How Plymouth Argyle will try to keep players not in their first team happy
Plymouth Argyle will look to organise behind-closed-doors games to make sure members of Wayne Rooney's squad who are not playing in the first team still get in some match minutes, assistant head coach Pete Shuttleworth has declared.
Shuttleworth believes it is important to always give players a route back into the senior side so they can stay focused and keep training hard. It is a particular issue for Argyle because they do enter the Premier League Under-21 Cup, and as a Championship club do not take part in the EFL Trophy either, which a lot of League One and Two clubs treat as almost a reserve team competition.
Some over-age players are allowed in the Premier League Cup so that is an opportunity to get run-outs for those returning from injury or simply needing game time.
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For example, players not in the first team at Argyle's Devon rivals Exeter City can get at least three group games in the EFL Trophy plus a minimum of six matches in the Premier League Cup. Those are nine matches that are not available to members of the Pilgrims' squad.
Argyle have a larger first team squad than in the recent past under head coach Wayne Rooney this season and Shuttleworth admitted it was difficult to keep players happy when they were not being called upon.
"It's sometimes the hardest part of the job," he said. "Going back to the start, when we came here we knew there was a good core squad here. We needed to help that squad as well, after surviving on the last day of the season last year, by adding a bit of quality and a few more numbers to it.
"I think the recruitment over the summer has been excellent and has enabled us to have a squad that is competitive, it has got lots of depth to it and lots of quality to it, so that's a positive side of it.
"The hard bit is keeping people who aren't playing happy. We have to keep training competitive, we have to organise games behind closed doors where these lads can get minutes in.
"Sometimes the 11 who are playing take care of themselves and it's about the time spent with the others and how they can improve to get back in the team. If you always give them that route back into the team I think that's a way to deal with it.
"You can't always give them a positive answer of 'You're playing' but if you can allow them to see a route back into the team then that gives them a focus and allows them to keep training hard and pushing."
Arranging behind-closed-doors games is not an easy task, though. Other clubs can be reluctant to send teams to travel all the way to Plymouth for such matches, while Argyle might not consider making long midweek rounds trips to London or the Midlands.
Shuttleworth added: "We have got enough players to play internally now and I think when you actually have them games and you promote some of the 18s up to play it gives them a pathway into the first team as well.
"Going forward, this club is developing from where it was 11-12 years ago when there was real problems here to where we are now, it has been a meteoric rise really, but obviously the next steps are going to be important to keep the club pushing forward. If that is something in their plans to have a 21s, hopefully we will be here when that potentially gets discussed but that's a club thing.
"The young lads who come up, the important thing is getting them game exposure so the loans we sort out with them and they go out there and play, I think that's really important.
"Sometimes it can be better than reserve team football and 21s football to be in men's leagues where it's competitive and they have to learn how to deal with that physicality and that intensity of games in non-league, and then they train with us in the week as well so they get that exposure to our first team levels.
"Hopefully that doesn't block many pathways here. For us, that's how we see it, that they will get loans. Kevin Nancekivell works really hard on getting the lads out on loan."
Argyle currently have four teenage professionals out on loan to non-league sides - goalkeeper Zak Baker (Tiverton Town), Jack Matthews and Josh Bernard (both Tavistock) and midfielder Will Jenkins Davies (Torquay United).
In addition, senior players Julio Pleguezuelo, Matty Sorinola and Muhamed Tijani have not even been in the matchday squad for the last two Championship games against Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion given the numbers available to Rooney.
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