Friday 29 August 2008

One Step Backwards, Two Forwards?

The speculation about Argyle's ambition has been rife for the last few years but recently it has taken a hard knocking. There seems to be a feeling that rather than being an established Coca Cola Championship club, the board would rather Argyle were a successful League One club. Surely this cannot be right? The thinking behind it is that the success of winning the (then) Third and Second Leagues in quick succession generated loads of interest in the club and high gate prices and thus people were riding the crest of the feelgood wave. And it can be replicated again.

But there's a flaw. In fact several.
1. Relegated clubs do not always do well, there could well be an exodus of players, leaving yet another decimated squad.
2. Relegation means that what extra fans the club had might not turn up.
3. The feeling of 'been there done that'. People have seen Argyle promoted and then stagnate - why should it be different next time around.

Therefore I do not believe that the board want Argyle to be relegated. And anyway if they do, they're bloody stupid. So what is the making of the current situation. Certainly the problems have been deeply ingrained for years and since Sturrock left first time, each subsequent manager has had problems with the frugality of the expenditure. But success was built in frugality so what has changed? Argyle have not moved with the times, football has become one huge megaglomerate money monster. It be anything in the game you must flash the cash. And Argyle have not done that. So far they've been surviving by the skin of their teeth. Sooner or later those teeth will drop out.

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