TOM CLEVERLEY INTERVIEW: I was at the lowest point in my career earlier this season, I felt like I was letting people down… but bringing Plymouth Argyle back from the brink has been the ultimate privilege

When all was said and done at Peterborough’s Weston Homes Stadium, the Plymouth fans packed into the away end were jubilant. 

Almost 1,250 of them made the 10-hour round trip from the south coast on Saturday to watch Argyle take on the Posh, League One’s in-form team who had lost just one of their previous eight.

But Plymouth, undaunted by that record, deservedly took home three points – Aribim Pepple with the game’s only goal, a tap-in after star man Lorent Tolaj teed him up with a chance he simply couldn’t miss. 

For Argyle, it’s now seven without loss on the road. One defeat in their last nine in all competitions. With the club 14th in League One and just six points off the top six, supporters are dreaming of the play-off spots rather than looking nervously over their shoulder.

As seasoned local reporter Chris Errington tells Daily Mail Sport, Pilgrims fans ‘always’ travel in their numbers – even during last season’s dire relegation campaign – but now they wake up on Saturday mornings with hope, not dread. 

The mood around Home Park is a far cry from two months ago, when sections of the Argyle fanbase directed chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ at manager Tom Cleverley. At that point his side were languishing in 23rd position, staring down the barrel of back-to-back relegations. 

Saturday’s victory at Peterborough saw Tom Cleverley’s side move up to 14th position – just a couple of months ago they were staring down the barrel of back-to-back relegations

But Cleverley, just 36, was always confident his fortunes would change, even when he reached the ‘lowest point’ of his professional career after a brutal 3-0 thrashing by Northampton Town in late November. 

‘Football is about ups and downs,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘The key thing about when you’re down is that you show up and you’re always there to be the one to improve it and give everyone a sense of direction.

‘I would rather have done nothing else than manage Plymouth Argyle through that rough spell – and that’s what it’s about being a leader. I knew we had the quality to get out of it, and we will all be better for having gone through that really tough period.’

Ex-Manchester United midfielder Cleverley has now spent seven months living by the beach in Plymouth. ‘A nice contrast,’ he says of his new life away from the bright lights of Manchester and London. 

He left the capital after being sacked from his first job as Watford’s head coach at the end of last season. A 14th-placed finish was deemed unacceptable by the unforgiving board at Vicarage Road, though fans wanted him to stay. 

Football moves fast, however, and less than a month later Cleverley was posing for photos as Argyle’s new manager. The club have had success with young coaches like Steven Schumacher and Ryan Lowe in the past so, for supporters, the board’s latest appointment fitted the bill. 

‘I always knew I wanted to jump straight back in,’ Cleverley says. ‘I don’t need too much reflection time or time to analyse. I was full of energy and passion for my job. I did a lot of research into Argyle, met the owners and it felt like the perfect fit.’ 

The former England international took over a club in transition after relegation from the Championship under Wayne Rooney and later Miron Muslic.

Cleverley tells Daily Mail Sport that he reached the ‘lowest point’ of his professional career as Plymouth languished 23rd in League One

‘The difficult part was seeing so many people sacrifice their lives for the results of the football club and you’re not bringing that,’ the Argyle boss says

Player of the year and top scorer Ryan Hardie departed, so too did record signing Maksym Talovierov as well as fan favourite Adam Randell and striker Mustapha Bundu. That’s without mentioning the sale of star man Morgan Whittaker to Middlesbrough six months earlier. 

Without a sporting director in situ, the hierarchy at Argyle signed some 15 players last summer, 12 of whom were aged 25 or under, with seven recruited before Cleverley had even come through the door. 

After a 4-0 drubbing at Cardiff City in late August, the Pilgrims made the four-hour return trip to the south coast with just three points from their opening six games. Supporters had been expecting a promotion push.

‘You have to accept when a club gets relegated that most of the so-called better players will leave,’ Cleverley says. ‘The quantity of players that needed replacing, I think we brought in 15 new players. There are big risks attached to that.

‘There are things we need to learn from. We probably signed too many players, went for too similar a profile of player, we were keen to change the age profile and go down the route of potential and developing players. Did we sign players with injury problems, that have real quality, too much? I don’t want to call them mistakes because we’ve got real quality in the squad, but we lost a bit of balance.’

The Pilgrims managed to drag themselves out of the relegation zone in September with three wins from four league games. However a dismal October, including a 2-0 loss to bitter rivals Exeter City, heaped pressure back on to Cleverley. 

