Cooper and Randell show the benefit of a thriving Academy

NEED any convincing about the importance of Plymouth Argyle’s new permanent academy home, Foulston Park, which is scheduled to open next year?

- Chris Errington

The evidence was clear to see when the Pilgrims took on Championship leaders Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday. Argyle’s best player, certainly during a first half in which Blades’ boss Chris Wilder admitted the visitors had been the better team, was academy graduate Adam Randell.

Now aged 24, Randell was able to get on the ball a lot from his deep midfield role in a 4-1-4-1 formation and dictate the play, while also providing protection for the Pilgrims’ defence.

Given the quality of the opposition it was an excellent performance from Randell, but he was not the only Argyle academy graduate to make his mark at Bramall Lane. Lining up between the posts for United was former Pilgrims’ goalkeeper, and two-time player-of-the-year, Michael Cooper, who progressed through the club’s youth ranks at a similar time to Randell.

Cooper made one magnificent reaction save to keep out a flicked Ryan Hardie header during the second half which, had it gone in, would have drawn the away side level at 1-1. It was the type of stop from Cooper that the Green Army have seen countless times in the past, but this time they wished he had not made it.