One Game at a Time: You’re Only Here for the Godcakes
Sky Blues (H) February 14th Sponsored by Specsavers
“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”. Robert Louis Stephenson.
Welcome to the long-distance world of the Argyle away fan. Leaving at a time that is more reminiscent of the opening scenes of True Detective: The Night Country (minus the frozen together dead bodies, but only just) for an eight hundred mile plus round trip. At least this time we had an away win under our belt from the Swansea trip.
Hope lasted until the start of the second half, where the now expected stubborn resistance instilled by new coach Ian Foster frustrated play-off chasing Sunderland, restricting them to a limited goal threat and then taking the lead when a long pass from Morgan picked out the fleet footed Hardie. He outstripped his defensive cover, took the ball around the stranded keeper Patterson before re-beating his defensive cover and delicately chipping the ball over the retreating Patterson for the kind of finish that may well still end up earning him the Scottish call-up, a decision that stands Steve Clark as a solitary individual in the footballing community seemingly unconvinced.
Half time in the far Northeast and the charge was on. Those of us with the longevity of supporting Argyle know it is not as simple as that. Never has been and never will be. Those with less extensive memories would also think, let’s keep it tight for the start of half time. Let’s not have another Leicester.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what we did get. First off, a textbook demonstration of how not to defend a free kick, with a splintering wall that effectively allowed Sunderland a free shot at goal. I would imagine that will be clip one of the review processes for the side when they look at what went wrong. Items two and three of the disintegration are less traumatic in the round, as both are pretty much perfect examples of what good players do when given the opportunity. Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham killed the game with two strikes that almost kissed the same spot on Connor Hazards far post on their way into the net.
And that was very much that. Not the week that Ian Foster would have hoped for, and very much the first time he has been faced with two comprehensive defeats as well as the complexity of losing another player to an injury in Adam Forshaw, who has made himself the archetypal first name on the teamsheet with his impressive performances so far. Performance data will tell the management team how much the Leeds replay with extra time, followed by the trip North took out of the squad. A few days on the Devon grass will allow him to make selection choices ahead of another tough game, against last season’s surprise play-off package Coventry City.
The Sky Blues arrive in form, having despatched Millwall on Sunday with two late Haji Wright goals after trailing. They sit, over the last ten games, in fourth on the form table, with only one defeat and just behind the three returning (or trying to) ex Prem teams. The positive for Argyle, about to have a run of three home games, is that over the same period they sit ninth in the form table with only two defeats. The win over Millwall dragged City back into the play-off spot, as realistically with the top four well away on points, despite Ipswich’s attempt to choke like a Stokie trying to start a “Schueys at the Wheel“ chant at the Bet 365, there are realistically two spots up for grabs in the end of season jamboree.
Like Argyle their league position relies heavily on their home form, where they have only lost once all season. They do have some away wins to their credit, the best of which being at Sunderland and Middlesbrough, as well as Millwall, QPR and The Wendies.
At home as we know they have, despite their terrible start to the season, clawed their way back to a good position, Having two wins in their first twelve games, their season was kick started back to life by a week where they managed to win at Millwall and then beat Argyle with a late goal, scored when the ball was cut back from so far off the pitch two of the City ball boys fell out over who was closest to being given an assist.
Whilst the overall standard of refereeing is never far from the surface on any football forum, with every team apparently getting the rough end of the whistling stick, that call is going to be in the top ten of bad ones by the end of the season. I suppose the only saving grace from an Argyle perspective is that the best referee by a country mile we have seen this season for the FA Cup tie against Leeds also presided over a four one home defeat (admittedly after extra time).
City also potentially show the way that Argyle could develop, with their current side being built on the proceeds of the sale of a canny pair of transfer buys in Gyokores and Hamer, sold on the back of superlative seasons in the Championship for a combined total of around £35 million.
The club, as detailed in the previous OGAAT, has finally emerged from an ownership nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions, as any situation that leaves you with a property deal with Mike Ashley looking like it might be the best way forward, has to be a place no fan wants to see their (or indeed any) club. New owner, rapeseed tycoon (it’s a thing, honestly) Doug King has stabilised the club and allowed manager Mark Robins to rebuild his side for another tilt at the promised land.
Robins is the epitome of dour, despite his surprise appearance in a meme created after their 3-0 triumph at the Stadium of Light. His reaction to a win over Millwall on Sunday was to be annoyed at two of his players using rock paper scissors to select which of them should take the penalty they had just been awarded. Haji Wright, who took the pen, threw rock, statistically the weakest choice, but most frequently played by testosterone fuelled men. In this case it defeated Callum O’Hares choice of scissors, and the battle of the sides two top scorers was settled in favour of the striker. Just as well they didn’t go for the version popularised in Big Bang Theory of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock or we could have been there all night.
