Club director says he did his homework on two Spurs youngsters and liked what he saw
Plymouth’s director of football Neil Dewsnip has revealed that the Championship club did their homework on both Alfie Devine and Ashley Phillips before signing the...
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Plymouth’s director of football Neil Dewsnip has revealed that the Championship club did their homework on both Alfie Devine and Ashley Phillips before signing the Tottenham pair on loan and were convinced that the centre-back and the midfielder could add a lot to their side.
Phillips arrived at Spurs on the back of a breakthrough season at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship last term and the centre-back failed to get any game time during the first half of the campaign in North London.
The Lilywhites decided to send the 18-year-old to Plymouth last month and the young defender has not put a foot wrong since his switch, quickly establishing himself as a mainstay in their backline.
In contrast, Devine has not tasted Championship football before, with the attacking midfielder arriving at Home Park Stadium after an outstanding spell in League One with Port Vale.
Tottenham will be delighted to see that both teenagers are now getting regular football under their belt with the Pilgrims.
Plymouth Argyle did their homework on Phillips and Devine
Dewsnip has now revealed that the club learned through their research that the Spurs pair both had a fantastic mentality, admitting that they are over the moon with the impact the duo have made.
The Plymouth director told The Athletic: “We’ve been very prominent in the use of our loan strategy over the last four to five years and it’s been a huge success story.
“When you get players from a high-profile club such as Tottenham Hotspur, there is always a slight doubt that you don’t know what mentality they may bring.
“The research told us they would bring an outstanding mentality and they have been sensational. They’ve been open-minded to learning and the whole environment at Argyle is about that. We’ve chosen Foz (Foster) as a head coach with that in mind, as he ticks that box.
“We have some fantastically talented young players in England, as good as anywhere in the world, but some of them have a pathway that’s blocked by the best players in the world and it’s hard for them to get game time.
“So if I’m a Tottenham or an Aston Villa or whoever, I’m looking to give the talented young players an experience. Plymouth Argyle is an environment that seems to offer that opportunity and, touch wood, they excel in that environment.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Johan Lange and the staff at Tottenham need to be credited for finding the right loan moves for all young players during the January window. The club have evidently put plenty of work into finding the right sort of environment for each of the players to thrive in and can hopefully return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ready to make an impact.
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