Football Season Guide

Plymouth return to League One after finishing third in League Two on points-per-game last time around. The star of the show for the Pilgrims is not any player, but instead manager Ryan Lowe. Impressing since hanging up his boots to become a manager, he delivered promotion with Bury a year ago but was denied a chance to manage in League One again by the Shakers' bankruptcy. He has since delivered promotion with the Pilgrims and is set for his first-ever campaign as manager in the third tier, with his previous experience in the division being with Bury in the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, taking over when the Shakers were already beyond salvation. A lot of players have left over the course of the summer, with the most important departure being the one of Josh Grant, who played well in the anchor role last time around, but has returned to parent club Chelsea. The Pilgrims do not really have the budget to bring in experienced League One players, but the likes of Frank Nouble and Ryan Hardie do have experience in the division, while Panutche Camara will be trusted with replacing Grant and protecting the defence. All in all, it is difficult to judge their squad, as they have a relatively young side, with limited League One experience. However, Lowe has proved to be an outstanding young manager so far and, if his methods work as well in the third tier as they did in the fourth, the Pilgrims could be up for a decent campaign.