Charlton are thought to be getting new ownership next week, heralding the dawning of a new era at The Valley.
But it felt like the dawn had arrived early on Saturday. Caretaker manager Lee Bowyer had his team playing slick, incisive football.
Gone was the slow, ponderous build up, replaced by a quick, more direct style and no nonsense defending.
Bowyer was attired in a suit and took no part in the warm up. Johnnie Jackson was in charge of the pre-match preparations, assisted by Grant Basey.
Bowyer opted for a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield.
Jake Forster-Caskey was the deepest of the midfield quartet, with Joe Aribo and Ben Reeves playing further forward, and Tariqe Fosu at the tip.
Anfernee Dijksteek and Lewis Page flanked Patrick Bauer and skipper, Jason Pearce, at the back.
Argyle, backed by a packed away end, won the toss but surprisingly opted to attack the Jimmy Seed end in the first-half.
If the idea was to get off to a fast start it backfired spectacularly. It was the Addicks who got a flyer, scoring two goals with little more than a quarter-of-an-hour gone.
Page gave the Addicks the lead after just 3 minutes when he let fly from outside the box. Plymouth cleared Dijksteel’s early cross, but it fell invitingly to Page who was about 25 yards out. His shot whistled into Remi Matthews’ top left hand corner.
Charlton doubled their advantage after 17 minutes. A move down the left was switched to Joe Aribo on the right by Reeves. Aribo’s pinpoint cross found Zyro, whose bullet header gave Matthews no chance.
That was the end of the scoring, but there was much more to enjoy in the Addicks’ performance.
Referee, John Brooks, made some eccentric decisions and failed to show Matthews a card after he deliberately outside the box.
Charlton always held the upper hand, but the Pilgrims had their moments. Ben Amos had to tip an Oscar Threlkeld shot onto the post, and Graham Carey had an effort that went narrowly well.
After the interval Fosu, Forster-Caskey, Ajose and Zyro came close, and Carey went closest for the visitors.
There was a feel good factor at The Valley, every player did his part. Karl Robinson said Ajose had not done enough to earn a start.
Bowyer disagreed and the Bury born striker looked the lively, dangerous player he did in his Swindon days.
Who knows what the future holds, but if Bowyer fancies the job on a permanent basis, he did his cause no harm this afternoon.
Charlton: Amos; Dijksteel, Bauer, Pearce, Page (Sarr 88); Forster-Caskey, Aribo, Reeves (Maloney 90); Fosu, Zyro, Ajose (Marshall 82).
Subs (not used): Phillips, Kaikai, Lennon, Umerah.
Goals: Page 3, Zyro 17.
Booked: Bauer 27 (foul), Reeves 43 (foul).
Plymouth: Matthews; Threlkeld, Vyner, Songo’o (Fletcher 54), Sawyer; Makasi, Fox (Paton 72), Ness; Carey, Taylor, Lameiras (Taylor-Sinclair 54).
Subs (not used): Letheren, Ainsworth, Grant, Sangster
Booked: Paton 90 (foul).
TAGS: Charlton Athletic