“I’m not going to lie,” says the 41-year-old Scouser, who guided the Shakers to promotion from League Two last season amidst a financial meltdown that would eventually see the Greater Manchester minnows expelled from the Football League.
“It’s things like knowing your wages will be going in the bank at the end of the month. Not having to worry about bailiffs turning up at the training ground. Or the water being turned off.
“At some clubs - not just Bury - you spend as much time dealing with all the crap as you do on training players. Stadium issues. Bills. Interference. Being told who you can and can’t pick.
“All any manager wants is to be left alone with his team to do the football stuff, and that’s what I’ve got here. It’s been fantastic.”
Plymouth rode to Lowe’s rescue in June, just as it was becoming apparent that Steve Dale, the Bury owner, could neither locate a buyer nor fund the club. Two months later, having failed to fulfil a single League One fixture, the Shakers’ 125year tenure in the EFL was over.
“It was incredibly sad what happened at Bury,” adds Lowe, who scored 72 goals in 189 games for the club as a player. “It was a real shame after last season, and to see the club go under was heartbreaking. But you have to move on, don’t you?”
For Lowe, that has proved easier than it otherwise might. Partly it’s the idyllic Devon locale that his young family - currently based in the north west - enjoy every other weekend.
This story is from the February 23, 2020 edition of The Football League Paper.
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This story is from the February 23, 2020 edition of The Football League Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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