Thursday 31 July 2008

Tickets, Please!

Get Away!

Supporters are now able to purchase away tickets on line with Argyle's e-ticketing, as well as home tickets. However Cup tickets are still not yet available on line.

Reading Ticket News

Sale Dates:
Green Members - Thursday, July 31
White Members - Monday, August 4
Pilgrim Members - Tuesday, August 5
General Sale - Wednesday, August 6

Price:
Adult - £23
Over 65's - £17
17 - 21 Year-Olds - £17
Under 17's - £12

Coach Travel (departs 09.30):
Adult Members - £20
Adult Non-Members - £23
Child Members - £18
Child Non-Members - £21

E-Ticketing

PG's Trips : I am Sorry that the 17.25 is running 35 mins late

Truro City 0 - 1 Plymouth Argyle (Easter 19) [PSF]
Treyew Road
Wednesday 30 July 2008


The Match

A much better and spirited performance compared to the previous night. A little worrying that Luggy believes the team he fielded verses Yeovil to have been his strongest XI. Maybe he should swap them over. There was a real friendly atmosphere about the place and with the capacious on tap alcohol, the football did seem to take a back seat for many people. Luggy wasn't in the dugout but watching from the terraces, leaving Kevin Summerfield to oversee the team's tactics.
Summerfield started with the basic 4-4-2 which, though basic, works and provided a strong start. Truro responded with pressure and caused Stack to make some good saves with the hosts probably playing the better football. However the goal came from some poor handling by City skipper which was taken advantage of by Fallon who passed it to Easter.

The Ground

About 20 minutes up hill from the station. Not much help if the train is delayed 35 minutes because someone decides to walk into a train at Exeter.
The ground is flanked on one side by temporary tiered uncovered seating, opposite a covered terrace. Behind the goals equally uncovered. The facilities are all at one end consisting of the club house and bar, and a walk-in tea hut. This being non league, alcohol is allowed on the terraces and home and away fans mix non segregated. Both of which are a novelty and add to the experience. During torrential rain, the lack of cover is not good.

Wednesday 30 July 2008

Squad Numbers

The squad numbers for next season have been released:

1 Romain LARRIEU (gk)
2 Karl DUGUID
3 Jim PATERSON
5 Krisztián TIMÁR
6 CHRIS CLARK
7 Jason PUNCHEON
8 Yohann FOLLY
9 Steve MacLEAN
10 Jermaine EASTER
12 GREEN ARMY
13 Mathias KOUO-DOUMBE
14 Rory FALLON
16 David McNAMEE
18 Gary SAWYER
19 Marcel SEIP
20 Luke SUMMERFIELD
21 Graham STACK (gk)
24 Ashley BARNES
25 Jamie MACKIE
26 Yala BOLASIE
27 Lloyd SAXTON (gk)
28 Shane WHITE
29 Damien McCRORY
30 Dan SMITH

The only change being Easter who has moved from 36 to 10, along with promotion for White, McCrory and Saxon.

PG's Trips : Even Yeovil can afford a Scoreboard

Yeovil Town 1 (Tomlin 46) - 0 Plymouth Argyle [PSF]
Huish Park
Tuesday 29 July 2008


The Match

Was someone going for the record for how many Off Sides you can have in one game? It seemed that whenever Argyle went forward, up went the flag. And not too sure whether it was the officials or players who were off side happy. Over all a pretty dire performance from the so-called first team.
Sturrock fielded who he considered his strongest team: Larrieu, McNammee, Seip, Timar, Paterson, Folly, Clark, Duguid (who is going to be forever known by announcers this season as dug-weed), MacLean, Mackie and Puncheon with Doumbe, Fallon, Easter, Smith and Stack on the bench. The starting 4-3-3 formation proved in effective, but was kept till near the middle of the second half, and allowed Yeovil to dominate most of the game and proving them to be the better team. The defence was pretty good, along with some individuals, but as a team it was not there. Even when Yeovil sent on nearly all their substitutes, Argyle could not take advantage, showing only 15 or so minutes of any real pressure on the other Green and Whites.
The goal came right after kick off of the second half, in Argyle tradition of early goals when caught napping. Somethings don't change.

