Steven Schumacher took over at Plymouth in December when Ryan Lowe left for Preston; the 37-year-old has overseen 11 wins in their last 15 League One matches to be in promotion contention with four games left; Schumacher named March's Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month.
Tuesday 12 April 2022 12:00, UK
Steven Schumacher knows just how quickly the fortunes of football can change. The Plymouth Argyle boss took charge of his 10th game in management at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in February when just four years earlier he was overseeing Everton's U11s
"We nearly rocked the European and world champions!" Schumacher tells Sky Sports of the League One club's 2-1 defeat after extra-time in the FA Cup fourth round. "We've totally exceeded expectations this year, definitely. Since we played Chelsea we've only conceded five goals."
Plymouth's defensive record has been key to their unlikely promotion bid, having won seven of their last nine league games, keeping clean sheets in eight of them.
Their form during March earned Schumacher the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month award, his first honour arriving exactly four months into his first management job.
The 37-year-old, the fourth youngest manager in the division, stepped up from his role as assistant when Ryan Lowe left in December for the Championship's Preston North End - and has not looked back.
Plymouth are still in contention for a top-three finish with four games left, with meetings against promotion rivals Wycombe, Sunderland, Wigan and MK Dons to come as Schumacher heads into his fifth month in the job.
"Fifth month sounds mad! It's gone so fast," he said. "I've really enjoyed this role, the first four months have gone brilliantly, couldn't have asked them to go any better really.
"It wouldn't have been easy for the players when Ryan Lowe left. If a completely different manager with a different coaching staff had come in the transition might not have been as smooth. With me being there nothing really changed for them, we've just continued as business as usual."
Schumacher and Lowe won promotion together with Bury from League Two in 2019 before repeating the feat with Plymouth the following year. The pair are best friends and remain so despite going their separate ways.
"It was a difficult decision having to speak to him straight away when I was offered the job," said Schumacher. "That was hard splitting up that relationship, I think it took us a few weeks to settle down but we understood that we're still going to need each other.
"I've picked the phone up to him a few times and said, 'What do you think about this? What would you do in this situation?', and he's picked up the phone to me when it has or hasn't gone so well for him. I want him to do so well and I know he wants me to do well so everyone came out of it good in the end."
When Preston were set to appoint Lowe, Schumacher was quickly offered the Plymouth job - an opportunity he could not turn down.
"I knew it was the right time because of the football club I worked for," he said, taking over with the club in fourth place and having nine of his first 12 league matches away from home.
"The owner Simon Hallett and the CEO Andrew Parkinson, the way they run the club is fantastic. As a young coach or manager you're not going to get a better opportunity to make mistakes. When they appointed Ryan and myself from Bury, we'd only had one season in management. They gave us an opportunity.
"We didn't get everything right in the first two-and-a-half years and they were okay with that, they knew we were going to make mistakes and it's the same with myself now. I knew it was the right thing to do for my own career because I knew I might not get another chance like this ever again."
Plymouth have won 11 of their last 15 league games to silence the doubters who thought they would fall out of the promotion picture following Lowe's departure.
Striker Ryan Hardie is having his best season with 19 League One goals, while Mike Cooper, 22, and an academy product, is regarded by many as the best goalkeeper in the division. Schumacher is quick to highlight the work of his assistant Keith Downing in their defensive improvement.
"He is a fantastic out-of-possession coach," said Schumacher. "We worked really hard to be organised against Chelsea. Since then we've tweaked a few things about how we organise ourselves against different types of opposition.
"Working alongside Keith and going through it has taught me a few things and I've really enjoyed it. The players are enjoying we're showing them things we're doing really well and we're also showing them things we can still improve on.
"The players have been different class, couldn't have asked for anymore from them. For Plymouth to be challenging for the automatic promotion places, where we're at as a club financially, where we were last season just getting into League One and securing ourselves. To be where we are this year is an unbelievable achievement."
Plymouth travel to Wycombe on Friday in the first of four crucial games which could end a 12-year absence from the Championship.
Argyle supporters would not have envisaged this scenario at the start of the season and neither would their new man in the dugout.
"Previously, no one really knew who I was," added Schumacher. "Walking around the city is a little bit different now, people stopping us and asking for photographs or talking about the game. The attention you get is a lot different now.
"It's going fantastic at the moment so all the attention is good but we also know football can change quickly and when it's not going so well that attention might not be as kind. But I think the fans will see and understand that as long as I'm giving it 100 per cent and trying to do my best then they'll accept whatever the outcome of the results are."
