One Game at a Time: You’re Only Here for the Pasties
Preston North End (A) September 16th
Reaching the international break after last weeks game, it felt that the result mattered more than the performance, and the final score line of a comfortable, on paper, three nil home win against Blackburn meant Argyle could wave a temporary farewell to Irish international Hazard ensconced, just, in the top half of a compact and compressed Championship table.
Before that match played out, there was however the small matter of the final moments of the transfer window, and for once the lights burned brightly at Home Park, as nervous finger nail chewing keyboard experts splashed blood from their fevered typing of rumours, insider knowledge , and more BS than a Ryan Lowe press conference.
In the end of course, having lost out on the loan of Josh Coburn as Middlesbrough changed tack at the last moment and decided he would better served on their bench than ours, Argyle activated the announcement, it has to be said with a fair amount of internal schadenfreude, that was predicted by, absolutely no-one.
Others have spoofed the Argyle transfer decision process, so my planned dartboard of destiny skit will be held over until January, but the landing of three darts in a map of the world to hit Newquay, Belgium and Sierra Leone resulted in the (still anticipated) arrival of full International Mustapha Bundu, from Anderlecht via Aarhus and Newquay, and currently on loan in the Spanish equivalent of the Championship, at Andorra ( the football plaything of Gerard Pique).
Bundu, with a nickname of Moose, looks like he will add pace and power to an already firing Argyle front line, with Hotdog atop the Championship scoring charts, and Morgan Whittaker leading the way on assists. Also, in the frame now is Pleggy, finally making his league debut, in place of the unfortunate Scarr, as Argyle took on Rovers in the traditional sold-out HP, seeking to avoid a fourth defeat on the bounce.
There is nothing more frustrating for a football fan than to be told after a series of defeats that your side were unlucky, the best side overall or the best side we have played this season. Indeed in at least two of the three defeats Argyle went nap and picked up all of those compliments, back-handed as they may be.
For the first twenty-five minutes there looked to be no danger of that happening again, as Argyle were decidedly second best to a neat and tidy Blackburn side, shorn of the injured Ennis, but led by former Pilgrim youth star Sam Gallagher, a five-million-pound man in his own right when acquired from Southampton.
Rovers created chances, the best of them when the Argyle centre peeled open to allow an unchallenged run from Hedges, who from six yards with only Hazard to beat, finished like the accidental 46-year-old Argyle full back, Dennis Hedges picked by Mike Bassett for England in his first squad selection.
Argyle, whose recruitment model for full backs seems to have evolved, judging by the performances of KKH and Edwards, eventually got the stroke of luck their good play deserved when a double deflection helped Finn Azaz open his goal account for his second loan spell to give Argyle the half time lead.
The second half saw Argyle build on the first half improvement. First Hardie was on the spot to profit from a poor push out from a Callum Wright shot. Minutes later he provided a headed assist to allow another sub, Luke Cundle, to score a second twenty yarder in a week at the Devonport End. This one was a neat lob over the walkabout keeper Pears.
Three nil, a clean sheet for the defence and debutant Pleggy who played imperiously, and even a brief return to a back three at the death to see the game out. Schuey acknowledged the imperfections in the performance, and Jon Dahl Tomasson found out to his cost that, whilst things may not be top class at Argyle, neither are they that bad.
The players, Hazard apart, having a fortnight to recuperate, they return to action against near neighbours and rivals of the Rovers, and fellow Palatine County dwellers Preston North End. As irony would have it, PNE have, under the coaching and leadership of former Argyle frontman Ryan Lowe scrambled to the top of the Championship greasy pole, unbeaten, and, like Argyle, having just signed a new striker from Spain, the Montenegrin, Osmajic who became their record signing arriving from Cadiz.
His arrival is timely as, showing the downside of the International break, Will Keane, who arrived in the close season from Wigan, and who shares the honours at the top of the Championship scoring charts with Hotdog, managed to pull his abductor muscle in a ten minute cameo for the Republic of Ireland in Paris.