The Ground

Huish Park is quite a good ground. The away end terracing being uncovered and incomplete (the terracing structure extends up behind the back fence for some feet). There rest of the ground is low slung roofed terrace behind the goal and seating flanking the sides. This means that they can generate a lot of noise, even when only a few are singing.
In contrast to the basic starkness of the stand, the facilities are quite good. There is only one "tea bar" (ie doesn't sell alcohol or pies!) which does cause queues, but no more than your usual refreshment bar, but sells reasonably priced pasties, sausage rolls hot dogs, and hot and cold beverages. A beer marque has been erected outside the ground if you feels the need for a tipple before the game, and there are a couple of pubs nearby. Lavatory-wise, the gents toilets are exquisite though, very spacious and complete with flower arrangements! There are no TVs or betting shops and no cover in the event of a downpour, unless you hide in the toilets. At the back of the terrace is a large electronic scoreboard, and two matching older scoreboards on the tops of the flanking stands.
This must be one of the best signed grounds in the country when approached from the A303, car parking is £2.00 from various places around the industrial estate, but be warned the official car park is a field.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Sturrock Downer

Paul Sturrock seems to have been on a bit of a downer this week, firstly accouncing that he has Parkinsons Disease (and has had it for some time), and then releasing an official rant about the transfer market. Sturrock suffers from a mild form of the disease, controlled by tablets and has been suffering for over 8 years.

In
this official announcement Sturrock bemoans the trouble he has experienced this summer, but yet again it seems a case of 'change the record for crying out loud'. This seems the standard copy and paste response from Argyle every transfer window, the same excuses trotted out every time. And its wearing very very thin.

Tony Pulis
in and article for The Herald states that such excuses are standard and that Argyle are going to get nowhere unless there is sufficient investment and drive.

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Austria

Plymouth Argyle 1 (McCrory 77) - 1 Furth (Ilicevic 40)

The first of the rearranged games on the Austrian tour saw Argyle draw 1-1 in heard fought game featuring mainly trialists and youth, with youth team member McCory netting the equaliser.

With the cancellation of FC Nuremberg the rearranged game will be against Romanian side Petrolul Ploiesti.

Plymouth Argyle 2 (MacLean 66, Summerfield 68) - 0 FC Unirea

OK, so it wasn't FC Nuremberg or Petrolul Ploiesti but another 2nd division Romanian side that sounded too much like a bodily function. By most accounts a fairly slow game with both goals coming (in Argyle tradition) within minutes of each other.

Tuesday 22 July 2008

Timar Signs, McCormick Leaves

Kristian Timar has agreed to and signed a 3 year contract with Plymouth Argyle, ending suspicion that he might be following Halmosi out of the door. Timar was voted last season's player of the season.

Meanwhile Luke McCormick has had his contract terminated my mutual consent. McCormick was the driver of a vehicle that crashed and caused the deaths of two boys on the M6 back in June.

Monday 21 July 2008

Rotten to the Core

This weekend I read an article in the News of the World sports section (see here). Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordon has expressed a damning opinion about football being 'rotten to the core'. Jordon has decided to walk away from football by selling Palace to the highest bidder after becoming fed up with all that football stands for these days.

In particular he cites that Lampard is not worth £150,000 a week, which is hard to disagree with. There was once a time when you could say that footballers' careers are short and therefore they need the money for after their career is over. However now the money situation has got too much. With people facing the credit crunch and tightening their belts, the outrageous demands of these celebrities and heroes is forcing clubs to spend more, to put up their prices and is seeing more and more clubs going into financial problems. the money issue has always been a problem with Argyle and year on year players turn down the club because they cannot compete with the big boys. How on earth can Ronaldo claim that he is treated like a 'slave'?


