What Miron Muslic said at Plymouth Argyle that Simon Hallett thought was "very strange" | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle's owner has spoken out on Miron Muslic's exit

Miron Muslic left Plymouth Argyle following the club’s relegation to League One.

The 42-year-old was appointed as Argyle boss in January and had an instant impact, besting eventual Premier League champions Liverpool in the FA Cup.

The Pilgrims ended the campaign 11th in the form table and had made a visible improvement under Muslic, but it wasn’t enough to stop them suffering relegation to the third-tier.

Frustration began to get the better of the manager as the season progressed, stating that the club needed to make major additions over the summer, specifically bringing in a sporting director and adding to the recruiting team, in order for him to consider staying.

The 42-year-old revealed on X how strongly he felt about the club and that his comments were fuelled by frustration over Argyle's relegation threat.

Ultimately, he joined German giants Schalke, with the task of taking them back into the Bundesliga.

Argyle owner, Simon Hallett, has now spoken on the Austrian’s exit and the manner in which he left.

Simon Hallett speaks out on Miron Muslic exit

"I thought some of his comments were very strange,” explained to the Pilgrims Podcast. “He said he didn't have this, he didn't have that.

"It just wasn't the case. Jimmy Dickinson (head of recruitment) left and we got Stuart Webber and Tom Randle in as part-time consultants to help on the director of football side and on the head of recruitment side. Tom Randle now, of course, works for us full-time and Stuart Webber is still engaged as a consultant. He had the human resources he needed, so I found all that a little strange.

"Then when the rumours were flying around after the Leeds match I spoke to him and he told he was 100 per cent committed to Argyle for the season in League One so it was a shock when he decided he wanted to go to Schalke, and essentially said there were no circumstances under which he was going to come back to England. He effectively had us over a barrel."

"I tend to be quite optimistic about human beings. I'm nearly 70 years old and most of my life I have trusted people and I have taken the glass half full approach to people, and occasionally I get stiffed, but on balance it has served me well to be optimistic about people, but it's very hard to be optimistic about football because contracts just don't seem to be very effective.

"I should have thought about it with Miron the same way I think about it with players. Players have contracts. We give them two, three, sometimes even four-year contracts but if they want to leave we basically get held over a barrel. It's very dis-spiriting and makes you wonder what you can do.”

Miron Muslic departure could’ve been a blessing in disguise

At the time, Muslic leaving seemed to be a real blow for Plymouth Argyle following their relegation to League One.

Although they were now operating out of the third-tier, their new boss had shown real potential to establish Argyle as a Championship outfit once more in the future.

However, now the Pilgrims have arguably an equally exciting young managerial prospect who already has experience in the EFL.

Many viewed Tom Cleverley’s Watford dismissal as harsh, with their squad nowhere near capable of the play-off ambitions held by Gino Pozzo.

At just 35 years of age, Argyle’s new boss will have a large amount of time to develop and improve the squad at Home Park, with the short-term goal of returning to the second-tier looking increasingly achievable.

The Pilgrims have been busy in the transfer market, adding Aribim Pepple, Jack MacKenzie, Brendan Wiredu, Caleb Watts, Bradley Ibrahim, Xavier Amaechi, Jamie Paterson, Owen Oseni and Ayman Benarous to their ranks.

With all these new signings accompanying Cleverley, there is a real reason to be excited about what next season holds for Argyle.

Ultimately, although Muslic’s exit appeared to be a bruising blow, it might just have been a positive move for Plymouth in the long term.