Just back (anyone?)

[bringonthemilkman]

Great away day. Went to Bradford Arms before which was a proper compact ale house with a good friendly atmosphere.
Surprised to see so many GA who virtually filled the upper tier of the away stand with more downstairs. My seat in second row reminded me of Anfield and the performance even more so - with the added bonus of a penalty save!
Bradford reaction on local radio was frustrated but admiring of one of the best defensive displays seen for a long time. Feeling was they tried everything to break us down but we were equal to whatever they tried-whether it was out wide or through the middle.
We also tested them a few times on the break. Very satisfying result

 

[jollygreenjohn]

Thanks for taking the trouble to post late reports on your return when you must be knackered. Applause to the 770 who made that journey. Great stuff.

 

[The Duke]

Hugely encouraged by that performance and result. The players did what they had to do. And they are clearly up for the fight and so are the magnificent GA. We’ve got a good chance of climbing that table. Looking forward to Saturday!

 

[Ollieargyle9]

I think everyone involved in that display deserves a great deal of credit. That was an all-round superb performance, every single player gave everything they had yesterday, I couldn't fault any of them. Equally Derek got the gameplan spot on; there was an attitude of "don't concede and you can't lose" about it but as Cobi says above it was more than that. The team pressed Bradford early in the game which caught them a little by surprise; Jervis, Ainsworth and Grant were quite high up the pitch at times giving Bradford issues in their own half. Once we had taken the lead we sat back and played the safe balls out but only when necessary, we did create and we did keep the ball for short spells in their half. It gave our defence (and my nerves) some much needed moments of relief. All in all it worked a treat.

What I can take from yesterday was two things really; firstly that we really can compete at this level, if we play like that away from home consistently we will pick up points, at the very least plenty of draws because defending like that we won't concede many. The second is that this team is far from defeated, I couldn't be prouder of the effort the players gave the club yesterday and at full time you could see the relief and delight on their faces when they'd seen through those 3 points. This is a team playing for the shirt and playing for the manager make no mistake about it and when you have that there is always hope.

Turning point for our season? It's the sort of result that could well be.

 

[Blackpool pilgrim]

First half didn't think they troubled us at all, couple of long shots that Matthews did keep out one of which looked fairly routine the other not sure he even got a touch but clipped the bar the ref gave a corner so I'm guessing Matthews did get a slight touch on it.

Our goal came from the best bit of play of the half unbelieveable through ball from fox which carved the defence apart great run from Ainsworth who just had to square to Jervis for a simple tap in.

2nd half was a different story it was a backs against the wall job against a Bradford side backed by their large and loud home support but even still we restricted them to mainly shots from outside the box they couldn't play through us so resorted to crosses in the box which the defence dealt with time and time again Mattews was strong at claiming crosses and bought us some breathing time a fair few times by claiming and relieving the pressure.

I didn't think we'd hold out though just because the pressure was so intense in the 2nd half one slip could cost us a goal especially late in the game. Penalty decision I didn't understand why it had been given and initially thought a goal had been given. A massive victory simply massive.

I doubted the commitment of certain players a few weeks ago not now that was gutsy that was gritty that was exactly the endeavour we need to get out of this situation.

 

[Martin Brock]

I was rather concerned in the first half how deep we were sitting in the first half and felt that the goal came against the run of play. Magnificent move though and full credit to Ainsworth and Jervis who I felt had only drifted in and out of the game until then. As we reached half time, I felt we'd defend so deep in the second half, we'd be lined up in our own goal. How wrong I was as we were magnificent for 45 minutes. Couldn't see why the penalty was given (saw the clip on TV this morning and it was a clear foul in my eyes) but it was a great save from Matthews. He was my MotM but Grant was not far behind, particularly how tirelessly he worked after the break. Great day all in all, with a couple of decent pints in The Sparrow before the game and a tasty curry afterwards. Onwards and upwards!

M

 

[djg145]

There's also a lot to be said for building foundations in defence.

You get the defence right and you only have to score one goal to win a game.

A team built primarily on attack at this level, is a castle built on sand. I think Adams is going about it the right way, given the players and budget available.

Now, can we get the formula right at home? Two massive games coming up.

works well unless they score 2 it's a dangerous game to play but as I said we got away with it today.

I think the tactics and the formula is to make sure everyone marks their men, sticks to the formation and doesn't go missing. If Argyle do that as a unit with no individual mistakes, why would we concede two goals?

Argyle set out with the objective of not conceding, and the three clean sheets in six matches are testament to that. Meanwhile Argyle have scored 6 goals against sides far higher than us in the table.

We are a 1st Division side and 1st division players - they will make mistakes.

 

[djg145]

MAYBE we actually play better as a team without Carey, just saying, maybe having him in the team, everyone is expected to pass or find him, instead of playing to their own strengths, after all it is a team game, and one man never makes a team.

 

[lyndhurst green]

MAYBE we actually play better as a team without Carey, just saying, maybe having him in the team, everyone is expected to pass or find him, instead of playing to their own strengths, after all it is a team game, and one man never makes a team.

Or maybe we won yesterday without the player who has contributed to 37 goals in 59 appearances since the start of last season. Let’s not turn another thread into another analysis of GC10’s attributes or value to the team.