Lowe, together with the club’s director of football, another former Argyle administrator, Peter Ridsdale, a kind of footballing wandering minstrel, whose siren song seduces owners into allowing him to carry their purse until they find it strangely weightless, have, it is fair to say, a less than stellar reputation with a hefty contingent of the Green Army. It would not be a stretch to expect the Argyle preshow entertainment for this one to include Claudia Winkelman hosting “Footballing Traitors”.
Lowe, to be fair, arrived after the departure of Derek Adams, bringing with him the core of a management team and playing squad that had been successful for Bury, not the least of which were Schumacher, and now head of recruitment Jimmy Dickenson. His style and apparent persona grated with some, and the sub-Klopp fist pumping choreography is not to all tastes (including at his new home ground by all accounts) but what is undeniable is that, with those staff members, he forged a team that gained promotion at the first time of asking. Admittedly this was via the somewhat unusual method of points per game in the Covid truncated season, but as we showed on Saturday, a win is a win, no matter how achieved, and by the same token a promotion is a promotion.
That he departed was not a great surprise. Argyle always felt like a stepping-stone in his career journey. That he went to Preston was perhaps a surprise, especially as he then spouted familiar words about the size of the opportunity and the irresistible nature of it, much as he had done on arrival in Devon.
What was a surprise, perhaps as much to him as anyone, was the reaction of the board he abandoned, who simply, and speedily went to his deputy and gave him the keys to the castle. Lowe, having assumed he was taking what he brought with him, appeared to be taken aback that the band was breaking up.
Schumacher has undoubtedly surpassed all expectations, leading to some questions amongst the North enders as to whether they got the right candidate when they raided Argyle for their coach. That said, we travel to the League leaders, and whilst the story of the off-pitch friends become rivals makes for good press, right now both clubs would be hard pressed to say the outcome of the changes haven’t been positive for both sides.
Preston challenging for Championship honours, is a link back to a glorious past. The club, like so many of the era, commenced originally as an offshoot of an existing cricket club. The North End suffix, itself a unique identifier, a la Argyle, is a simple reference to its origins in the North end of the town (now of course a City).
The club in its early days had a chequered beginning, including a ten nil loss to neighbours and rivals Blackburn. By the 1880’s the team were well established, led by founder member William Sudell who espoused the Scottish style of play, and recruited actively from North of the border. The club became involved in controversy, when, after a cup tie against Upton Park at Deepdale, the club were accused of paying their players, something they did not deny.
In 1887/8 the club won 42 consecutive matches, although lost the final game of the season, the FA Cup Final to West Bromwich Albion. The following season, the founder season of the new-fangled Football League, saw the club do the double, unbeaten and without conceding an FA Cup goal. They were of course immediately branded the Invincibles.
The club continued its relative domination, winning the league the following season and then being runners up for the next three. For some reason, however the club adopted the nickname the Liliywhites, obviously a homage to their white shirts, which overtook the Invincibles. I blame the marketing department.
Having succeeded in the early days with the so called “Scottish Professors” who came South to play, Preston became a solid recruiting ground for Scottish talent although after their initial success, subsequent honours were few and far between. They lost FA Cup Finals in 1922, to Huddersfield by a penalty, and in 1937 to Sunderland, 3-1. The following season they avenged the Huddersfield defeat, beating them, again by a penalty, the first awarded in the FA Cup at Wembley.
Moments before the award, in the last minute of extra time, the BBC radio commentator Tom Woodroofe stated ”if a goal comes now I will eat my hat”. George Mutch duly obliged, in a team that included Bill Shankly and, later to be Argyle manager, Andy Beattie. Woodroofe did eat his hat, albeit in cake form, the following week, but is also perhaps best known for being described as “tired and emotional” by Lord Reith, after a somewhat incoherent commentary on the Spithead review on BBC Radio, following a liquid lunch with naval colleagues.
