One Game at a Time:
Bolton Wanderers (A) January 7th
Well, this is going to be exhausting. A New Year not even a week old and the amount of nervous energy expended on various social media outlets has been off the scale.
Given the amount off activity taking place, chronological order is probably the only way forward for the moment. One Game at a Time will take it one day at a time. But I cannot guarantee this will not be out of date by the time you finish reading it...
It all started so positively. The least surprising new signing for some time came on New Years Day when our latest International Kiwi striker, Ben Waine, put pen to paper on a long-term deal. The twenty one year old was able to watch his new teammates for the second time in a week as they started the year against MK Dons, revisiting the scene of their five goal nap performance on the final day of last season (at least as far as Argyle were concerned).
Ben will doubtless be completely blown away by how good we are at set pieces and how prolific our centre halves are as James Wilson followed on from Dan Scarrs winner against Why Come to volley the Greens ahead after only four minutes.
Some typical blind alley defending by Bali, his one weak spot in a terrific season, led to a lucky rebound falling perfectly for an MK equaliser. From then on it was the Morgan Whittaker show. Some lovely control and a perfect reverse ball for Ennis to restore the lead, followed by a cushioned touch and shot from Hardies feed to make the game safe. Shuey pulled down the shutters and we allowed MK to demonstrate their possession based powder puff attack until the ref, presumably equally baffled by Joe Edwards MOM award, called time and the lead was over Ipswich was extended to seven points.
Monday was a busy day. Our chasing rivals got to play their games in hand. A Bannan less Wednesday showed how much they would be affected by thrashing Cambridge five nil, with a Windass hattrick notable for only how little he celebrated each goal, allegedly because dad Dean reckons goals in League One are nothing to celebrate.
This allowed Wednesday to finally overtake Ipswich Town, who managed to retain Lincolns unbeaten home record despite having them reduced to ten men before half time. A couple of thousand Town fans managed to briefly look up from their mobile phones, where they were posting their latest thoughts on their extensive transfer window plans, to see a blatant penalty against them converted by Lincolns rough Diamond, before they scraped an equaliser to rescue a point and start to look over their shoulders at Barnsley and Derby.
Ten man Barnsley imploded at home to Argyles next league opponents Bolton, but Derby cruised past fast plummeting Accrington and the gap to the pursuing play off group is closing with Why Come playing a much changed team to much better effect to win 3-0 at Posh. Maybe Ainsworth does know a thing or two about his team. Down among the also rans Dastardly and Muttleys Mean Machine hit the buffers against Charlton, and so a day or so later did their managerial tenure. Watch out Crawley.
Later in the day the club unveiled their second signing of the season, the poetically named Saxon Earley, who joins from Norwich City having impressed on loan at Stevenage. Norwich recalled Earley early so he could be sold. Something that was going to become much more pertinent the following day.
If Argyle can be considered the League 1 team that have lived up to the title Loan Arrangers this season, then it may surprise precisely nobody that it was the Ipswich Town message board that went Tonto when Swansea exercised their recall option of the player, whose form for goals and assists had made him an almost automatic pick for Argyle.
Ipswich, yet to land a catch in this seasons window, despite having more money than Croesus apparently, and despite according to the East Anglia Daily Times having no active interest in Whittaker, exploded into life, with some thirteen threads (more now) covering all angles of the potential signing. This of a player that they may not actually want, who the Swansea manager has said would struggle to force his way into his team and who from the angry emojis posted (and later deleted) on his social media, didnāt want to be recalled.
Swansea, themselves in need of cash to pursue their own player ambitions, may well see Whittaker as a first team option based on his performances for Argyle. More likely they are hoping to cash in on a high-profile asset to help them finance their transfer window purchases which may well include Ogbene from Rotherham. Certainly, they have players like Obafemi who is likely to be sold as well.
Timing wise this could not have appeared worse for Argyle, but the risks of the transfer windows and loan market are well known, and it seemed unlikely that Argyle would not have contingency plans in place for such events. It is also true, as Peterborough found to their frustration that a player cannot be sold against their wishes, as Ryan Broom showed last season. The next four weeks will be interesting to see where Whittakerās future lies, but for sure Argyle have had fantastic value from his time with the club to date.
Probably the best summing up of the loan system as currently operated was presciently given by Spike Milligan in his poem Fleas:
Large fleas have little fleas
Upon their back to biteāem
And little fleas have lesser fleas
And so, ad infinitum.
Time will tell what size of flea Town are.
