Sunday 30 November 2008

The Biggest Game

FA Cup 3rd Round, Arsenal v Plymouth Argyle, Saturday 3 January, Emirates Stadium.

So Argyle have drawn Arsenal in what is the biggest game in recent years, is it a good draw? Well there's probably zero chance of progession and as it's away no extra gate receipts. So probably not. But it'll give people a day out to see a big team. Ticket details are yet to be confirmed.

Saturday 29 November 2008

The Trouble with Argyle

Plymouth Argyle 1 (Gallagher 67) - 2 Blackpool (Dickinson 78, Dickinson 81)

Is that they are far too inconsistent. A run of good performances just outside the play offs and then they put in a load of shite, at home as well and not wonder the crowds are sub 10k. By all accounts today was a woeful day, save for Gallagher's 'wonder goal', that turned the crowd from elation to desperation in 3 minutes. This is not how you win fans.

It wasn't just individual problems, it was a collective collusion of crapness that should have wanted a bollocking at half time and definitely full time. Granted the team seemed more up for it at the beginning of the second half so their ears must be ringing, but by the end they should have bleeding ears after such an un'honest' performance. Or were they just 'tired'(!) that they let a late debutante substitute score two goals.

Wednesday 26 November 2008

A Wee Bit of a Turn Around

Plymouth Argyle 2 (Mpenza , Gallagher) - 1 Cardiff City
Southampton 0 - 0 Plymouth Argyle

Back in September no-one thought that come the end of November the Greens would be in a play off position, but here they are. From the depths of last place to the heights of in 2 months is a fantastic turn around. The performances put in in the last two games were good too, one of which was in front of the country's eyes which normally is a slipping point for the Pilgrims.

The Greens were the better team on Saturday and, though maybe a little poorer on Tuesday, held their own at St Mary's to a 0-0 draw. This was even after enforced changes due to injuries. Does this mean that the team have turned a corner and are able to work together no matter who is in the XI (ie Sturrock can change his team and not play the same men every game)? Or was it a one off.

There are three games this week (Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday) and the main indicator will be Saturday's performance. No doubt though that a poor game would be blamed on the manager's get clause, tiredness.

Saturday 15 November 2008

PAFC Talk

The fans' forum PAFC Talk has been laid to rest by its owner due to personal reasons.
It is hoped that the forum will be resurrected soon.



UPDATE:
In order to rehost the site, we need approximately £60 a year. If you would like to donate, please do so via the PayPal site:






No-one Saves the Day

Coventry City 0 - 1 Plymouth Argyle (Noone 87)

Who put the ball in the Coventry net? Super Craig Noone. Doesn't really scan that well does it? But at 0-0 going into the break it was a turn around that Argyle came out and scored instead of conceding especially as it wsa Coventry who (you could say predictably) started the second half the better team. But for once it was a substritution who changed the game as Noone came on to score in the dying minutes of the game and hung on for the three points. Up until then there were the usual missed chances, including Mpenza, who had his first start of the season, in the 11th minute that was tipped round the post. Though Coventry were not without their chances either which saw Larrieu push a 30 yard strike just over the crossbar.

So the three points place Argyle currently 9th in the table.

Sunday 9 November 2008

It ain't Over till the Man Blows

Plymouth Argyle 2 (Doumbe 37, Mpenza 90) - 2 Charlton Athletic (Youga 86, Gray 90 pen)

There are 90 minutes in a game of football.
Well, there are more than 90 minutes in a game of football.


Well, it ain't over till the man blows his whistle, so technically a game of football could go on for days.
But even so, a game has a set period of time and anything can happen. It usually does. In Argyle's case they get comfy on a 1-0 lead, nothing unusual there when leading, go into autopilot and defend the lead, the deeper the better, and again they let it slip away. So they wait until the 90 minutes is over to regain the lead but then concede a penalty immediately afterwards! It's laughable really if it wasn't so frustrating.

Most of the reports coming out of Home Park concluded that Argyle should be happy with the draw, so something must have been bad and Summerfield was on the end of it. But should people be surprised? It's Argyle's party trick and guaranteed that being in the lead is a nail biting event just as playing catch up is a non-event. But to let the lead go twice, and to concede penalties in back-to-back games is ludicrously poor form. It seems that yet again Sturrock's decision on substitutes was lacking in the fans' opinion. But who are we to question the Messiah? What do we really know?

Sunday 2 November 2008

PG's Trips - Steel City Red Blues

Sheffield United (Beattie 49 pen, Beattie 57) 2 - 0 Plymouth Argyle

Just a quick one today:

We always get shit refs.
2 gifted goals - a fair result? Well the direction of the 3 points, possibly yes. The way the goals happened, probably not. But all in all the slack performance that the Greens gave, they probably would not have got anything from the Steel City's red half. And to be honest, we have not really been playing well for some time. Luckily, everyone else played worse.

A big problem that looms like a black cloud is the ineffectiveness of the team to come back from being behind. In all 15 games when Argyle went behind, never have they managed to score. And secondly, the nervousness in front of goal. The big white netty thing is where the ball should go. You don't get points for farting around and looking all flash in the penalty box, just to lose posession. Goals mean points (and points mean prizes!).

A wasted afternoon.