Cleverley appointed as Plymouth Argyle boss

Plymouth Argyle have appointed former Watford boss Tom Cleverley as their head coach.

The 35-year-old has signed a three-year contract and succeeds Miron Muslic, who left the club last month to take over at German side Schalke.

Cleverley joins an Argyle side returning to League One this season following relegation after two years in the Championship.

The former Manchester United and Everton midfielder spent the bulk of his playing career at Watford before succeeding Valerien Ismael as head coach in March 2024.

Cleverley was sacked by the Hornets in May, having missed out on the play-offs after a poor second half of the season as Watford faded badly to finish 14th.

His 14 months at the helm was the longest tenure of any boss at Vicarage Road since Javi Gracia's reign from January 2018 to September 2019.

In total, Cleverley was in charge for 60 games, winning 20, drawing 14 and losing 26.

"Ever since Miron's departure and knowing Tom was available, we identified him straight away as the perfect person to be our next head coach and targeted him immediately," chairman Simon Hallett told the club website., external

"When we spoke to him he was completely aligned with the vision and ambitions of the club and it was clear throughout that Tom was the right fit for us.

"He is young, passionate and did a great job at Watford. We are thrilled to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing the impact he has on the talented squad at his disposal."

Talks are ongoing regarding who Cleverley will appoint to his backroom staff, with a number of coaches appointed by Muslic still listed on the Argyle website as being on the club's staff.

Cleverley could opt to link up again with Damon Lathrope, his assistant at Watford, who has also left the club and spent more than five years in two spells as a player at Plymouth's Devon neighbours Torquay United.

Argyle say they had a large number of applicants for the role, with the Pilgrims now on to their fifth permanent manager in less than two years.

Cleverley replaces Muslic, who was at the club for four months after succeeding Wayne Rooney in January.

The former England captain was only appointed in May last year following the short-lived tenure of Ian Foster, who had replaced Steven Schumacher in January 2024 when he left Home Park to take over at Stoke City.

"We were inundated with interest from prospective candidates, which shows how exciting this project is," chief executive Andrew Parkinson said.

"But throughout the process, it was clear Tom was the perfect person to take the club forward.

"He's been highly sought after, so we are really pleased we have been able to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing him build a squad and style of play that will see us challenging at the top end of League One this season."

Brent Pilnick, BBC Sport Online

Tom Cleverley joins a club intent on returning to the Championship at the first attempt after their relegation last season.

Having gambled on head coaches with little positive first-team experience in Ian Foster and Wayne Rooney, Argyle have gone for a man who was well-received during his time at Watford.

Despite being Argyle's fourth head coach since January 2024, he is arguably joining a more stable environment for a manager than at Watford - Steven Schumacher and Miron Muslic both left for other clubs while Foster and Rooney's poor records required their removal.

Cleverley's major concern will be recruitment and retention - Adam Randell and Ryan Hardie both have 12 months left on their deals, while the club has players such as Michael Baidoo and Rami Al Hajj who struggled to adapt to the English game last season.

He will have a decent budget for the level, with owner Simon Hallett saying it is bigger than the club had when they won League One in 2023.

But that means the pressure will be on to produce a promotion push - especially with there being no mammoth spenders like Birmingham City and Wrexham in the division this season.