When choosing a successor for the Schalke bound Miron Muslic, Plymouth Argyle turned to a former England international who can count Manchester United and Everton amongst his former clubs.
However, whilst Tom Cleverley doesn't quite have the same profile as his immediate predecessor bar one Wayne Rooney, he arrives at Home Park looking to rebuild his managerial reputation.
Whereas as Rooney took charge of the Pilgrims with spells at Derby County, DC United and Birmingham City on his CV, Cleverley only has a one-year spell in charge of Watford to his name. Nevertheless, given how the Hornets have gone through managers since the Pozzo family took over the club in 2010, a stint of over 12 months is relatively long compared to some of his predecessors.
In some ways Cleverley's appointment bears some similarities with the appointment of Ian Holloway in 2006. Like Cleverley today, Holloway joined the Pilgrims following a reasonable spell at Queens Park Rangers, who he had led to promotion to the Championship before guiding them to a respectable 11th place finish and looking to prove that he was still a good manager.
Holloway then steered the Pilgrims to an 11th place finish in the 2006-07 season and they were fourth in the Championship at the time of his departure to Leicester City.
Although the challenge facing Cleverley is slightly different, as promotion from League One is his target after Argyle were relegated from the Championship in 2024-25. However, if the Pilgrims do bounce back at the first attempt, it will go down as a fine achievement nonetheless, and one which will see him prove a few of his doubters wrong.