 

[Guiri Green]

MAYBE we actually play better as a team without Carey, just saying, maybe having him in the team, everyone is expected to pass or find him, instead of playing to their own strengths, after all it is a team game, and one man never makes a team.

My thoughts exactly. I had similar thoughts about having Ruben Reid up front. Both were, in a way, our Achilles heel.

 

[Tugboat]

MAYBE we actually play better as a team without Carey, just saying, maybe having him in the team, everyone is expected to pass or find him, instead of playing to their own strengths, after all it is a team game, and one man never makes a team.

My thoughts exactly. I had similar thoughts about having Ruben Reid up front. Both were, in a way, our Achilles heel.

:roll: Couldn’t make it up. :banghead:

 

[Knibbsworth]

.

Turning point for our season? It's the sort of result that could well be.

I can't really see how you will look back on Bradford as the 'turning point' when the result is our 6th match unbeaten, our third win in four matches etc.

Shrewsbury was the turning point, the first game in a long time we stopped the stupidity, the ill discipline, and the players followed a game plan and demonstrated some focus. The follow up game against Blackburn showed outstanding team spirit and commitment, it was evident then that Adams still had the players. These two points were vital and we showed character in battling hard for them - defeated teams would have rolled over.

It was logical then that results inevitably would improve. If we can do it against those two teams, it stands to reason the bottom half sides are not going to come and roll us over any longer.

This isn't just a patch of form for Adams. For whatever reasons the players were all over the place for 10 games. That period is over, the new Argyle is hard to beat and morale is high. Players across the park are returning to form. It must be a terrific feeling in the camp and I'm sure they can't wait for the next match.

 

[moles40]

Some great posts in this thread.

I think leaving our best player out from now on is brilliant .

Maybe other teams will try it too.

Perhaps Man City will leave KDB out and Messi will be told he won't be playing again, for Barcelona,as its always just a team game.

:funny:

 

[PL2 3DQ]

.

Turning point for our season? It's the sort of result that could well be.

I can't really see how you will look back on Bradford as the 'turning point' when the result is our 6th match unbeaten, our third win in four matches etc.

Shrewsbury was the turning point, the first game in a long time we stopped the stupidity, the ill discipline, and the players followed a game plan and demonstrated some focus. The follow up game against Blackburn showed outstanding team spirit and commitment, it was evident then that Adams still had the players. These two points were vital and we showed character in battling hard for them - defeated teams would have rolled over.

It was logical then that results inevitably would improve. If we can do it against those two teams, it stands to reason the bottom half sides are not going to come and roll us over any longer.

This isn't just a patch of form for Adams. For whatever reasons the players were all over the place for 10 games. That period is over, the new Argyle is hard to beat and morale is high. Players across the park are returning to form. It must be a terrific feeling in the camp and I'm sure they can't wait for the next match.

I think the turning point happened off the pitch when the players held their own inquest after the home defeat against Fleetwood.
The six game unbeaten run happened after that meeting in the changing room with the Shrewsbury game the first of those six.

 

[Metal Green Mickey]

.

Turning point for our season? It's the sort of result that could well be.

I can't really see how you will look back on Bradford as the 'turning point' when the result is our 6th match unbeaten, our third win in four matches etc.

Shrewsbury was the turning point, the first game in a long time we stopped the stupidity, the ill discipline, and the players followed a game plan and demonstrated some focus. The follow up game against Blackburn showed outstanding team spirit and commitment, it was evident then that Adams still had the players. These two points were vital and we showed character in battling hard for them - defeated teams would have rolled over.

It was logical then that results inevitably would improve. If we can do it against those two teams, it stands to reason the bottom half sides are not going to come and roll us over any longer.

This isn't just a patch of form for Adams. For whatever reasons the players were all over the place for 10 games. That period is over, the new Argyle is hard to beat and morale is high. Players across the park are returning to form. It must be a terrific feeling in the camp and I'm sure they can't wait for the next match.

I think the turning point happened off the pitch when the players held their own inquest after the home defeat against Fleetwood.
The six game unbeaten run happened after that meeting in the changing room with the Shrewsbury game the first of those six.

We are better because of Toums has given us some legs in midfield.

Yes we got a result without Carey but from the highlights, the Sky bloke on Soccer Saturday in the studio (a former league manager) and Radio Devon commentary they all seem to think we were hanging on with Bradford very much on top.

There has never been a question of lack of commitment or effort. That isn't an issue.

Its about the quality of the football and whether its good enough to stay up in league one. Carey wont be scoring wonder goals every week so I look around the team and apart from the odd one from Jervis and Grant I think who is going to score. We have 3 midfielders in Toums, Songo and Fox who you wouldn't put any money on. So where on earth are the goals coming from?

We talk about turning point. The last 3 home LEAGUE games were Fleetwood 1-2, Shrewsbury 1-1 and Rochdale 1-1. We haven't exactly turned the performances or home results around. We have a major issue breaking teams down.

And yet we have turned the corner (apparently). I hope we have but for me I think we are more combative in midfield and our discipline is better but defensively we look brittle and up front still lack punch. The same as we did during our poor run.