Rotherham United (A) | Cooper's Preview
A lot has changed at Plymouth Argyle since Michael Cooper became a Pilgrim.
The goalkeeper, now 24, has seen a multitude of peaks and troughs, from being a centre of excellence prospect, an academy graduate, and a first-team mainstay.
Through ups and downs, relegations and promotions, there has been one constant: the Green Army.
This week, Argyle parted company with head coach Ian Foster, and now the Greens get ready to head to Rotherham United this Friday evening, as the final six games of the season come into view.
Argyle are teetering just above the dreaded dotted line that denotes relegation to Sky Bet League One, but Cooper is drawing on the power of the fan base as we enter the final month of the campaign.
“It's been as difficult as you can imagine,” he passionately told Argyle TV.
“As a squad, we've just got to look forward. We've had a bit of change now, so hopefully we can go into Friday with a different attitude and a different mentality.
“It’s not just for us, but for the fans who've stuck with us through thick and thin; this season and for the past God knows how long.
“This fan base is different. How many would stick by the players despite a run of form like this and our league position in the table?
“They are special, and I think they can tell that we're giving them everything. That's not to say that we deserve all their support all the time. We don't take it for granted, but we're giving 110 per cent for them and for each other.
“Results aren't going our way. We aren't putting the ball in the back of the net, but we're really going to try and change that this Friday and onwards. I know that they're going to back us tenfold.
“If you could put a camera in the changing room at the end of the games, you’d understand how much it means to us. We're going to go in with a real positive mentality to try to win the game and lift us off towards the higher end of the table.
“Managers, players have come and gone, but the fans have always stayed with us. They don't come and go. That's why we're still here. That's why we're still fighting and not giving up, not giving in. That's our sole motivation for the last six games. We’ve just got to battle harder than ever and try to get the results.
“For me, it's about us now. I think previously it's been a lot about opposition but, for me, I want to go back to our identity of games being about us; free-flowing, attacking football, scoring more goals than the opposition, getting three points.
“That’s going to, hopefully, keep us up. That's the obvious goal. There's no reason why we can't do it, but we can't sit around too long waiting on the next game – it has to start Friday.
“We don't want to keep ticking off games and keep saying: ‘this is our cup final’. We just need to get a win on Friday; it’s as simple as that. Just don't settle for anything less.”
