Plymouth Argyle: This Steven Schumacher factor could tip the balance v Stoke City – View | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle will clash with a familiar face in their next crunch game at the foot of the Championship table.

Stoke City will host Argyle at the Bet365 Stadium, who of course have former manager Steven Schumacher at the helm.

Both teams are in the thick of things in this relegation battle and so a vital three points are on the line.

Argyle facing their former manager

Plymouth Argyle faced a former manager just last month when Ryan Lowe came to town.

His Preston North End side left Devon with the three points thanks to a goal on the brink of half-time from Canadian wing-back Liam Millar.

That clash came during Ian Foster’s tenure in charge whereas this time around, Argyle will be led into battle by interim duo Neil Dewsnip and Kevin Nancekivell.

Schumacher won the League One title for the Pilgrims last year, making his mid-season departure all the more painful.

It certainly hasn’t been plain sailing for him at the helm of Stoke though and so this game will be just as pivotal to him as it is to the Green Army.

The aforementioned Millar actually scored home and away against Argyle with Ryan Hardie’s goal after an hour at Deepdale being nothing more than a consolation.

With defeats both home and away when crossing paths with Lowe, Schumacher may fancy his chances of getting one over his former employers as well.

One point separates these two in the Championship table in the favour of Argyle, making the result more pivotal to those of Stoke persuasion - they are just three points above the drop zone with three league games remaining in 2023/24.

Schumacher’s Stoke exploits

With Stoke lingering dangerously close to the relegation zone, it is safe to say that Schumacher hasn’t been as impactful as the powers that be would have expected when they poached him from Championship rivals.

Former Argyle loanee Luke Cundle scoring the equaliser last time out against Sheffield Wednesday, which is a big green tick given that he was a Schumacher signing at the Bet365, but there is still plenty more football to be played.

The Potters haven’t played third tier football since the 1991/92 campaign and the relatively new manager will be doing all he can to avoid breaking this streak that spans over three decades.

Southampton and Bristol City are the two other teams still to come for Stoke, who sit in fourth and 12th respectively at the time of writing.

This means that a home clash with Argyle is their best chance of securing a win and staving off the advances of 22nd-placed Huddersfield Town and 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday.

Schumacher factor could tip the balance in Plymouth's favour

Schumacher has the added impetus of facing his former side but that could work more in the favour of Argyle, as the squad will have extra motivation to prove his decision to jump ship to be the wrong one.

In a tight game down the bottom over the Championship, little things like that can make all the difference and might just tip the scales in the favour of the visitors.

The Green Army would certainly feel there was a sense of poetic justice if they were able to play a part in sending Schumacher and his new club down to League One.

The Argyle support travel in strong numbers and with even stronger voices up and down the country and this visit to Stoke is sure to be no different.

Beating Schumacher’s Stoke will all but confirm Argyle’s spot in the second tier next season and so there is already enough riding on this Saturday but facing their former boss could just be the difference-maker for Plymouth.