Guest Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 ARGYLE v SWANSEA the VERDICT I’ll get the ball rolling about Argyles 1-0 home defeat against Swansea City. I like many either watched the match on Sky TV or in my case video’d the match There must have been a lot as the gate was just 9,203. I think a number of issues had to be raised not least the imagined foul spotted only by referee D’Urso to deny Argyle the equaliser. No matter how many times the incident was replayed form different angles, the referee made a decision based purely on what he thought happened not what he actually saw. D’Urso has gained a reputation for making numerous contentious decisions and this was a cracker. It is amazing that 99% of fouls in the penalty area seem to be committed by forwards. How strange. D’Urso told Sky TV he blew because the Swansea goalkeeper was impeded. This raises the point, did he make his decision on what he saw or what he thought he saw. It was obviously the latter because the keeper fell into his own player with the flying Fallon a long way from him with absolutely no contact made in any way shape or form. Yes Argyle played badly but how many games have we seen where a match turns on a bad referring decision. Argyle might have bucked up and gone on to win, who knows. So what did go wrong?. I’ll say it from the start that I am a Sturrock fan, he did it once and I think he can do it again. Sturrocks post match interview said it all really that it was the worst attacking display he had seen from the club in both his stints. Sturrock came to the club not knowing that Ebanks-Blake was on his way out. Buzacky had already gone and Halmosi went to Hull City and Dan Gosling to Everton His top ten targets also all turned down moves to Argyle. I would say a classic Money and WAG’S problem. Argyle were also playing a Swansea team who have been together for some time and played some great football as well being able to press Argyle at every opportunity. Having not seen Argyle for a while I must admit I did not know who most of the players were. I also felt playing MacLean was a big mistake his reputation as a goal scorer is not in evidence at Argyle. For start does not look fit and he cannot read a game. The midfield was non existent with the boy Summerfield completely out of his depth. Jason Puncheon looks a terrific buy and worked his socks off. Apart form goalkeeper Stack who had a very good game there was nothing that looked good about Argyle. Sturrock will get it right but with new players coming in without the pre-season training with Argyle means they were completely disjointed and at times looked embarrassing. Saying that, there was enough signs in small patches to think they could develop into a reasonable team. So what are they lacking?. It’s pretty obvious they need a striker (doesn’t everyone) but it was in the midfield that worried me. Summerfield was a surprise disaster and nobody else had the skill or guile to change the course of the game. Simon Walton looks a good buy, very competitive but he often looked frustrated with the lack of movement up front by MacLean. Chris Clark looks promising as he is quick and is a natural left footer. Matt Doumbe was his usual self with his speed helping out Argyle on a number of occasions. Karl Duguid did a reasonable job as captain, Seip played a typical no holds barred Seip game and Barker looked steady. Rory Fallon did what a big man does and that is to win the ball inn the air, unfortunately MaClean never read him at all. My opinion is this side looks ok at the back and with a ball playing midfielder would do ok in the middle of the park The problem is also up front. If players can’t find a moving target up front they tended to hoof the ball up the field anyway. Unfortunately with playmaker Summerfield having a shocker they had no one who could make the decisive pass. With Easter also leaving the club Argyle must find a striker and fast. Swansea on the other hand looked a very compact unit and hunted in packs playing excellent football. Argyle never looked like competing as there was no balance in the side. Mackie should have played from the start alongside Fallon simply because of his pace and enthusiasm. Verdict. A very poor performance by a disjointed side who Sturrock must get working as a team. A possible relegation contender unless he can turn them around. A long way to go but all is not lost just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest postman pat Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 i agree with nearly everything you said eclp,like you i am a sturrock fan at first i thought it was wrong for him to come back to the club as it nearly always does not work out the second time around.but i am confident in his ability to turn things around, it will not happen overnight but as he says we need more recruits and some will have to leave. one of them for me is rory fallon. when he played at truro pre-season i was very dissapointed in his performance.for a big man he should be busting a gut to get into the box and on the end of crosses to take advantage of his height.when he did get near the ball he was nearly always beaten for a man of his height.he seems very slow to anticipate moves for me he looks out of his depth. that and last nights game confirmed for me what i have thought when i saw him play last season he is not good enough to lead the line in a championship side. i agree that mackie should have started and can see that sturrock is trying to bring him on slowly but we do not have the same resources as sir alex ferguson we need to get a proven striker in who can give the side confidence by scoring goals but they are as rare as rocking horse s**t :drink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sport Lover Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 I think its was a fantastic result :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Now! Now! Sport Lover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Im afraid Argyle will be relegated this season with the team we have right now. I cant see us being out the bottom 6 all season. A long hard season with poor crowds is what we look forward to. Argyle dont help themselves by charging £26 for a game which is live on sky!! Woeful to say the least!