Exclusive: Why Don Goodman is backing Tom Cleverley to follow in Rob Edwards footsteps with Plymouth Argyle | OneFootball

Don Goodman has given his view on whether he believes Tom Cleverley will be motivated to prove Watford wrong at Plymouth Argyle.

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes Tom Cleverley will be keen to prove former club Watford wrong for sacking him after taking over at Plymouth Argyle.

Cleverley initially took charge of Watford on an interim basis in March 2024 following the departure of Valerien Ismael, before being handed the permanent job the following month.

Despite many tipping him and his side to struggle at the start of the campaign, his team emerged as surprise play-off contenders during the first half of last season.

However, no team in the Championship picked up fewer points than Cleverley's men during the second half of the season, and he was dismissed in May after the Hornets finished 14th in the table, with owner Gino Pozzo claiming that a more experienced manager was needed to help the club achieve their promotion ambitions.

Cleverley was not out of work for long after his departure from Vicarage Road, and after holding talks with Southampton prior to Will Still's appointment at St Mary's, he was named as the new head coach of League One side Plymouth last week, signing a three-year contract at Home Park.

In his first press conference as Argyle boss, Cleverley appeared to aim a subtle dig at Watford, claiming that his "next move in management had to be a really stable one" in a "really good environment who see longevity in a project", and the 35-year-old insisted that his decision to join the Devon outfit was "really easy".

Don Goodman makes Rob Edwards, Watford comparison as Tom Cleverley takes over at Plymouth Argyle

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Goodman backed Cleverley to prove Watford wrong at Plymouth, and he pointed to the example of Rob Edwards, who went on to achieve success after leaving Vicarage Road.

Edwards was dismissed after just 11 games in charge of the Hornets in September 2022, but later that season, he led Luton Town to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history via the play-offs, and Goodman believes Cleverley could follow a similar path at Home Park.

"I think for Tom Cleverley, read Rob Edwards," Goodman said.

"If you look at what happened with Rob when Watford harshly relieved him of his duties, he went on to take Luton Town up to the Premier League.

"You get the feeling that Tom Cleverley will be better for having experienced life at Watford, where it was a bit volatile. He will appreciate the stability that a club like Plymouth should bring.

"He's ambitious, and he's always spoke well. Even when other managers were being linked with his job last season, I remember thinking that he was a classy operator.

"I do think that he'll want to prove Watford wrong, but I think he'll want to prove what a great coach he is more than anything else."

Given that he was working on a limited budget, Cleverley did well to keep Watford in play-off contention for as long as he did last season, and he can count himself incredibly unlucky to have lost his job at Vicarage Road, even if the club's decision to make a change was understandable after the poor second half of the campaign.

Cleverley certainly showed enough potential during his time in charge of the Hornets to deserve another opportunity, and he should be more than capable of guiding Plymouth to promotion from League One next season, particularly with one of the better squads in the division at his disposal.

While the Pilgrims have experienced their own fair share of managerial changes in recent years, they are a stable, well-run club with an exciting long-term plan for the future.

So, Home Park could be the perfect destination for Cleverley to prove himself as a manager.