Q & A With Graham Coughlan

Plymouth Vital continues its occasional series of interviews with Argyle personalities with an exclusive Question and Answer session with former defender Graham Coughlan.

Graham joined Argyle in 2001 and enjoyed tremendous success over the next four years, the centre-back won two Championship titles, was voted as Player of the Year in 2002, was selected in the PFA Team of the Year in 2002 and 2004 and was included in the Argyle Team of the Century as voted for by the fans.
In total Graham made 193 appearances for the Pilgrims and scored 26 goals.

Graham was born in Dublin and started his football career at Bray Wanderers before moving to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers at the age of 21.
Graham struggled to make the first team at Ewood Park so decided to go on-loan to Swindon Town and Livingston in Scotland. The move to Livingston was made permanent in 1999 and Graham helped the club win two promotions including the Scottish First Division title.

Argyle boss Paul Sturrock then came calling and persuaded Graham to join the revolution taking place at Home Park. Graham formed a fantastic centre-back partnership with skipper Paul Wotton as Argyle romped to the Third Division title; Graham never missed a game, scored 11 goals to become top scorer, conceded just 28 goals and picked-up just three yellow cards, an incredible achievement for a tough-tackling defender!

Two seasons later Graham won another trophy with Argyle when the Pilgrims won the Second Division title and were promoted to the newly-named Championship.
Graham sadly left Home Park in the summer of 2005 and joined Sheffield Wednesday who were managed by Sturrock. After two years at Hillsborough Graham signed for Rotherham United where he stayed for a year before moving to Shrewsbury Town in 2008 and made club captain.
With Shrewsbury currently in the play-off zone in League Two, Graham is well-placed to add yet another promotion to his CV.

Earlier this season Graham, now 35, was linked with a return to Argyle as a coach, in this exclusive interview Graham gives us the inside news on that story and talks about his time at Argyle and his love for the club.

Q: Can you tell us about your move to Argyle from Livingston?

GC: Having had a couple of successful seasons in Scottish Football I was anxious to return to England. I had several options but after a supposed 20 minute meeting which lasted two hours I bought into Paul Sturrock and Plymouth Argyle’s five year plan.
It was an exciting challenge and it ended up being the most successful period of my career.

Q: What was your most memorable Argyle match?

GC: Queens Park Rangers to clinch the title and promotion to the Championship. It’s a game that’s etched in every Plymouth Argyle Supporter’s memory, a day we’ll all remember and never forget.

Q: What was your greatest personal achievement from your time at Argyle and during your football career?

GC: Obviously the birth of my two kids who I adore and love immensely. From a professional point of view it would be hard to pick out one particular achievement.
I love achieving and I love winning but football is about the team, the club and the fans not an individual person or players achievements.

Q: You had a great scoring record for a centre-back; do you have a favourite Argyle goal?

GC: Yes, for personal reasons the last day of the 2001-2002 season versus Cheltenham at Home Park, it was a simple tap in but it was my granddad who set that goal up for me. He passed away earlier that week knowing we had just clinched the title away to Darlington on the Monday night.

Q: Who is the best player you have played against?

GC: I have played against some top players over the years – Scholes, Beckham, Neville, Gerrard, Owen, Waddle and Sheringham to name a few so I will let you choose. But I do remember one particular game against Manchester United reserves when I was supposed to be marking Jordi Cruyff, who scored a hat-trick and gave me the run-a-round for 90 minutes!

Q: Who is the best manager you played under during your career?

GC: The best would Kenny Dalglish or Roy Hodgson but without a doubt the most successful would be Paul Sturrock and I hold my current manager Paul Simpson and ex manager Mark Robins in high regard.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with your old Argyle team-mates and have you recently returned to Home Park for a visit?

GC: Yes, the majority of us got on really well on and off the pitch and still do. I pop down at the end of each season to meet up with friends and have only returned to Home Park as an opposing player against Argyle.

Q: Do you feel you could have stayed at Home Park for another season or two, I understand the new contract offer wasn’t to your liking?

GC: It is no secret the affection I have for the club and I was obviously gutted when I had to leave, some would say it was good business from the club’s point of view – signing me for free, getting two promotions, Championship security and then selling me for £125,000!
The club explained to me that I was being replaced by a World Cup centre-half from Nigeria and that they had accepted an offer from Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday so my position became untenable.
But personally I felt we had one more promotion to achieve.

Q: In the 2001-2002 Championship winning season you formed an incredible centre-back partnership with Paul Wotton, conceding just 28 goals all season, is Paul the best partner you’ve played alongside?

GC: I have been fortunate to develop good partnerships with most of my centre half partners throughout my career, so to compare one to the other would be unfair considering I learnt my trade at Blackburn Rovers where I played with a lot of top quality Premiership and International centre-backs.

Q: There were reports earlier this season that you were approached to become part of the coaching staff at Argyle, can you say if that was true and if so how close was it to actually happening?

GC: Yes it is true, it was a really exciting opportunity to return to Plymouth in a coaching capacity, something I had to think long and hard over but the only problem was I would have had to hang up my boots. It would be something I would love to do in the future.

Q: After several promotions during your career you have the chance of another one this season with Shrewsbury well placed in League Two, with your contract expiring at the end of this season would you retire from playing if you won promotion?

GC: No way, my ambition and desire to succeed drives me on, winning and achieving makes you want more!

Q: I understand you are taking your coaching badges and have taken charge of the Shrewsbury reserve team, is football management the next step for you?

GC: Having completed my coaching badges the gaffer Paul Simpson has shown great faith and trust in me allowing me to gain valuable experience with both the reserves and youth teams which I really enjoy.
My aim is to be the best I can be at whatever I do and management is something I aim to do.

Q: Finally, the fans hold you in such high regard and consider you an Argyle Legend – do you have a message for them?

GC: A massive thank you for all your support on and off the pitch during and after my time at Argyle.

Ps: Make sure we don’t go down!

Thank you to Graham for taking part in this interview.