The game, to be played on Valentines Night, will mean the exclusion of the Saint’s eclectic followers as the Patron Saint of lovers, epilepsy sufferers and beekeepers. Coventry has a spurious claim to be the birthplace of St George, patron saint of England, Georgia and, amongst others, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Avalon in Spain and Portugal. In fact he was a Roman Christian soldier, who was decapitated on the orders of the Emperor Diocletian (presumably he called scissors over lizard) on April 23rd, 303.
St George never visited England whilst alive, and the story of the Dragon, likely a Christian retelling of the Perseus myth, obviously never happened until last season’s City FA Cup tie against Wrexham. Except for the Dragons winning. True, Shakespeare may have had a hand in his elevation by including him in the speech by Henry V at Harfleur. Shakespeare apparently jilted a Coventry lass to marry Ann Hathaway, and was born and died on St Georges Day, so he had an interest.
Shakespeare was one of the great creators of the English language, so it perhaps no shock that the phrase “true blue” predates the Sky Blues, as Coventry Blue was a dye colour that exudes opulence and wealth. Mind you the true blues running the country are having a tough time of it, and the so-called blue card has been sent to the sin bin while the people who have ruined the handball rule try and work out how to ruin the dissent and cynical foul rules. Here’s a clue guys. It isn’t VAR.
From a City that gave us the car industry, the car indicator, the tank, the dumper truck, the world’s first motorised funeral, the inventor of the jet engine and now the revolutionary textile fibre Tencel, it is also hardly surprising that they also gave us the world’s best ever free kick routine.
In October 1970 City were awarded a free kick outside the box. The Everton wall lined up, and Willie Carr jammed the ball between his ankles and then jumped and flicked the ball up, in what became known as a Donkey kick. Ernie Hunt smashed a volley past Andy Rankin in the Toffees goal. The goal won the BBC Match of the Day goal of the season. It was incentive and brilliant and was practised on school playground s nationwide. The FA of course banned it.
If City game the game that free kick routine, they have also been generous with what they have given Argyle. For a start Luke McCormick was born there, but in the 1970’s they gave us first Ernie Machin, whose two-year spell at Argyle gave us a League Cup semi-final, our possibly greatest ever away win, at QPR en route and earned him a place in the Argyle team of the Century in 2004.
Machin was joined by one of the unsung heroes of the 74/5 promotion side, Colin Randell. The utility player whose parents resisted the attempts of Ellis Stuttard to take Randell to Arsenal's youth set up in favour of Coventry as he would have a better route to the first team, joined on a free transfer in 1974. He alternated between right back and midfield alongside John Delve. He left to go up the road following Bobby Saxton when he became boss at Sid James Park and returned for a second spell when Saxton came home to manage Argyle.
Less conspicuous a success was John Craven, brought in to stiffen the Argyle back line in 1976. Talented as he was, Craven was not a success as such and in one match against fellow relegation fodder Hereford received the only red card I have seen an Argyle player receives where even the home fans wanted him sent off, so late was his challenge. He went on to join up with former Argyle boss Tony Waiters at Vancouver Whitecaps, and sadly died aged almost 50 whilst still resident in the USA.
The final gift from Cov was the talented and at times difficult to accommodate Rueben Lameiras. Joining on a free he played a. substantial part in two contrasting seasons, despite almost being frozen out by Derek Adams who at one point sent him to play a trial game at Oldham before recalling the player to come back into the team. He dovetailed with Graham Carey and Ryan Taylor in the almost miracle season when Argyle rose from the bottom to almost the play-offs before injuries caught up with the squad. He then played. a leading role in the relegation season that saw the departure of Adams. He left on a free transfer to Famalicao of Portugal, at one time allegedly commanding a 45 million Euro release fee, before moving to Vitoria and then Chaves. He signed for Primera Liga side Casa Pia in January on an eighteen-month deal.
Argyle will hope to make home advantage tell as they set about reversing the Comedy of Errors from the away fixture. If they can make Home Park a Tempest for the Sky Blues, Ian can get his side set up As You Like It then it should be Alls Well that Ends Well.
City have another away fixture at the weekend. Normally we wouldn’t be bothered, but I am sure on Saturday we can take some satisfaction from the Taming of the Shrew.
