Former Plymouth Argyle manager Carl Fletcher will be making his managerial return to Home Park for the first time since his dismissal as Pilgrims boss in January 2013 with Leyton Orient.
Fletcher, 39, has been appointed by Orient as the permanent successor to the late Justin Edinburgh in what will be his first managerial role since his spell in charge of Argyle.
His stint at Home Park, as a player and then as manager, was one of the most turbulent periods in the Pilgrims' history. They suffered back-to-back relegations between 2009 and 2011 as the club suffered a financial collapse of catastrophic proportions as they went into administration, and the ensuing ten points deduction was instrumental in sealing the second of those two demotions.
The then Argyle manager Peter Reid was then forced to build a squad using free transfers, loan signings and youngsters. The consequences of this were that the Pilgrims were unable to compete successfully in League Two and Reid was dismissed after only winning one point from their opening ten league games.
This resulted in Fletcher, who at the time was club captain and had won the club's player of the year award for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, being handed the managerial reins on a caretaker basis. His appointment had an immediate effect as they beat Macclesfield Town 2-0 in his first game in charge. He was later handed the role on a permanent basis following James Brent's takeover of the club, which helped to stabilise the club off-the-field.
Despite a number of bumps along the road, he managed to steer the Pilgrims to safety as they drew 1-1 with Oxford United in their penultimate home league fixture to retain their status as a Football League club. Fletcher also made several key signings, including experienced defender Darren Purse and the returning Paul Wotton and Nick Chadwick, who played a key role in keeping Argyle in the division.
However, in the following season he was unable to keep the momentum of his first season going and he was dismissed on New Year's Day 2013 after the Pilgrims lost to Bristol Rovers. Despite receiving this news he still managed to face the media and after giving his views on the game, he announced the news of his dismissal.
Since then Fletcher had a brief playing spell with Barnet in the National League and has worked for Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, his first club, in various roles. These have included Under-18's manager, Under-23's manager and loan manager, which involved dealing with players who the Cherries have loaned out to other clubs.
It's been nearly six years since he took charge of the Pilgrims and without his achievements of the 2011-12 season, then Plymouth Argyle could quite easily be in a very different place today.
If they had been relegated at the end of that campaign, there could have been no play-off campaign under John Sheridan or subsequent promotion in the 2016-17 season under Derek Adams. They might not even be harbouring their current aspirations of promotion under Ryan Lowe, who will be occupying the opposite dug out to Fletcher on Tuesday night.