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms no9 Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 the club is turning into a f*****g joke!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 I have to agree really. All the hard work of winning 2 titles, bringing back the fans, building the new ground etc, should have set us up for many years to push on and with some thought, seen us keep the fans, and keep a squad of players capable of holding their own. Sadly, theyve blown it and were heading the wrong way again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Oh dear, full of praise when Argyle drew with Wolves, they then played a Reading team just relegated from the premier division with a megabucks parachute payment and then we lose to a very good promoted Swansea side because a useless referee decided to disallow a perfectly good goal which could have turned the game. I wonder sometimes if people come on here just to knock Argyle because their lack of knowledge of football seems to be the only quality some of them have,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms no9 Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Oh dear, full of praise when Argyle drew with Wolves, they then played a Reading team just relegated from the premier division with a megabucks parachute payment and then we lose to a very good promoted Swansea side because a useless referee decided to disallow a perfectly good goal which could have turned the game. I wonder sometimes if people come on here just to knock Argyle because their lack of knowledge of football seems to be the only quality some of them have,. i had 3 seasons as a season ticket holder at plymouth and go up at every chance i get normally 7-8 times a year....i no more about plymouth then most people...when i said about the club being a joke i didnt just mean the results they are having ticket prices the board players out players in money spent not orgainsing trains for cornish fans mid week poor ticket office (normally que for 30 mins before i recive it) ........etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Not a happy chappy then. The season is but young, keep the faith. Surely you cant blame Argyle for Britsh Rail not running trains from Cornwall to Plymouth. All will be well, trust me. Remember when Sturrock came we were heading for the Conference but got promotion. Then promotion again. In comes Holloword skives off to Leicester after trying to get rid of half the team. In comes Sturrock and takes us to the highest position for donkeys years. We have a couple of defeats and everyone wants their tuppence worth. The guy knows what he is doing and all will be well. Somebody mentioned to me today that it was a bad mistake getting rid of Wotton. I said Wotton will never be a Championship standard player as Southampton are beginning to find out. The guy signs for the club before the new manager arrives and all he has done is warm the bench. Sturrock knows what he is doing. Its a new era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms no9 Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 its not plymouths fault about the trains but they dont do enough.....but most clubs make sure there fnas have trains to home and away games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest postman pat Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 surely you cant run down the board.the only thing wrong is lack of money. when will we really discover what the japanese are bringing to the club do we want the club to go down the road of leeds,bournemouth,luton or rotherham.to name but a few. argyle are not and will not be a big spending club.just look at our transfer record compared to other clubs,clubs like coventry,leicester,wolves are they any better off than us and look at the money they have spent. at least our board are laying the foundations for the club.yes we all want to get into the promiseland this year but at what cost.look at derby county already they are after paul jewell.clubs that succeed are the clubs with stability.do we really want to go back to the days when we are so poor we fear the conference. give sturrock time with the young players he has signed plus hopefully a few more players,namely a goalscorer then we are not that far off a bad side.this is a new squad that has not been together for two minutes once he has got them up to speed watch the greens march up the table :c: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Well said postmanpat. Read tonights Plymouth Herald, Sturrock made some approaches to a few CHAMPIONSHIP team RESERVE PLAYERS. They were already on between £9k and £17k a WEEK and they are in the reserves. YES A WEEK. That is between £468k and £884k A YEAR for reserve team players. They must think we are pissed down here. We must get our heads in gear guys. Football wages have gone barmy over the last few seasons for overated, overpaid average players. The question is do you want a bankrupt club? All so called supporters complain unless somebody else puts their hands in their pockets shelling out millions and when they do and it fails they blame them anyway. When Sturrock retruned he said 'I have come back to finish the job'. That may be this season or in the next few seasons, but I am sure he will get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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