Their slide continued in November and, by the end of that month, Plymouth found themselves just one spot above the foot of the table. Cleverley had lost 11 of his first 17 league games. Sections of the Plymouth fanbase were calling for his head. 

‘The difficult part was seeing so many people sacrifice their lives for the results of the football club and you’re not bringing that,’ the Argyle boss reflects. ‘I saw a lot of people at their maximum not being rewarded.’

At the tender age of 36, Cleverley is a manager who can draw on experience beyond his years having played under Sir Alex Ferguson, Marco Silva and Chris Wilder

Argyle have turned around their fortunes of late, in part thanks to the stellar form of Lorent Tolaj, who has bagged 12 goals in League One already this season

Cleverley is a manager who can draw on experience beyond his tender years. He tells Daily Mail Sport that he takes inspiration from the coaches he worked under as a player. Man management skills from Sir Alex Ferguson, the ability to deliver clear messages to his squad from current Fulham boss Marco Silva, and valuable insight from Chris Wilder.

Plymouth made themselves more compact, harder to beat, and it brought about a marked improvement. 

After 17 fixtures, Cleverley’s side had leaked more goals (31) than any other team in League One. In the nine games since, Argyle have conceded just eight on a run which has seen them win five out of eight league games and climb some nine places in the table. 

The upturn in form has coincided with the appointment of ex-Morecambe manager Derek Adams as the club’s director of football. He arrived in late November a couple of weeks after ex-Cardiff City captain Joe Ralls signed for the club as a free agent. 

Both additions have been hugely influential, says Cleverley, who has already strengthened his squad this month with the addition of Ronan Curtis from Port Vale.

‘We’ve moved back to a back four with personnel returning from injury,’ he admits. ‘Bringing in (Joe) Rallsy and Ronan, we’ve made some good moves in the market. 

‘It’s always my job to give us a direction and we’ve been really clear about how we want to play to get us out of this and, long-term, how we see ourselves being successful.’

Cleverley insists that Argyle are on the hunt for further additions in the January window, with the arrival of a centre-half understood to be imminent, but keeping hold of Lorent Tolaj could be as pivotal as any new signing. 

The Swiss, signed from League One rivals Port Vale in the summer for the hefty sum of £1million, is the division’s second top scorer with 12 goals and four assists to his name already.

‘He’s had a great season,’ says Cleverley. ‘The best thing about him is that he doesn’t have a weakness to his game. Usually at this level, a striker’s missing something. Tolaj has got everything it takes to be a real top striker.

Some have questioned Cleverley’s temperament. His third red card of the season, and subsequent touchline ban, against Bristol Rovers last weekend provides reason to do so

But he is confident in his abilities, his players and the depth and quality of his squad. A play-off place will be the target

‘He’s quick, he’s aggressive, a great finisher, can use both feet. There’s more to come, I’m sure of that. Sixteen goals already and we’re only in January.’  

Six points off the play-off spots and seven above relegation in the league, with a spot in the quarter-finals of the Vertu Trophy confirmed, the Pilgrims’ campaign has reached a crossroads.

Some have questioned Cleverley’s temperament. His third red card of the season against Bristol Rovers earlier this month didn’t help matters.

But he is confident in his abilities and in those of his players. A play-off place is the target. 

‘I’m authentic to myself and I don’t try to be someone I’m not,’ he says. ‘Treat the players with respect and hopefully you get it back. 

‘No one is getting complacent here. We’ve got plenty of hard work still to do.’ 

The Blades’ returning hero

When Sheffield United dialed an all too familiar phone number in early September, you wouldn’t have blamed Chris Wilder for not picking up. 

After all, just a few months earlier the Englishman had left the club by ‘mutual consent’ following a play-off final defeat by Sunderland. 

But no, with the Blades winless and bottom of the Championship, Wilder did take that call to seal a return to Bramall Lane. A few months on and his side now sit 17th in the Championship and four points clear of the dreaded drop. 

Bookmaker Midnite has this week unveiled a mural of Chris Wilder outside The Railway Pub opposite Bramall Lane

So, for the people of Sheffield, it’s a fine time to give Wilder some very public credit.

Bookmaker Midnite has this week unveiled a mural of the 58-year-old outside a pub situated directly opposite Bramall Lane. A thank you for his work over three stints in the city. 

‘He’s one of our own,’ it reads.