Exclusive: Why Don Goodman is backing Tom Cleverley to follow in Rob Edwards footsteps with Plymouth Argyle.

Sky Sports analyst Don Goodman feels Tom Cleverley will be eager to prove his old club Watford wrong for sacking him after taking over at Plymouth Argyle.

Cleverley took over Watford on an interim basis in March 2024, following Valerien Ismael’s departure, before being appointed permanent manager the following month.

Despite many people expecting him and his club to struggle at the start of the season, they emerged as unexpected play-off contenders in the first half of last season.

However, no team in the Championship scored fewer points than Cleverley’s men in the second half of the season, and he was fired in May after the Hornets finished 14th in the table, with owner Gino Pozzo claiming that a more experienced manager was required to help the club achieve its promotion goals.

Cleverley was not out of employment for long after leaving Vicarage Road, and after speaking with Southampton previous to Will Still’s appointment at St Mary’s, he was named the new head coach of League One club Plymouth last week, signing a three-year contract at Home Park.

In his first press conference as Argyle manager, Cleverley appeared to make a subtle dig at Watford, claiming that his “next move in management had to be a really stable one” in a “really good environment who see longevity in a project,” and the 35-year-old insisted that his decision to join the Devon club was “really easy.”

Don Goodman makes Rob Edwards, Watford comparison as Tom Cleverley takes over at Plymouth Argyle

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Goodman encouraged Cleverley to prove Watford wrong in Plymouth, citing the example of Rob Edwards, who went on to enjoy success after leaving Vicarage Road.

Edwards was fired after only 11 games in command of the Hornets in September 2022, but later that season, he led Luton Town to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history via the play-offs, and Goodman feels Cleverley can follow suit at Home Park.

“I think for Tom Cleverley, read Rob Edwards,” Goodman said.

“If you look at what happened to Rob after Watford harshly relieved him of his duties, he went on to lead Luton Town to the Premier League.”

“You get the impression that Tom Cleverley will be better for having experienced life at Watford, which was a little volatile. He’ll appreciate the stability that a club like Plymouth should provide.

“He is ambitious and has always spoken well. Even when other managers were connected to his position last season, I thought he was a classy operator. “I do think that he’ll want to prove Watford wrong, but I think he’ll want to prove what a great coach he is more than anything else.”

Plymouth Argyle could be the perfect fit for Tom Cleverley after Watford exit

Given his limited budget, Cleverley did admirably to keep Watford in play-off contention for as long as he did last season, and he can consider himself extremely unlucky to have lost his job at Vicarage Road, even if the club’s decision to make a change was understandable given the poor second half of the season.

Cleverley demonstrated enough potential during his stint in command of the Hornets to earn another chance, and he should be more than capable of leading Plymouth to League One promotion next season, especially with one of the division’s best squads at his disposal.

While the Pilgrims have had their fair share of managerial changes in recent years, they remain a stable, well-run club with an ambitious long-term strategy for the future. So, Home Park could be the ideal place for Cleverley to establish himself as a manager.

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