Opposition View: Plymouth Argyle

We spoke to Aaron Hocking from the Argyle Life/Green & White Podcast ahead of the Hornets' trip to Home Park on Friday (November 22, 8pm KO).

What were your thoughts on the Carabao Cup tie between the two clubs earlier this season?

You can never read too much into cup games, of course, but it never really felt like we were in the game at all and even despite several changes from both sides, Watford felt superior to us all over.

New goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw made his debut for us that day and came away with some plaudits despite conceding a howler for the first. 

How would you sum up how things have gone for Plymouth since then?

Mixed. The international breaks have bookended our spells quite nicely as such as it’s been poor, excellent, okay. 

We’ve been hamstrung by several key injuries and a weaker squad on the whole than we’d have liked.

Survival is the aim again this season and we’re on course for it, so we can’t have too many complaints right now. 

How much of a difference has there been in how the team plays home and away?

It’s not as much tactical as it is mentality.

Home Park is the clichéd fortress for us, our home form over the last few seasons has been impeccable; picking up home wins over top-of-the-table Sunderland, Portsmouth, then-high-flying Blackburn and your friends Luton Town already this season.

As home fans tell us on away trips, it’s a long way to Plymouth when, well, ‘you’re not very good’ and we use that to our advantage. No-one likes coming to the West Country and we don’t seem to like travelling away. 

With a third of the season gone, what are your thoughts now on Wayne Rooney?

It’s a whirlwind so far; never have so many eyes been thrust upon ‘Little Old Argyle’. News has recently broke that filming for a documentary has already begun while we’re being named on mainstream media every 30 seconds. 

I can imagine this is his last chance in management and despite the horrendous away form - which had been present long before Wayne took over - there’s not an awful lot to criticise him for.

January will be huge for the club and go a long way to deciding whether we stay up or not. 

How enjoyable is it to score so many goals late on in games?

Again, it’s Home Park. The never say die attitude gets us through games.

Another cliché, but the Devonport End can suck the ball in! Before Portsmouth and our 86th minute winner, we had scored beyond the 90 minute mark in the last four consecutive home games.

It’s a joy but I would like to secure the points a little earlier for the blood pressure and heart health, if nothing else. 

How important was it to keep hold of Morgan Whittaker during the window?

Morgan is excellent. He’s our Haaland, our Salah; he won’t always be involved in games and won't grab it by the scruff of its neck, but when you need a goal, or in his case a 30-yard screamer to nestle in the top corner, he’s there.

An outrageous talent for the money we paid; I can see us receiving a very large fee for his services at some point. Morgan has made no secret of how much he loves Plymouth too - which is incredibly refreshing to hear after years of footballing staff wanting to leave the second there is any interest elsewhere.

Schumacher, Pulis, Lowe, Holloway - to name a few from the dugout. 

What are your thoughts on the increase in Friday night football?

We’ve been quite lucky with the changes to the schedule so far - but that doesn’t mean I agree with them.

The fine balancing act between wanting greater income and moving fixtures is hard to get right. No other clubs are even remotely close to us, so I do always feel for those having to skip work to travel.

We get used to the miles though; half of our fans are Cornwall-based and have long journeys to home games themselves. 

While you’re down do take the weekend to enjoy the Hoe and Barbican - some excellent pubs, steeped with history and incredibly scenic. 

What do you think the score will be?

The football on the pitch gives me no reason to be hopeful, but it’s at home on a Friday night against a former-Premier League side. Argyle win. 3-1. Why not?

Just a shame there's no Finn Azaz this time.