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?

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.

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Oh Shut Up!

I'm fed up of hearing people tell me that the next game is 'must win' or 'massive'. I mean, come on, state the fucking obvious, but ffs how many games have been 'massive' or 'must win' and how many have been lost?

Who didn't see that one Coming?

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 2 Blackpool

Really? Who didn't think that something like that would happen? The old two-faced weasel slimeball Judas Hollowords Holloway (TM) returns to the club he shafted and caused their current demise, to fuck them over again. Or rather that the same old Argyle are too bloody inconsistent and that's why they're going down. A very unexpected win last Tuesday that brought the 'told you so bashers' out of the woodwork and reignited the push for survival should really have spelled the forecast for the dismal performance played out again on Saturday. Suffice to say that the Holloway saga should hopefully once and for all be dead and buried; there are more recent and more bigger fish to blame.

I didn't bet on Argyle

Ipswich 0 - 2 Plymouth Argyle

What are they trying to do to the Green Army - make us insane? This is the trouble with Argyle - far too much inconsistancy. After last Saturday's result most people had made up their mind about relegation and here we are again with a glimmer of hope. The corpse is not quite dead yet. Whether to get excited about this or not is a tough one - do you build dreams on poor foundations, settle for something held up with gaffer tape or admire the hole in the ground? I don't really know what to think.
And i missed out on a tenner for the win. Bloody typical.

In related news - 20:32 FFS Spurs!
21:03 - get in!

I lost a bet on Argyle

Scunthorpe 2 - 1 Plymouth Argyle

Stupid mate talked me into another bet on Argyle ("It's a fair bet, I reckon Argyle could do them" - yeah right and I told him so and actually I never remember shaking on it). So now having been relieved of £20 for the second time this weekend I am no longer accepting any bets on the Greens.

Surely that's it now? There can be no coming back, no more chances for false dawns. A condemned team limping through the motions for another months and a bit. tonight most of the Green Army have consigned the team to League One, but more perversely are looking forward to it! How can CCL1 be better than CCC? Consolidation and rebuilding? Hmm, possibly but more likely big losses of revenue and any hope of decent players could see a prolonged spell. I have pointed out Leeds' situation several times as an example of how such a drop does not mean instant success, though Leicester and Norwich managed it. Argyle is a mess off the pitch as well as on it. There is little to say that the Pilgrims will storm League One at all. The green tints have got new greener tinted glasses already.

I Won a Bet on Argyle!

Plymouth Argyle 3 - 2 Bristol City

A rare victory in the Argyle derby game saw me finally win a £10 bet (though Swindon had to win as well). Although once again the Greens took their eye of the game at 2-0 up in order to allow Bristol to come back and equalise, a third goal was forthcoming to claim the three points that now put the Pilgrims 4 points off safety. Hurrah for the win, boo for the lack of concentration. The game has opened up the gulf between the Larrieu and Stockdale brigades as to who is the better keeper. The Pro-Ros citing Stocky's give away goals and mistakes in the past few months, whilst the Stockers cite his better kicking and shot stopping. But like the wind the Green Army will always change their minds: Ro, Luke, David... Get him out! The other can always do better. And Wright-Philips finally got a chance to prove himself and scored a fantastic overhead goal. He'll be dropped by Saturday.

Going through the Motions

Coventry 1 - 1 Plymouth Argyle

So near, so far, all within a few minutes. 3 points and it would have been promotion push, but a draw and it's still trap door drop. A draw against Coventry used to be a good result, but no longer. Differing opinions of the game put Argyle on the edge to take Coventry, whilst others state a once more poor performance. Once again nothing new to say here.

Selling Home Park

To yourself after announcing a loss of over £2million this year. Argyle were always hailed as being the club always in the black but for the last few years even that accolade has disappeared with year on year losses announced every year. (Go on, blame the public for not going, you know you want to). And so to clear some debt Home Park is to "sold" to PAFC Holdings. This comes alongside 90,000 shares in Argyle being sold for £22.22 per share.

Creative accountancy aimed at [quote] "reducing debt levels in PAFC and thus strengthening its balance sheet. In addition, they should provide a basis for commercial property and development finance to be raised in order to develop the stadium in support of the club's ambitions, as well as Plymouth's support for England's bid to host the 2018/2022 World Cup." While Rome burns, the World Cup bid is still foremost in the board's eyes?

Ditto

QPR 2 - 0 Plymouth Argyle

Nothing more to add really, just take the match reactions from the last year and put them together as nothing has changed. A totally toothless display last night with nothing positive to say - same problems, same strange team selection, same result.
When does it become mathematically impossible? Must be very very soon.

Budget Cuts?

Have the budgets been cut so much at Argyle that the team are only paid for half a match? The past few matches the Greens haven't turned up till around half time, by which time they're usually trailing by at least one goal. Fortunately they now have the werewithall to come back from being behind, but draws are no good when 7 points adrift. At the moment the necessary wins are not on the horizon, and with a 50% reduction in team peformances, they're not even over the horizon. Sturrock - whoops - Mariner's starting XI is pointed at as a cause, being some what negative in selection, when it has been obvious that his later substitutions have turned the game. What is the reason for not starting with likes of Bolaise and Noone, and players in their correct position. And Fallon. Bolaise did not even feature on the subs bench. PNE could have so easily gone in for the kill after their goal, and it was only a penalty that saved the point for Argyle, especially with Fallon's botched efforts. How long do we wait for the fat lady?