And lest we forget there have been some tremendously good Argyle loans over the years as well as some horrendous ones. Argyle look back fondly on the loan of one Sir Thomas of Tynan in 1986 when his loan goals took Argyle back up, much to the annoyance of Bristol City fans. On the other hand the sight of Micky Quinn, proving that green and black stripes are not always thinning in a brief three match cameo before being literally sent back to Coventry, still chills those old enough to recall it.
And let it not be forgotten that Ipswich have form with Argyle and loans. They, under footballing maverick manager Roy Keane, snaffled Rory Fallon on loan in 2011, returning him after six games and a solitary goal. Poor Rory was never the same after that and drifted towards the exit and Yeovil not long afterwards. Around the same time we took on Conor Hourihane after his release from Town, now driving Derbyās midfield in pursuit of us both.
If you want to look for a loan who had a major impact in games including Argyle you donāt have to look much further than Jimmy Glass at Carlisle. In 1989 Glass arrived at Carlisle, following the sale of their keeper to Blackpool and an injury to his on loan replacement.
For those who are too young to recall I will let the commentary of the Radio Cumbria commentator Derek Lacey tell the story as Carlisle are one minute from slipping out of the League and drawing one all with Argyle when they mount one final attack.
So ... deep, deep, deep, I make it sixty seconds. Jimmy Glass knocks it long. It comes now to Bagshaw. Bagshaw back to Anthony. Up to Stevens ... and the ball goes out now for a corner to Carlisle United ā will they have time to take it? Referee looks at his watch ... and here comes Jimmy Glass! Carlisle United goalkeeper Jimmy Glass is coming up for the kick ā everyone is going up ... there isn't one player in the Carlisle half! Well, well ... and the corner kick comes in ... and ... the goalkeeper's punch ... oh ... Jimmy Glass! Jimmy Glass! Jimmy Glass, the goalkeeper, has scored a goal for Carlisle United! There's a pitch invasion! There is a pitch invasion! The referee has been swamped ā they're bouncing on the crossbar!
So, Glass scored as many goals for Carlisle as Rory did for Ipswich, in half the games. Stats eh, you gotta love them.
Argyle also were involved in another recall that was one of the stranger loans, and which involved our next opponents, Bolton Wanderers. Andy Kellett, already interesting in that he was related to old time wrestling star Les, joined Argyle on loan from Bolton but was recalled on deadline day to be the other party in a loan deal that took Saidy Janko from Old Trafford to Wanderers. The move of Janko, a Swiss youth international had left the United U21ās short of numbers, and so Kellett was handed an unexpected dream move to the Red Devils. He played ten times for United U21ās but then drifted into non-league after a move to Wigan failed to deliver regular first team football and was last playing for Guisely Town. Janko on the other hand has had a nomadic career across Europe and is currently at Vfb Bochum in the Bundelisga.
And so with all the furore over Whittaker gate (and as I write this Argyle announce a third signing of the window, Callum Wright, surprise, surprise a goal scoring attacking midfielder with a Leicester City pedigree, from Championship Blackpool) let us not forget we have the opportunity to extend our lead at the top of the table whilst Town and the Wendies chase FA Cup glory.
Argyle recent record at and against Wanderers is a good one with successive victories to nil both home and away, but it hasnāt always been that way. Probably the most memorable, if disastrous visit, was in 1984 when a complete comedy of errors lead to a seven two drubbing. It began with a fly kick by Geoff Crudgington which missed the ball to the general hilarity of the Wanderers fans as it rolled gently into the net. The keepers day was to get worse as defensive error on error escalated the score until at five two down he broke a finger and had to hand over custodian duties to the unfortunate Gordon Nisbet. Not only that but his spell as co-striker to Tommy Tynan failed to provide him with a Jimmy Glass Moment.
One of Boltons scorers that day was controversial striker George Oghani. The first ever person of colour to play for Wanderers, his form there earned him a move to Burnley, but his off-field antics were eventually to cost him a longer career, as well as one of the more bizarre cult chants.
Oghani was purchasing an ironing board at a DIY store, but also decided to steal a bag of screws. When challenged by the store security staff, Oghani apparently defended himself with the ironing board. Rival fans were quick to serenade him with a chorus of, to the tune of the Rolf Harris classic āTie me Kangaroo Down, sport!ā, āPut the Ironing Board Down George, Put the Ironing Board Down!ā Burnley fans even wore T Shirts featuring Oghani and an Ironing board at Wembley.
And so, two days before we rock up at the UniBol, who thought at the start of the week that the biggest team selection problem Schuey would have would be who to leave out?
Will Waine make Hay?
Will we get Mumba number 5 at last?
Is it too early for Earley and is Hardie thinking this is another Wright Ennis you have gotten me into?
And who will fill that final loan spotā¦..
There are still twenty-six days to goā¦.
