Ryan Lowe: Plymouth Argyle boss wants Pilgrims to be inspired by Liverpool

"I've had a good few weeks. Being appointed Argyle manager, watching Liverpool winning a sixth European cup, it can't get any better at the moment."

Plymouth Argyle's new manager Ryan Lowe has certainly had a busy end-of-season.

In the space of six weeks the Liverpool born-and-bred manager has led Bury to promotion to League One, driven to Madrid in a campervan to watch the Reds win a sixth European title and got a new job at the club furthest away from his current employers.

But with the Shakers having major financial problems, Lowe, who spent three spells as a player at Gigg Lane and a season as full-time manager, says his decision to drop down a division is the right one.

"It was tough because of what we've done and what we've achieved and to leave a lot of memories behind," he told BBC Radio Devon.

"But when a football club like Argyle comes calling for you it's a no-brainer and the decision was based on a footballing decision as it's a fantastic football club."

Klopp inspiration

Ryan Lowe's Bury side took on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in a pre-season friendly in July 2018

Lowe accepted the Argyle job before the Champions League final in Madrid but the announcement was put off until he returned from Spain. He drove there with friends in a campervan to attend the match.

He was a youth player with the Anfield club and was able to pick the brains of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp while in charge at Bury including after the Reds' Champions League quarter-final win away at Bayern Munich.

Now the 40-year-old hopes to take some of what he learnt from the German back to Home Park when pre-season starts in a few weeks.

"He's the type of guy that epitomises me," Lowe told BBC South West. "I love what he's about and his passion and commitment and desire for the football club.

"I've been to see him, I've built a bit of a relationship with him and I was quoted saying 'Why can't Bury play like Man City or Liverpool?'. Well why can't Argyle play the same?" he added.

"That's the stamp I'll be putting down. We'll try and play. We'll need a lot of patience at times, because it doesn't happen overnight. It'll be hard work and when you put the hard work in you finally see results."

Taking Argyle back up

Plymouth Argyle's relegation back to League Two came after two seasons in the third tier

Lowe says he has taken "one step back to move two steps forward" by taking the job at Argyle, who were relegated on the final day of last season having lost six and won just one of their final nine matches.

"People say I could be in League One. My ambition is to get to the Championship in the very near future and see where it goes from there," he said.

With some of Argyle's top players such as Graham Carey and Yann Songo'o leaving the club, and others such as Ruben Lameiras out of contract, Lowe is confident of building a squad that can bounce straight back to the third tier.

"We've got players from up and down the country not only wanting to come and play for me and for Steven Schumacher my number two, but for this fantastic football club," he said.

"It might be a million miles away for some people, but it's a great club and it's in the wrong league at the moment.

"There's plenty of good players that want to come and play for me and the football club, which is not a worrying sign.

"Your best players potentially get linked with bigger moves away, and that's fine, that's football. But if they choose to stay or choose to go we'll respect their decision and we'll move on."