The club have always played their games at Deepdale, the only club from the founders of the League who play at the same stadium today. The ground was attacked in 1913, by suffragettes, in a campaign that was later cause substantial damage to Highbury (the proper one in London) and Ewood Park.
Ironically, the club then played host to the Dick, Kerr Ladies side, formed from the female workforce of a local company, and who were famed for playing in front of many thousands, until the FA banned female football, forcing them to play their games as Preston Ladies in obscure or overseas venues, including one match in Paris refereed by Bill Shankly.
Preston post war spent a large proportion of their time until the mid-sixties in the top tier. At this time, they were most famous for having Tom Finney, the Preston Plumber as their star player. The England international is commemorated in the famous Finney Splash sculpture outside the ground, based on an image playing on a waterlogged pitch. It is unclear whether the association of the club with Finney’s plumbing business assisted in the acquisition of heating company Baxi as a long-term sponsor.
If Preston, after their talisman player retired in 1960 fell upon hard times, that’s understandable, as some of the background for the Dickens novel of the same name came about after the author visited the town. Relegation followed Finney’s retirement the very next season and the club has not since played in the topflight. This is all the more galling for the fans as Burnley, Blackburn, Bolton, Blackpool and Wigan have all had spells in the top tier whilst they languished at the lower levels. Still, Rochdale hey. How bad are they?
Preston even lost its status as the home of football, when after two years of closure the National Football Museum was relocated from Deepdale to Manchester. It is enough to make the hardened North ender choke on his butter pie.
Failing to keep pace with local rivals is bad enough, but Preston took the rivalry to a whole new level when in 2015 they managed to fall out with not another club, but with a pop group. Recent visitor to Home Park Sam Johnstone spent an early part of his development on loan at Doncaster Rovers, ardently supported by Louis Tomlinson. Expected to sign on for the rest of the season, Johnstone, at the last minute, switched loan clubs to Preston, and Louis tweeted how disappointed he was the Johnstone had left them in the cack.
The PNE media team saw an open goal, and tweeted that whilst they understood how disappointed Louis must be, that Johnstone had left 1D for Preston, they were not really surprised because they really rated him as a singer.
So far so amusing. Preston however were to learn that hell hath no fury as a thirteen year old 1D’er spurned, and received a torrent of abusive tweets from thousands of very upset One Direction fans who took offence at the suggestion their group could be outsung by an on loan goalie. Someone re-release Back Home quickly!
In the seventies Preston had managerial spells from two 66 winners in Stiles and Bobby Charlton, who as player manager scored a belter in a 2-1 defeat at Home Park in the 74/5 promotion season. The club also had Alan “Squeaky” Balls dad as manager. Later on the club went a little radical on the managerial front with spells from John Beck and Graham Westley, for whom Danny Mayor had the amusing experience of using imaginary weights for training.
Proximity to the big beasts of Liverpool and Manchester worked both ways, with managerial spells for the likes of Harry Catterick and Gordon Lee, and Brian Kidd. Preston also was the launchpad for the managerial career of “old tree frog eyes“ himself, David Moyes. Player wise, three years earlier the club had brought a young midfielder in on loan, one David Beckham, to make his league debut. In amongst all these names one Frank Lord, having finished his playing career at Argyle, had a brief caretaker spell of thirteen matches in charge at Deepdale in 1973.
It will be the first contest between the clubs for thirteen years, as Preston have carved a mid-Championship niche whilst Argyle plumbed the depths and back again. Last season saw Preston almost scrape the play-offs, despite being barely able to gather a goal. This season again has seen them rock solid in defence so far, although dependent on the arrival of their newly acquired striker, having a striker worthy of the name may be an issue for this week’s squad. Even their mascot Deepdale Duck is on the retired list through illness.
Argyle will be hoping to have a Moose they can set loose if needs be and are only looking in one Direction.
Onwards and Upwards.
