Plymouth Argyle got more than Exeter City did after Oxford United deal | OneFootball

Ryan Taylor played a massive part in a successful Pilgrims side during his time at Home Park, years after his St James' Park stint

Ryan Taylor played for a number of EFL clubs during his career, with the forward bringing much more to any side he played for than just goals.

His strike rate was never going to have any stats nerds pining over data and numbers, but the delicate touch and selfless behaviour up top gave so much more to the team while also chipping in with goals on the odd occasion.

He played that role to perfection at times during his spell at Plymouth Argyle, as he contributed to a side that twice earned promotion from League Two while also going close to a League One play-off position during his four years at the club.

Devon rivals Exeter City may have an all-round different perspective on the striker, given his brief loan spell at St James’ Park during the early days of his football career.

Ryan Taylor’s Exeter City loan stint helps Grecians avoid relegation

Having found game time hard to come by at parent club Rotherham for much of the season, Taylor made the move from League Two to League One to join the Grecians in the latter part of the 09/10 campaign, as they sought to fend off dropping out of the third tier.

While he didn’t find the net for the red and white side of Devon, the frontman did offer his temporary side a focal point to their attack and earned a number of plaudits for his time with City, who lost just once in his seven outings.

A win over a Huddersfield Town side on the final day of the season saw Exeter retain their status in their current division that season, with Taylor playing his part in a valiant effort that saw them edge clear of the drop zone with just ten minutes of the campaign remaining.

While his loan side will have still been toasting that late Ryan Harley strike, Taylor returned to Yorkshire to play his part in the Millers’ play-off campaign before netting twice in the Wembley final against Dagenham and Redbridge.

While his spell at St James’ Park was short and sweet, Argyle would go on to have even greater days with the striker leading their line later in his career when he made the move back to Devon from Oxford United.

Ryan Taylor helps Plymouth Argyle earn League Two promotion

"He's a striker that takes the ball in - he'll take us up the pitch," Pilgrims boss Derek Adams told BBC Radio Devon upon Taylor’s signing in January 2017.

"He's experienced, he's won promotion out of this league and he's played the last five games for Oxford, so he comes in and he's ready to go."

To set the scene, Argyle are chasing promotion from the fourth tier with Adams at the helm, with the Scot’s attacking style of football being focused around a player holding the ball up and feeding the cavalry in support.

Jimmy Spencer had given his all in a similar role at the start of the season, but right from the off Taylor offered more; that elegance and weight of touch that helps attacking moves weave together, and a selflessness of epic proportions for the betterment of the team.

He even showed he was capable of getting his name on the scoresheet himself in his first home outing for his new side, which came in a Devon Derby no less, with his former loan side taking the trip to Home Park.

Seven years on from his St James’ Park stint, Taylor was causing havoc to defenders all game long, and nabbed the second in a 3-0 win on the stroke of halftime with a well-taken right-footed effort.

With the wind in their sails, Argyle continued to thrive with Taylor leading the line, as they aimed to finally get over the line in their sixth season in League Two, with two failed play-off campaigns under their belt in the last two seasons.

But this time they had Ryan Taylor, a man who rose to the occasion on the biggest of occasions, with a late winner against Crawley Town helping their promotion quest late in the season, before grabbing another in the 6-1 demolition of Newport County where a place in the top three was eventually sealed.

A broken ankle on day one of the next season soon put paid to any impact during a first half of the season in League One where the Pilgrims struggled, while it was no coincidence that results picked up once he returned to the fold around the festive period.

From languishing near the bottom of the division, Argyle then went on to lose just two of 21 league games between December and April and narrowly missed out on a miraculous spot in the play-offs, given their early season struggles.

Even after injury woes and making the step-up in division, Taylor never looked out of place when coming back into the team, and made a team that looked at odds with each other suddenly click into place.

If it wasn’t for injuries, Taylor’s time at Home Park could have been all the sweeter, but a lack of game time the following season ended in Adams departing and the Greens being relegated, with the former Rotherham man starting just six league matches all season.

Game time was at a premium during the next campaign, where new boss Ryan Lowe started him just seven times in the Covid-effected season, with a brace against Walsall all he had to show for his efforts.

That season ultimately ended in the Pilgrims winning promotion once again, but also saw Taylor’s time at the club come to an end, as he went on to play for Newport County, as well as Grimsby Town.

While Exeter got a short-term fix from the frontman, it was the Pilgrims that got their fill of a player that could often be underrated by those expecting goals, goals and nothing but goals.

Ryan Taylor had as big a part as anyone to play in that successful Argyle side at the end of the last decade and should be remembered as a pivotal part of an upwardly mobile side for the majority of his time at the club.