memory man":18fz848h said:
Quintrell_Green":18fz848h said:
gaspargomez":18fz848h said:
Assuming Lundun Cabbie is correct, that makes interesting reading and just emphasises how Argyle have under performed over the years. Plymouth is a reasonably large city within the UK, and combined with a large catchment could and should draw decent crowds. The club needs to be well run over a period of years with a bit of financial injection. I think it nearly happened under the original Stapleton board until they sold out to those sharks.
I just feel that focussing on the size of a city is a too simplistic way of assessing under/over performance. Looking at macro macro-Europe you could ask what has happened to European Champions Cup success in capitals like Berlin and Paris, which is dismal. It would also raise questions as to how a relatively small city like Nottingham could win the European Cup twice. The magic of success is brought together by the catalyst of a number of factors, not least tradition.
Really good point. Often the appointment of a manager is key too. Just now and again the manager and the club are a perfect fit and a club thrives for a reason that is difficult to put your finger on. Clough at Derby is a prime example. They were a struggling second tier club when he arrived. To an extent Sturrock Mark 1 too. Further back Ted Bates at Southampton and Ramsey at Ipswich.
True enough. But Argyle have had managers who have enjoyed plenty of success elsewhere-people like Ken Brown, Dave Smith, Holloway, Pulis, Allison, Waiters etc proved themselves more than capable of building very good teams in a host of different environments. Interesting that you bring up the name of Ted Bates-Southampton undoubtedly owe their current success to the foundations that he laid back in the 1960's.There was a documentary about him on Sky a few years ago and one comment from him always stuck in my mind-he stated that the object at Southampton was "to give the public the best team that we possibly could" and they were genuine in fulfilling that objective. No doubt you'll remember players such as Chivers, Webb, Paine, Sydenham etc who were all very valuable assets in monetary terms. Argyle also had some very good players on the books at the time-Book,Jackson,Trebilcock,Jennings etc who went on to very distinguished careers at high levels. Difference was that they kept their best players and built around them, whereas Argyle sold their assets almost seemingly to the first bidder and brought in inferior talents to replace them,with inevitable results and which reflect in the diverse status of the respective clubs to this very day.It was nothing to do with gates either-they were pretty similar at the time,it was more the prevailing mentality of the men at the top. No wonder there has been a deep rooted cynicism towards the club built up ever since. Could Ted Bates have achieved at Argyle what he did at Southampton? I would very much doubt it somehow.