COYG!!!
Preston North End (A) September 16th
Reaching the international break after last weeks game, it felt that the result mattered more than the performance, and the final score line of a comfortable, on paper, three nil home win against Blackburn meant Argyle could wave a temporary farewell to Irish international Hazard ensconced, just, in the top half of a compact and compressed Championship table.
Before that match played out, there was however the small matter of the final moments of the transfer window, and for once the lights burned brightly at Home Park, as nervous finger nail chewing keyboard experts splashed blood from their fevered typing of rumours, insider knowledge , and more BS than a Ryan Lowe press conference.
In the end of course, having lost out on the loan of Josh Coburn as Middlesbrough changed tack at the last moment and decided he would better served on their bench than ours, Argyle activated the announcement, it has to be said with a fair amount of internal schadenfreude, that was predicted by, absolutely no-one.
Others have spoofed the Argyle transfer decision process, so my planned dartboard of destiny skit will be held over until January, but the landing of three darts in a map of the world to hit Newquay, Belgium and Sierra Leone resulted in the (still anticipated) arrival of full International Mustapha Bundu, from Anderlecht via Aarhus and Newquay, and currently on loan in the Spanish equivalent of the Championship, at Andorra ( the football plaything of Gerard Pique).
Bundu, with a nickname of Moose, looks like he will add pace and power to an already firing Argyle front line, with Hotdog atop the Championship scoring charts, and Morgan Whittaker leading the way on assists. Also, in the frame now is Pleggy, finally making his league debut, in place of the unfortunate Scarr, as Argyle took on Rovers in the traditional sold-out HP, seeking to avoid a fourth defeat on the bounce.
There is nothing more frustrating for a football fan than to be told after a series of defeats that your side were unlucky, the best side overall or the best side we have played this season. Indeed in at least two of the three defeats Argyle went nap and picked up all of those compliments, back-handed as they may be.
For the first twenty-five minutes there looked to be no danger of that happening again, as Argyle were decidedly second best to a neat and tidy Blackburn side, shorn of the injured Ennis, but led by former Pilgrim youth star Sam Gallagher, a five-million-pound man in his own right when acquired from Southampton.
Rovers created chances, the best of them when the Argyle centre peeled open to allow an unchallenged run from Hedges, who from six yards with only Hazard to beat, finished like the accidental 46-year-old Argyle full back, Dennis Hedges picked by Mike Bassett for England in his first squad selection.
Argyle, whose recruitment model for full backs seems to have evolved, judging by the performances of KKH and Edwards, eventually got the stroke of luck their good play deserved when a double deflection helped Finn Azaz open his goal account for his second loan spell to give Argyle the half time lead.
The second half saw Argyle build on the first half improvement. First Hardie was on the spot to profit from a poor push out from a Callum Wright shot. Minutes later he provided a headed assist to allow another sub, Luke Cundle, to score a second twenty yarder in a week at the Devonport End. This one was a neat lob over the walkabout keeper Pears.
Three nil, a clean sheet for the defence and debutant Pleggy who played imperiously, and even a brief return to a back three at the death to see the game out. Schuey acknowledged the imperfections in the performance, and Jon Dahl Tomasson found out to his cost that, whilst things may not be top class at Argyle, neither are they that bad.
The players, Hazard apart, having a fortnight to recuperate, they return to action against near neighbours and rivals of the Rovers, and fellow Palatine County dwellers Preston North End. As irony would have it, PNE have, under the coaching and leadership of former Argyle frontman Ryan Lowe scrambled to the top of the Championship greasy pole, unbeaten, and, like Argyle, having just signed a new striker from Spain, the Montenegrin, Osmajic who became their record signing arriving from Cadiz.
His arrival is timely as, showing the downside of the International break, Will Keane, who arrived in the close season from Wigan, and who shares the honours at the top of the Championship scoring charts with Hotdog, managed to pull his abductor muscle in a ten minute cameo for the Republic of Ireland in Paris.
