Many Plymouth Argyle supporters may eat their words after Middlesbrough clash: View | OneFootball

Ian Foster has enjoyed a solid start to his life at the helm of Plymouth Argyle.

The club needed someone to come in and make an instant impact in Devon after Steven Schumacher departed for Stoke City, and took Luke Cundle with him.

It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for Foster though- recent defeats as well as comments made in press conferences had a number of Argyle fans unsure on if he was the right man for the job.

Under the stewardship of Steven Schumacher, Argyle were keen to play their own style of football, even after gaining promotion back to the Championship.

Foster has continued this at times, but in other games against the bigger teams, he has managed to raise an eyebrow or two.

The 3-0 defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion was a prime example of discontent amongst the supporters.

Foster had the following to say to Plymouth Live after the full-time whistle. “With respect, Argyle and West Bromwich Albion have got two different remits this season. We have just got to dust ourselves down, review it properly and move on."

He was full of praise for the Baggies and has regularly shown a lot of appreciation towards the club’s opponents.

Foster’s desire to compliment fellow Championship sides and in a roundabout way, make it sound as if defeats to a WBA or a Leeds United are to be expected, certainly hasn’t gone down well with the Home Park faithful.

It is no secret that Argyle’s budget and infrastructure are dwarfed by some of the giants of the league, especially those who are battling it out for a place in the Premier League, but for the manager to be so accepting of this was cause for concern.

Football is a very fickle and flippant industry so the worries from the Home Park faithful aren’t out of the blue by any means.

That being said, a positive result on the weekend has worked wonders for Foster’s popularity ratings down in Devon.

Ian Foster proving the doubters wrong

The game in question saw Argyle go away to Middlesbrough and win 2-0, making Michael Carrick’s side the only one in the Championship not to score on the weekend.

Not only did Boro fail to find the back of the net but they also failed to register a single shot on target as well, which is quite the feat for Foster’s men as well as being an embarrassing statistic for Carrick and co.

Matthew Sorinola opened the scoring after just seven minutes, his first goal in green and white since signing from Swansea City last month.

Scotsman Ryan Hardie doubled the lead on the half-hour mark as he continues to thrive at this level. This is now 12 goals and four assists in the league for Hardie, tied alongside Will Keane (Preston North End) and Jonathan Rowe (Norwich City) in the scoring charts.

The performances against West Brom and Middlesbrough were like night and day and in the wake of the latter, Argyle fans everywhere were quick to eat their words.

A positive atmosphere returned to X courtesy of Sorinola and Hardie and with Argyle positioned in 15th, they certainly have the tools to stave off relegation under Ian Foster.