But Jordon doesn't rest all the blame on the players themselves, but shares it equally among the supporters who, whipped up into the frenzy that football has become' demand more and more from players and the clubs. He says that fans will demand the biggest signings and only the best will do - division winners, champions, cup finalists, Europe and beyond - year on year or else.

At the moment football has become a maelstrom, an unstoppable tempest, of itself going round and round until one day, which surely is coming soon, it will not be able to sustain itself and will explode leaving a big mess. As the economy starts to turn, that day could come sooner than expected.

As Jordon says "The reality is that football is a bulls*** world - an insidious, insipid, egotistical, greedy, self-motivated game ... the game descends into a bickering war over inflated contracts, lack of loyalty, greed, corruption and arrogance."

Official Site Make Over

The official Argyle site is currently undergoing a make over with the appearance of several new sections such as Captain's Blog (but who will write it?), information about Argyle's past campaigns, history, kits, statistics and ex-players. In addition it appears that ground tours will become a new revenue stream with an as yet to be filled section has appeared.

Check it out

On Tour

At this moment the team will be on their week long Austrian Tour/Retreat as part of preseason, unfortunately FC Nuremburg have cancelled their match, meaning more training ground work. Before the team left they suffered a poor friendly verses Kidderminster.

Kidderminster Harriers 2 (Bowler 35, Richards 67) - 2 Plymouth Argyle (Mackie 40, Mackie 75) [PSF]


Apparently Kidderminster made Argyle's defence look foolish for both of their goals, and in general the performance was so poor that Kidderminster should really have won the game as Argyle had to come back from behind twice.

3 weeks till the new season...

Friday 18 July 2008

It Never Rains

Yala-BolasieFrom nothing to 5 within weeks.

Argyle have made their 5th signing of the season with Yala Boalise joining the Pilgrims from Maltese club, Floriana. The 19 year old turned own Austrian top division team Sturm Graz and Bundesleige Hoffenheim.


Sturrock describes him as a wild card with quick pace and a large potential and is confident he can replicate Jamie Mackie's time at the club.

At the same time, keeper Graham Stack has been confirmed at Argyle's 4th signing. Stack began his career at Arsenal before moving to Reading and loaned to Leeds and Wolves.

Hiya Yala
Stack Up

Thursday 17 July 2008

Go West-on

Weston-super-Mare 1 (Browns, 66) - 1 Plymouth Argyle (Mullins, 16 (og))

Impressive solid display apparently, in spite of not being able to score goals against a Blue Square South league team, relying on an own goal by Weston to get on the scoreboard.

New signing McNamee made his debut with the squad whilst keeper Larrieu returned between the sticks.

Stack-ed in Argyle's Favour

Argyle have made their 3rd signings of the close season with the signing fullback David McNamee and are set to make their 4th with goal keeper Graham Stack

McNamee is the latest Scot to join what should probably now be SPL club Argyle, from Coventry after playing in the 1-1 draw against Weston-super-Mare. Injuries kept David out for much of last season whilst 26 year old Stack has impressed Sturrock in recent weeks' training.

Graham Stack

Welcome David
Luggy's deck is Stacked

Tuesday 15 July 2008

Matchday Ticket Price Increase

Prices for matchday tickets have been released

Devonport, Lyndhurst, Barn Park, Grandstand

Adult £24 / £26
Under 16 & Over 60 £16 / £18
Under 18 £7 / £8

Mayflower Seating
Adult £20 / £22
Under 16 & Over 60 £15 / £16
Under 18 £7 / £8

(before matchday / on matchday)

Players leaving, prices increasing, attendance decreasing...

Roll Up, Roll Up

Players at bargain prices!

Peter Halmosi has left the West Country and to make his new home in the new Premier League city of Hull for a rumoured £1.75 million just over half of what Argyle said they wanted for him.