Lowe, together with the club’s director of football, another former Argyle administrator, Peter Ridsdale, a kind of footballing wandering minstrel, whose siren song seduces owners into allowing him to carry their purse until they find it strangely weightless, have, it is fair to say, a less than stellar reputation with a hefty contingent of the Green Army. It would not be a stretch to expect the Argyle preshow entertainment for this one to include Claudia Winkelman hosting “Footballing Traitors”.
Lowe, to be fair, arrived after the departure of Derek Adams, bringing with him the core of a management team and playing squad that had been successful for Bury, not the least of which were Schumacher, and now head of recruitment Jimmy Dickenson. His style and apparent persona grated with some, and the sub-Klopp fist pumping choreography is not to all tastes (including at his new home ground by all accounts) but what is undeniable is that, with those staff members, he forged a team that gained promotion at the first time of asking. Admittedly this was via the somewhat unusual method of points per game in the Covid truncated season, but as we showed on Saturday, a win is a win, no matter how achieved, and by the same token a promotion is a promotion.
That he departed was not a great surprise. Argyle always felt like a stepping-stone in his career journey. That he went to Preston was perhaps a surprise, especially as he then spouted familiar words about the size of the opportunity and the irresistible nature of it, much as he had done on arrival in Devon.
What was a surprise, perhaps as much to him as anyone, was the reaction of the board he abandoned, who simply, and speedily went to his deputy and gave him the keys to the castle. Lowe, having assumed he was taking what he brought with him, appeared to be taken aback that the band was breaking up.
Schumacher has undoubtedly surpassed all expectations, leading to some questions amongst the North enders as to whether they got the right candidate when they raided Argyle for their coach. That said, we travel to the League leaders, and whilst the story of the off-pitch friends become rivals makes for good press, right now both clubs would be hard pressed to say the outcome of the changes haven’t been positive for both sides.
Preston challenging for Championship honours, is a link back to a glorious past. The club, like so many of the era, commenced originally as an offshoot of an existing cricket club. The North End suffix, itself a unique identifier, a la Argyle, is a simple reference to its origins in the North end of the town (now of course a City).
The club in its early days had a chequered beginning, including a ten nil loss to neighbours and rivals Blackburn. By the 1880’s the team were well established, led by founder member William Sudell who espoused the Scottish style of play, and recruited actively from North of the border. The club became involved in controversy, when, after a cup tie against Upton Park at Deepdale, the club were accused of paying their players, something they did not deny.
In 1887/8 the club won 42 consecutive matches, although lost the final game of the season, the FA Cup Final to West Bromwich Albion. The following season, the founder season of the new-fangled Football League, saw the club do the double, unbeaten and without conceding an FA Cup goal. They were of course immediately branded the Invincibles.
The club continued its relative domination, winning the league the following season and then being runners up for the next three. For some reason, however the club adopted the nickname the Liliywhites, obviously a homage to their white shirts, which overtook the Invincibles. I blame the marketing department.
Having succeeded in the early days with the so called “Scottish Professors” who came South to play, Preston became a solid recruiting ground for Scottish talent although after their initial success, subsequent honours were few and far between. They lost FA Cup Finals in 1922, to Huddersfield by a penalty, and in 1937 to Sunderland, 3-1. The following season they avenged the Huddersfield defeat, beating them, again by a penalty, the first awarded in the FA Cup at Wembley.
Moments before the award, in the last minute of extra time, the BBC radio commentator Tom Woodroofe stated ”if a goal comes now I will eat my hat”. George Mutch duly obliged, in a team that included Bill Shankly and, later to be Argyle manager, Andy Beattie. Woodroofe did eat his hat, albeit in cake form, the following week, but is also perhaps best known for being described as “tired and emotional” by Lord Reith, after a somewhat incoherent commentary on the Spithead review on BBC Radio, following a liquid lunch with naval colleagues.