COYG!!!!
Bolton Wanderers (A) January 7th
Well, this is going to be exhausting. A New Year not even a week old and the amount of nervous energy expended on various social media outlets has been off the scale.
Given the amount off activity taking place, chronological order is probably the only way forward for the moment. One Game at a Time will take it one day at a time. But I cannot guarantee this will not be out of date by the time you finish reading it...
It all started so positively. The least surprising new signing for some time came on New Years Day when our latest International Kiwi striker, Ben Waine, put pen to paper on a long-term deal. The twenty one year old was able to watch his new teammates for the second time in a week as they started the year against MK Dons, revisiting the scene of their five goal nap performance on the final day of last season (at least as far as Argyle were concerned).
Ben will doubtless be completely blown away by how good we are at set pieces and how prolific our centre halves are as James Wilson followed on from Dan Scarrs winner against Why Come to volley the Greens ahead after only four minutes.
Some typical blind alley defending by Bali, his one weak spot in a terrific season, led to a lucky rebound falling perfectly for an MK equaliser. From then on it was the Morgan Whittaker show. Some lovely control and a perfect reverse ball for Ennis to restore the lead, followed by a cushioned touch and shot from Hardies feed to make the game safe. Shuey pulled down the shutters and we allowed MK to demonstrate their possession based powder puff attack until the ref, presumably equally baffled by Joe Edwards MOM award, called time and the lead was over Ipswich was extended to seven points.
Monday was a busy day. Our chasing rivals got to play their games in hand. A Bannan less Wednesday showed how much they would be affected by thrashing Cambridge five nil, with a Windass hattrick notable for only how little he celebrated each goal, allegedly because dad Dean reckons goals in League One are nothing to celebrate.
This allowed Wednesday to finally overtake Ipswich Town, who managed to retain Lincolns unbeaten home record despite having them reduced to ten men before half time. A couple of thousand Town fans managed to briefly look up from their mobile phones, where they were posting their latest thoughts on their extensive transfer window plans, to see a blatant penalty against them converted by Lincolns rough Diamond, before they scraped an equaliser to rescue a point and start to look over their shoulders at Barnsley and Derby.
Ten man Barnsley imploded at home to Argyles next league opponents Bolton, but Derby cruised past fast plummeting Accrington and the gap to the pursuing play off group is closing with Why Come playing a much changed team to much better effect to win 3-0 at Posh. Maybe Ainsworth does know a thing or two about his team. Down among the also rans Dastardly and Muttleys Mean Machine hit the buffers against Charlton, and so a day or so later did their managerial tenure. Watch out Crawley.
Later in the day the club unveiled their second signing of the season, the poetically named Saxon Earley, who joins from Norwich City having impressed on loan at Stevenage. Norwich recalled Earley early so he could be sold. Something that was going to become much more pertinent the following day.
If Argyle can be considered the League 1 team that have lived up to the title Loan Arrangers this season, then it may surprise precisely nobody that it was the Ipswich Town message board that went Tonto when Swansea exercised their recall option of the player, whose form for goals and assists had made him an almost automatic pick for Argyle.
Ipswich, yet to land a catch in this seasons window, despite having more money than Croesus apparently, and despite according to the East Anglia Daily Times having no active interest in Whittaker, exploded into life, with some thirteen threads (more now) covering all angles of the potential signing. This of a player that they may not actually want, who the Swansea manager has said would struggle to force his way into his team and who from the angry emojis posted (and later deleted) on his social media, didnāt want to be recalled.
Swansea, themselves in need of cash to pursue their own player ambitions, may well see Whittaker as a first team option based on his performances for Argyle. More likely they are hoping to cash in on a high-profile asset to help them finance their transfer window purchases which may well include Ogbene from Rotherham. Certainly, they have players like Obafemi who is likely to be sold as well.
Timing wise this could not have appeared worse for Argyle, but the risks of the transfer windows and loan market are well known, and it seemed unlikely that Argyle would not have contingency plans in place for such events. It is also true, as Peterborough found to their frustration that a player cannot be sold against their wishes, as Ryan Broom showed last season. The next four weeks will be interesting to see where Whittakerās future lies, but for sure Argyle have had fantastic value from his time with the club to date.
Probably the best summing up of the loan system as currently operated was presciently given by Spike Milligan in his poem Fleas:
Large fleas have little fleas
Upon their back to biteāem
And little fleas have lesser fleas
And so, ad infinitum.
Time will tell what size of flea Town are.