In a time when all the blame is put on the supporters for not attending, the release of yet another of Argyle's better players with no sign of a like-for-like replacement (or indeed any replacement), its wearing very thin with some fans. The straw that broke the camel's back is homing nearer and nearer. At the moment many will be seeing a club which has little to no hope of competing this season with no players and no money and the possibility of relegation is being taken seriously.

Was this part of the 5 year plan?

Tivvy Town

Tiverton Town 0 - 1 Plymouth Argyle (Summerfield) [PSF]

Tiverton Town CrestThe first preseason game saw Argyle win 1-0 after a MacLean missed a penalty, but who cares about the results of friendlies (well, Torquay United last season for one). There were 4 trialists on show last night, however their identities are shrowded in secrecy as Sturrock refused to name names. A keeper by the name of 'Hajduch' was announced by the public address who played the whole match, 'Rhim' played 70 minutes in midfield along with 'Mohamed', leaving a fourth totally nameless.

According to those who made the trip, the new signings of Duguid and Puncheon looked good whilst the trialists looked out of their depth for at least the first half except for Hajduch who had little to do. There are 2 more games this week - Weston and Kiddiminster - before the team fly off to Austria for the week. This is the time when new players should be bedding in, but we still have half a team to employ!

Sunday 13 July 2008

On the Box

Due to being shown live on Sky TV, Argyle's home game verse Cardiff on 22 November will now kick off at 12.45.

Friday 11 July 2008

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Targets.

Is there any point blogging and getting excited about targets, when most of them don't sign?

Apparently Argyle have been chasing 3 target players Austian Jurgen Samuel, ex-Reading keeper Stack and another unmaned player (Fletcher?). 2 unmaned players have so far turned Argyle down and Sturrock has moved on to his next sightings.

How boring.

Guess who rules the World

Summer can be a boring time, when supporters squabble amongst themselves for any scrap of information making it past the turnstiles, but this summer has been more quiet than normal on the transfer front with just 2 incoming players. So what do Argyle do about it? They release excuses. And we've heard them all before mainly its the supporters fault for not attending the matches. The most recent excuses to add to the collection (and I'm sure I've heard this one before too) is it's the WAGs' fault.

Players' wives hold their husbands by the balls when it comes to choosing teams, and those teams in London or Manchester or any other big city will always score points on the WAGs' checklist - shopping, money, nightlife, exposure. Plymouth is too far in France for these celebrity conscious women it seems. (
Petticoat Power)

And after you stop laughing at the absurdity of these heroes in shorts and their mistresses, the usual 'we don't have the money' excuses gets trotted out, thinly veiled though. Apparently the inflated cost of buying English players rules out any home-grown players, but getting the foreign ones is just as tough as they need time to adapt to the Argyle way of football. It seems that Argyle play a totally different game to the rest of the world and it'll take far too long for any non-English players to adapt. WTF?! (
Johnny Foreigner)

Friday 4 July 2008

The Small Screen

Due to being shown live on Sky Sports, Argyle's second home game of the season, verses Swansea on 23 August, now has a revised kick off of 17.20.

Wednesday 2 July 2008

McCormick Suspended

Plymouth Argyle have official suspended Luke McCormick until further notice.

Statement

Go Furth and multiply

A slight change to the preseason tour to Austria sees Argyle now playing second division German team Greuther Furth instead of Petrosani.

The new fixtures list is:

14 July: Tiverton Town; Ladysmead: 19.45
16 July: Weston-super-Mare; Woodspring Stadium: 19.30
18 July: Kidderminster Harriers; Aggborough: 19.45
22 July: Greuther Furth (Laufen, Germany): 18.00
24 July: FC Nuremburg (Kaprun, Austria): 18.00
29 July: Yeovil Town; Huish Park: 19.45
30 July: Truro City; Treyew Road: 19.45
2 August: Dundee United; Home Park: 15.00
4 August: Swindon Town; The County Ground: 19.45

Kick offs subject to change