The club have always played their games at Deepdale, the only club from the founders of the League who play at the same stadium today. The ground was attacked in 1913, by suffragettes, in a campaign that was later cause substantial damage to Highbury (the proper one in London) and Ewood Park.
Ironically, the club then played host to the Dick, Kerr Ladies side, formed from the female workforce of a local company, and who were famed for playing in front of many thousands, until the FA banned female football, forcing them to play their games as Preston Ladies in obscure or overseas venues, including one match in Paris refereed by Bill Shankly.
Preston post war spent a large proportion of their time until the mid-sixties in the top tier. At this time, they were most famous for having Tom Finney, the Preston Plumber as their star player. The England international is commemorated in the famous Finney Splash sculpture outside the ground, based on an image playing on a waterlogged pitch. It is unclear whether the association of the club with Finney’s plumbing business assisted in the acquisition of heating company Baxi as a long-term sponsor.
If Preston, after their talisman player retired in 1960 fell upon hard times, that’s understandable, as some of the background for the Dickens novel of the same name came about after the author visited the town. Relegation followed Finney’s retirement the very next season and the club has not since played in the topflight. This is all the more galling for the fans as Burnley, Blackburn, Bolton, Blackpool and Wigan have all had spells in the top tier whilst they languished at the lower levels. Still, Rochdale hey. How bad are they?
Preston even lost its status as the home of football, when after two years of closure the National Football Museum was relocated from Deepdale to Manchester. It is enough to make the hardened North ender choke on his butter pie.
Failing to keep pace with local rivals is bad enough, but Preston took the rivalry to a whole new level when in 2015 they managed to fall out with not another club, but with a pop group. Recent visitor to Home Park Sam Johnstone spent an early part of his development on loan at Doncaster Rovers, ardently supported by Louis Tomlinson. Expected to sign on for the rest of the season, Johnstone, at the last minute, switched loan clubs to Preston, and Louis tweeted how disappointed he was the Johnstone had left them in the cack.
The PNE media team saw an open goal, and tweeted that whilst they understood how disappointed Louis must be, that Johnstone had left 1D for Preston, they were not really surprised because they really rated him as a singer.
So far so amusing. Preston however were to learn that hell hath no fury as a thirteen year old 1D’er spurned, and received a torrent of abusive tweets from thousands of very upset One Direction fans who took offence at the suggestion their group could be outsung by an on loan goalie. Someone re-release Back Home quickly!
In the seventies Preston had managerial spells from two 66 winners in Stiles and Bobby Charlton, who as player manager scored a belter in a 2-1 defeat at Home Park in the 74/5 promotion season. The club also had Alan “Squeaky” Balls dad as manager. Later on the club went a little radical on the managerial front with spells from John Beck and Graham Westley, for whom Danny Mayor had the amusing experience of using imaginary weights for training.
Proximity to the big beasts of Liverpool and Manchester worked both ways, with managerial spells for the likes of Harry Catterick and Gordon Lee, and Brian Kidd. Preston also was the launchpad for the managerial career of “old tree frog eyes“ himself, David Moyes. Player wise, three years earlier the club had brought a young midfielder in on loan, one David Beckham, to make his league debut. In amongst all these names one Frank Lord, having finished his playing career at Argyle, had a brief caretaker spell of thirteen matches in charge at Deepdale in 1973.
It will be the first contest between the clubs for thirteen years, as Preston have carved a mid-Championship niche whilst Argyle plumbed the depths and back again. Last season saw Preston almost scrape the play-offs, despite being barely able to gather a goal. This season again has seen them rock solid in defence so far, although dependent on the arrival of their newly acquired striker, having a striker worthy of the name may be an issue for this week’s squad. Even their mascot Deepdale Duck is on the retired list through illness.
Argyle will be hoping to have a Moose they can set loose if needs be and are only looking in one Direction.
Onwards and Upwards.
COYG!!!
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