Sunday 25 April 2010

Going out in Style

Nottingham Forest 3 - 0 Plymouth Argyle

Well if you're going to drop then better to go down not giving a damn. A woeful performance that is just one more of a pathetic season, but is no longer worth getting wound up about because it made no difference to anything. Except the difference between how much 'they' the club and players want it verses 'us' the supporters. At the end a very poor showing of support for the support sums up how little the professionals care for those that sustain and support them. Plus, Mariner has now fallen out of the zone and is really just as bad as Sturrock. Whatever he managed to to in the immediate take over has unravelled and cannot be sustainable into next season. His job is not secure apparently, but who would be best to handle such a tainted product?

Saturday 24 April 2010

Luggone

After months of waiting Paul Sturrock has finally left to pursue his career in management. Mixed emotions for the man who managed to lead the club through one promotion and right up to another, but then lead them back through relegation. There is no denying that his second tenure was dire whilst his first was great. Legend or Leg End.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Welcome Home

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 2 Newcastle United

Relegated. And to be honest who didn't see that coming for a long time? Since the promotion into the CCC maybe? So League One next season (and maybe more, would that team make any impact on L1?), the spiritual home of Plymouth Argyle, 3rd tier, well no actually. A part from a few drops to the 4th tier, Argyle yo-yo between 3rd and 2nd.

What did the Greens make of their latest foray in the 2nd division football pyramid? Consolidation and relegation. Apart from maybe the earliest years, was there ever a time that you could say the Pilgrims went for it? The closest being the end of the Holloway years and we all know what happened then. The same as always. A lot of bottling it. During this time Argyle have managed to lose 2 good managers and a lot of supporters, hire, fire and loan a lot of players, break the record signing bank on several occasions - mostly to crap players - waste a lot of money on not very much and cause so much hot air that could have powered a third world country.

There certainly hasn't be much ambition from anyone at the club, unless it's directed away from the pitch. Today the board's first statement after relegation was that the World Cup bid was still in the running and the south stand will be developed. OK, I''ll allow the stand as that has been on the back burner for years, but it has always been a team v ground issue - money again. To run a so called established CCC team on a shoestring whilst earning a pretty penny for your back pocket does not work, and has not worked, and will not work. Though now there probably is no choice but to cut costs again.

But there have been ups and downs throughout Argyle's life and there will be forever more to come unless the club goes to the wall. So someday there will be another up and the cycle will start again. Though the team at the moment are not likely to challenge next season for promotion. The lack of anything in the net is what got them to this point, not even mentioning the non existent midfield and dodgy defence. So, if they can't score goals, which is what it's all about, then they won't win games. Simple as. What are the odds for next season?

Monday 19 April 2010

Congratulations

To those who said we'd go for it
To those who kept faith in the wrong people
To those who put every 'not a proper fan' down
and To those who love terracing

Saturday 17 April 2010

Season Tickets

The details of season tickets for next season have been announced today. Along with the decision to close down the Mayflower terrace, this means there is a difference price structure to work out:


Premium seating is defined at that between the penalty areas in the Lyndhurst (blocks 6 through 14), Grandstand (seats 6 through 151) and the Mayflower Reserved seating. To compensate for the loss of unreserved seating Blocks 17 and 18 in Zoo Corner will be unreserved, but the £15 tickets are being eliminated making the cheapest wholesale ticket to adults £20, an increase of £5. Plus the cheapest wholesale season ticket is now £360, compared to £275 last season (early bird special). So Argyle have decided to effectively increase the price for less of a product (ground and footballing wise). Note too that no new concession season tickets are allowed to be bought for premium areas. A smart move by the accountants in the board room who already complain there's too few people coming in the gates

Ticketing FAQ

Friday 16 April 2010

Is he or Isn't he?

So, has Sturrock finally been cut loose or not?

The Herald say they believe he no longer has dealings with Argyle, but Argyle have made no statement to either.

The Price of Failure

Three games of the season left and unless there is a miracle, Argyle will be spending the foreseeable future in League One. There has already been much speculation about what this will mean for the club, namely

- a loss of at least £2m in sponsorship money from television deals
- difficulty in maintaining a squad on such high wages
- increased difficulty attracting players to the club
- a fall in gate and sponsorship money
- the potential closure of the Mayflower terrace due to the cost of hiring the seating

Argyle made a loss of near £3m last financial year and saw a transfer embargo put in place due to debts. The loss of revenue and high outgoings next season could cripple the club. The World Cup bid, pitch replacement, hire of facilities for training at Marjon, and plans to finish the stadium (although this one has been cleverly handled as it is now PAHL who will be footing the bill and leasing the ground back to PAFC) are outgoings that may be ill afforded. Though the club has been here before, and some may say is returning to its natural level, we shall just have to wait and see.

Sunday 11 April 2010

Pissed off

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 2 Middlesbrough
Watford 1 - 0 Plymouth Argyle

There's no point posting really on here whilst I've been in the mood I have. I'm sure people don't really want to be hearing the crap I could spout, but the Watford game sums up how diabolical Argyle have been this season. How can a must win game warrant a defensive line up that never had a shot on goal and didn't even get near the opposition goal until 10 minutes before the end! Pathetic!

And now Argyle are finally getting rid of the man who brought them here with Sturrock leaving. My God, how he has tarnished his reputation in the club. There are those who will see the legend in him no matter what and those who will consider him the biggest pile of shite around, but Luggy's second term was a disaster for the club and leave so many mixed emotions for the Green Army that, like Holloway, will run deep for many years. In his wake he leaves Mariner and Carver, whose positions are not guaranteed, doing a job that is poisioned. No matter what they do it won't be good enough.

Oh and Spurs lost to Pompey. FFS. And refereee you're a cunt.

Monday 5 April 2010

Slow and Lingering

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 2 Middlesbrough

Back to the same old ways following the win on Saturday, and this time it included missing a penalty. What a waste of the only chance in the game to recover anything. A pitiful home performance again and lacked any cutting edge. Four games of the season left, Peterborough confirmed as relegated, and a slow lingering drawn out death left for the Greens, including probably confirmed relegation in front of the TV cameras.
Happy days.

Sunday 4 April 2010

Goodness Gracious

Doncaster 1 - 2 Plymouth Argyle

And that one wasn't seen coming either. WP's stoppage time header saw the Rover stream out of the Keepmoat, but still safe in the knowledge that Argyle are going down. A scrappy game that once again saw Stockdale pull off too many saves to keep the Donny out of the net for the remainder of the game despite a very deep sitting defence. Not really a game to shout about, in fact the stadium was very quiet for most of the game; is this just prolonging the agony?

Thursday 1 April 2010

Elephants Climbing Trees

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 0 Barnsley

Finally this match was finished, and what an anticlimax with that score. This game was MUST WIN and MASSIVE, but a draw sees no benefit. So, maybe a musical interlude would suffice?

Down down deeper and down...

Oh and I saw an advert today that featured an elephant climbing a tree. But like Argyle climbing the league really. No plausible.