Under Steven Schumacher, the Pilgrims have not lost many games, but when they have, they have suffered some devastating losses.
There have been several highlights during Steven Schumacher’s 21-month management of Plymouth Argyle, most notably the spectacular 101-point League One championship victory in 2022–23. For the Pilgrims, things have occasionally gone horribly wrong when things have not gone as planned.
The most recent instance of that was Argyle giving up two goals in the first eight minutes of Tuesday night’s 4-1 Championship loss to Bristol City at Ashton Gate. It’s made worse by the fact that there was a significant delay following Sam Bell’s goal for the Robins because of a problem with the goal-line equipment.
There were screams of “This is embarrassing” from some of the 3,000-strong traveling Green Army later in the first half when the visitors were down 3-1, and Schumacher did not disagree when questioned about those songs in his post-match press conference.
With 46 victories out of 79 league games managed by Argyle, Schumacher has a stellar 58.2 win %. There have also been 14 draws. Only 19 losses have occurred, but in five of those, the Pilgrims have given up four or more goals.
Clearly, there is never a good way to lose a game of football, and Argyle under Schumacher always look to play an attacking style, but more heavy defeats like the one against Bristol City will do their goal difference in the Championship no good at all.
Argyle have also conceded four goals or more in three cup ties since Schumacher succeeded Ryan Lowe in December 2021, with the 4-0 defeat by Bolton Wanderers in the Papa Johns Trophy final at Wembley in April.
The Pilgrims have shown excellent resolve in the past to bounce back from losses like the one against Bristol City and there is no reason why they cannot do that again, but if it was to become more common then the players’ confidence levels would inevitably be impacted.
Here is a list of games where the Pilgrims have conceded four goals or more since December 2021:
January 15, 2022: League One – Sheffield Wednesday 4 Argyle 2
April 3 0, 2022:League One – Argyle 0 MK Dons 5
August 16, 2022: League One – Charlton Athletic 5 Argyle 1
November 5, 2022: FA Cup round one – Grimsby Town 5 Argyle 1
February 25, 2023: League One – Peterborough United 5 Argyle 2
August 29, 2023: Carabao Cup round two – Argyle 2 Crystal Palace 4
September 19, 2023: Championship – Bristol City 4 Argyle 1
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