Until then it is Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock……
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sky Blues (H) February 14th Sponsored by Specsavers
“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”. Robert Louis Stephenson.
Welcome to the long-distance world of the Argyle away fan. Leaving at a time that is more reminiscent of the opening scenes of True Detective: The Night Country (minus the frozen together dead bodies, but only just) for an eight hundred mile plus round trip. At least this time we had an away win under our belt from the Swansea trip.
Hope lasted until the start of the second half, where the now expected stubborn resistance instilled by new coach Ian Foster frustrated play-off chasing Sunderland, restricting them to a limited goal threat and then taking the lead when a long pass from Morgan picked out the fleet footed Hardie. He outstripped his defensive cover, took the ball around the stranded keeper Patterson before re-beating his defensive cover and delicately chipping the ball over the retreating Patterson for the kind of finish that may well still end up earning him the Scottish call-up, a decision that stands Steve Clark as a solitary individual in the footballing community seemingly unconvinced.
Half time in the far Northeast and the charge was on. Those of us with the longevity of supporting Argyle know it is not as simple as that. Never has been and never will be. Those with less extensive memories would also think, let’s keep it tight for the start of half time. Let’s not have another Leicester.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what we did get. First off, a textbook demonstration of how not to defend a free kick, with a splintering wall that effectively allowed Sunderland a free shot at goal. I would imagine that will be clip one of the review processes for the side when they look at what went wrong. Items two and three of the disintegration are less traumatic in the round, as both are pretty much perfect examples of what good players do when given the opportunity. Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham killed the game with two strikes that almost kissed the same spot on Connor Hazards far post on their way into the net.
And that was very much that. Not the week that Ian Foster would have hoped for, and very much the first time he has been faced with two comprehensive defeats as well as the complexity of losing another player to an injury in Adam Forshaw, who has made himself the archetypal first name on the teamsheet with his impressive performances so far. Performance data will tell the management team how much the Leeds replay with extra time, followed by the trip North took out of the squad. A few days on the Devon grass will allow him to make selection choices ahead of another tough game, against last season’s surprise play-off package Coventry City.
The Sky Blues arrive in form, having despatched Millwall on Sunday with two late Haji Wright goals after trailing. They sit, over the last ten games, in fourth on the form table, with only one defeat and just behind the three returning (or trying to) ex Prem teams. The positive for Argyle, about to have a run of three home games, is that over the same period they sit ninth in the form table with only two defeats. The win over Millwall dragged City back into the play-off spot, as realistically with the top four well away on points, despite Ipswich’s attempt to choke like a Stokie trying to start a “Schueys at the Wheel“ chant at the Bet 365, there are realistically two spots up for grabs in the end of season jamboree.
Like Argyle their league position relies heavily on their home form, where they have only lost once all season. They do have some away wins to their credit, the best of which being at Sunderland and Middlesbrough, as well as Millwall, QPR and The Wendies.
At home as we know they have, despite their terrible start to the season, clawed their way back to a good position, Having two wins in their first twelve games, their season was kick started back to life by a week where they managed to win at Millwall and then beat Argyle with a late goal, scored when the ball was cut back from so far off the pitch two of the City ball boys fell out over who was closest to being given an assist.
Whilst the overall standard of refereeing is never far from the surface on any football forum, with every team apparently getting the rough end of the whistling stick, that call is going to be in the top ten of bad ones by the end of the season. I suppose the only saving grace from an Argyle perspective is that the best referee by a country mile we have seen this season for the FA Cup tie against Leeds also presided over a four one home defeat (admittedly after extra time).
City also potentially show the way that Argyle could develop, with their current side being built on the proceeds of the sale of a canny pair of transfer buys in Gyokores and Hamer, sold on the back of superlative seasons in the Championship for a combined total of around £35 million.
The club, as detailed in the previous OGAAT, has finally emerged from an ownership nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions, as any situation that leaves you with a property deal with Mike Ashley looking like it might be the best way forward, has to be a place no fan wants to see their (or indeed any) club. New owner, rapeseed tycoon (it’s a thing, honestly) Doug King has stabilised the club and allowed manager Mark Robins to rebuild his side for another tilt at the promised land.
Robins is the epitome of dour, despite his surprise appearance in a meme created after their 3-0 triumph at the Stadium of Light. His reaction to a win over Millwall on Sunday was to be annoyed at two of his players using rock paper scissors to select which of them should take the penalty they had just been awarded. Haji Wright, who took the pen, threw rock, statistically the weakest choice, but most frequently played by testosterone fuelled men. In this case it defeated Callum O’Hares choice of scissors, and the battle of the sides two top scorers was settled in favour of the striker. Just as well they didn’t go for the version popularised in Big Bang Theory of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock or we could have been there all night.
