylor, who is integral to the way they play their football, proving particularly tough to cope with for Adams's side. Despite being in a tight play-off race, Plymouth ended up winning only one of their last six games, and were therefore pipped to the available two play-off places by Scunthorpe and Charlton. While missing out on a top six finish in this fashion was frustrating for the Pilgrims, the fact of the matter is that it was their first third-tier campaign in almost a decade and they have every reason to feel pleased with how they performed.

Player of the Season: Graham Carey