And lest we forget there have been some tremendously good Argyle loans over the years as well as some horrendous ones. Argyle look back fondly on the loan of one Sir Thomas of Tynan in 1986 when his loan goals took Argyle back up, much to the annoyance of Bristol City fans. On the other hand the sight of Micky Quinn, proving that green and black stripes are not always thinning in a brief three match cameo before being literally sent back to Coventry, still chills those old enough to recall it.
And let it not be forgotten that Ipswich have form with Argyle and loans. They, under footballing maverick manager Roy Keane, snaffled Rory Fallon on loan in 2011, returning him after six games and a solitary goal. Poor Rory was never the same after that and drifted towards the exit and Yeovil not long afterwards. Around the same time we took on Conor Hourihane after his release from Town, now driving Derbyās midfield in pursuit of us both.
If you want to look for a loan who had a major impact in games including Argyle you donāt have to look much further than Jimmy Glass at Carlisle. In 1989 Glass arrived at Carlisle, following the sale of their keeper to Blackpool and an injury to his on loan replacement.
For those who are too young to recall I will let the commentary of the Radio Cumbria commentator Derek Lacey tell the story as Carlisle are one minute from slipping out of the League and drawing one all with Argyle when they mount one final attack.
So ... deep, deep, deep, I make it sixty seconds. Jimmy Glass knocks it long. It comes now to Bagshaw. Bagshaw back to Anthony. Up to Stevens ... and the ball goes out now for a corner to Carlisle United ā will they have time to take it? Referee looks at his watch ... and here comes Jimmy Glass! Carlisle United goalkeeper Jimmy Glass is coming up for the kick ā everyone is going up ... there isn't one player in the Carlisle half! Well, well ... and the corner kick comes in ... and ... the goalkeeper's punch ... oh ... Jimmy Glass! Jimmy Glass! Jimmy Glass, the goalkeeper, has scored a goal for Carlisle United! There's a pitch invasion! There is a pitch invasion! The referee has been swamped ā they're bouncing on the crossbar!
So, Glass scored as many goals for Carlisle as Rory did for Ipswich, in half the games. Stats eh, you gotta love them.
Argyle also were involved in another recall that was one of the stranger loans, and which involved our next opponents, Bolton Wanderers. Andy Kellett, already interesting in that he was related to old time wrestling star Les, joined Argyle on loan from Bolton but was recalled on deadline day to be the other party in a loan deal that took Saidy Janko from Old Trafford to Wanderers. The move of Janko, a Swiss youth international had left the United U21ās short of numbers, and so Kellett was handed an unexpected dream move to the Red Devils. He played ten times for United U21ās but then drifted into non-league after a move to Wigan failed to deliver regular first team football and was last playing for Guisely Town. Janko on the other hand has had a nomadic career across Europe and is currently at Vfb Bochum in the Bundelisga.
And so with all the furore over Whittaker gate (and as I write this Argyle announce a third signing of the window, Callum Wright, surprise, surprise a goal scoring attacking midfielder with a Leicester City pedigree, from Championship Blackpool) let us not forget we have the opportunity to extend our lead at the top of the table whilst Town and the Wendies chase FA Cup glory.
Argyle recent record at and against Wanderers is a good one with successive victories to nil both home and away, but it hasnāt always been that way. Probably the most memorable, if disastrous visit, was in 1984 when a complete comedy of errors lead to a seven two drubbing. It began with a fly kick by Geoff Crudgington which missed the ball to the general hilarity of the Wanderers fans as it rolled gently into the net. The keepers day was to get worse as defensive error on error escalated the score until at five two down he broke a finger and had to hand over custodian duties to the unfortunate Gordon Nisbet. Not only that but his spell as co-striker to Tommy Tynan failed to provide him with a Jimmy Glass Moment.
One of Boltons scorers that day was controversial striker George Oghani. The first ever person of colour to play for Wanderers, his form there earned him a move to Burnley, but his off-field antics were eventually to cost him a longer career, as well as one of the more bizarre cult chants.
Oghani was purchasing an ironing board at a DIY store, but also decided to steal a bag of screws. When challenged by the store security staff, Oghani apparently defended himself with the ironing board. Rival fans were quick to serenade him with a chorus of, to the tune of the Rolf Harris classic āTie me Kangaroo Down, sport!ā, āPut the Ironing Board Down George, Put the Ironing Board Down!ā Burnley fans even wore T Shirts featuring Oghani and an Ironing board at Wembley.
And so, two days before we rock up at the UniBol, who thought at the start of the week that the biggest team selection problem Schuey would have would be who to leave out?
Will Waine make Hay?
Will we get Mumba number 5 at last?
Is it too early for Earley and is Hardie thinking this is another Wright Ennis you have gotten me into?
And who will fill that final loan spotā¦..
There are still twenty-six days to goā¦.
COYG!!!!
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