The game, to be played on Valentines Night, will mean the exclusion of the Saint’s eclectic followers as the Patron Saint of lovers, epilepsy sufferers and beekeepers. Coventry has a spurious claim to be the birthplace of St George, patron saint of England, Georgia and, amongst others, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Avalon in Spain and Portugal. In fact he was a Roman Christian soldier, who was decapitated on the orders of the Emperor Diocletian (presumably he called scissors over lizard) on April 23rd, 303.
St George never visited England whilst alive, and the story of the Dragon, likely a Christian retelling of the Perseus myth, obviously never happened until last season’s City FA Cup tie against Wrexham. Except for the Dragons winning. True, Shakespeare may have had a hand in his elevation by including him in the speech by Henry V at Harfleur. Shakespeare apparently jilted a Coventry lass to marry Ann Hathaway, and was born and died on St Georges Day, so he had an interest.
Shakespeare was one of the great creators of the English language, so it perhaps no shock that the phrase “true blue” predates the Sky Blues, as Coventry Blue was a dye colour that exudes opulence and wealth. Mind you the true blues running the country are having a tough time of it, and the so-called blue card has been sent to the sin bin while the people who have ruined the handball rule try and work out how to ruin the dissent and cynical foul rules. Here’s a clue guys. It isn’t VAR.
From a City that gave us the car industry, the car indicator, the tank, the dumper truck, the world’s first motorised funeral, the inventor of the jet engine and now the revolutionary textile fibre Tencel, it is also hardly surprising that they also gave us the world’s best ever free kick routine.
In October 1970 City were awarded a free kick outside the box. The Everton wall lined up, and Willie Carr jammed the ball between his ankles and then jumped and flicked the ball up, in what became known as a Donkey kick. Ernie Hunt smashed a volley past Andy Rankin in the Toffees goal. The goal won the BBC Match of the Day goal of the season. It was incentive and brilliant and was practised on school playground s nationwide. The FA of course banned it.
If City game the game that free kick routine, they have also been generous with what they have given Argyle. For a start Luke McCormick was born there, but in the 1970’s they gave us first Ernie Machin, whose two-year spell at Argyle gave us a League Cup semi-final, our possibly greatest ever away win, at QPR en route and earned him a place in the Argyle team of the Century in 2004.
Machin was joined by one of the unsung heroes of the 74/5 promotion side, Colin Randell. The utility player whose parents resisted the attempts of Ellis Stuttard to take Randell to Arsenal's youth set up in favour of Coventry as he would have a better route to the first team, joined on a free transfer in 1974. He alternated between right back and midfield alongside John Delve. He left to go up the road following Bobby Saxton when he became boss at Sid James Park and returned for a second spell when Saxton came home to manage Argyle.
Less conspicuous a success was John Craven, brought in to stiffen the Argyle back line in 1976. Talented as he was, Craven was not a success as such and in one match against fellow relegation fodder Hereford received the only red card I have seen an Argyle player receives where even the home fans wanted him sent off, so late was his challenge. He went on to join up with former Argyle boss Tony Waiters at Vancouver Whitecaps, and sadly died aged almost 50 whilst still resident in the USA.
The final gift from Cov was the talented and at times difficult to accommodate Rueben Lameiras. Joining on a free he played a. substantial part in two contrasting seasons, despite almost being frozen out by Derek Adams who at one point sent him to play a trial game at Oldham before recalling the player to come back into the team. He dovetailed with Graham Carey and Ryan Taylor in the almost miracle season when Argyle rose from the bottom to almost the play-offs before injuries caught up with the squad. He then played. a leading role in the relegation season that saw the departure of Adams. He left on a free transfer to Famalicao of Portugal, at one time allegedly commanding a 45 million Euro release fee, before moving to Vitoria and then Chaves. He signed for Primera Liga side Casa Pia in January on an eighteen-month deal.
Argyle will hope to make home advantage tell as they set about reversing the Comedy of Errors from the away fixture. If they can make Home Park a Tempest for the Sky Blues, Ian can get his side set up As You Like It then it should be Alls Well that Ends Well.
City have another away fixture at the weekend. Normally we wouldn’t be bothered, but I am sure on Saturday we can take some satisfaction from the Taming of the Shrew.
Until then it is Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock……
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
