Assessment of RLs season

Oldage, good of you to keep us on our toes and remind us what we are missing with Balham away.

As i stated this time last year we had nobody worth selling. Right now Cooper, Camara, Ennis, Jephcott and Hardie all either have the ability or likely to show enough ability to be worth good money. Add into that Randell who as this moment is an untapped resource - we have the nucleus of a squad who all add value to our bottom line. That will be key to many clubs as we hopefully come out of the pandemic, those that can support themselves will benefit.

You are never as good or as bad as you think, is pretty much how i feel about the current squad, but i maintain that one Coughaln type centre back, one Nalis type central midfielder and we would have been challenging for a play off spot, so we aren't miles away in my opinion.

Railway sleeper":394akjmk said:

“If you sign a young player who has played less than 100 senior games, you’re taking a big chance” so said Ian Holloway, during his time as Argyle manager....

.... witness... Callum Dyson, Tafari Moore, Ashley Smith- Brown, Jerome Opoku, Adam Lewis, Kelland Watts....

.... no more inexperienced youngsters please, Mr. Hallett... experienced professionals with a track record of leadership and success needed.....

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I think most of us feel the same way but at times the young loanees have played really well - we've had a couple of good runs in this league. Obviously the inconsistency has been a major concern, but I think that a couple of solid, experienced professionals in key positions would/will make all the difference. The problem might be how we finance their arrival and wages.

Railway sleeper":avzxuden said:

“If you sign a young player who has played less than 100 senior games, you’re taking a big chance” so said Ian Holloway, during his time as Argyle manager....

.... witness... Callum Dyson, Tafari Moore, Ashley Smith- Brown, Jerome Opoku, Adam Lewis, Kelland Watts....

.... no more inexperienced youngsters please, Mr. Hallett... experienced professionals with a track record of leadership and success needed.....

Click to expand...

And how are you going to finance this? There is a reason why Argyle do utilise these young players, and probably will continue to do so - though hopefully less of them.

RL has had a season s "honeymoon" in lge 1 ok he has kept us up that says it all. Must do better next season. Think most thought realistically mid table but we wont achieve that .
All this talk about a "difficult " season for us, are we the only ones affected by the pandemic then :facepalm:

There has to be an argument to sell Jephcott and use the money to shore up CB/DM, wouldn't you say? If media reports are to be believed (and I know they're mainly made up) then Jephcott would add some useful cash to our summer transfer kitty.

We're doing alright for striking options with Hardie and Ennis plus Lolos in reserve. Plus I think LJ has gone off the boil so maybe a good time to offload.

For what it's worth, I think it's a bit early to try and make a definitive assessment. I don't think we'll really know until a good way into next year.

That's because I believe that the first season back in League One was always going to be, first and foremost, about staying up.

And then getting into good shape for next year.

On the first task, 10 out of 10. No argument.

On the second - well I believe that we have to wait before making a definitive judgement.

For context, take a look at 2002-3. (The following season, we went up as champions. Deservedly).

At the time of the last few games of 02-03, both goalies (Romain and Luke) were at the club.

Midfielders Norris, Friio, Hodges, Bent and Capaldi were there. Steve Adams too.

Front men Evans, Stonebridge, Keith and Lowndes. were all available.

As were defenders Connolly, Coughlan, Wotton and Aljofree.

The personnel had been recruited, and the systems were in place too. Everyone know their jobs.

Indeed, just 1 player made his first team debut in the 03-04 season - Peter Gilbert. (Thanks GreensonScreen for that info!).

These last few games of 02-03 were spent experimenting with shape and personnel. (Who remembers Kieran MacAnespie?!)
But everything that year was about planning for the next one. And what a year it turned out to be. Despite Paul Sturrock leaving for Southampton at a critical time, the machine rolled on. The consistency remained.

Now, I have absolutely no idea how many of the existing squad are earmarked for a central role next year. And I'm sure that there will be comprehensive plans in place when it comes to recruitment.

We'll find out over the coming months.

In terms of my response to the "exam question" - now is not the time. We'll only be able to give a better answer 20 or so games into next season.

Voice_of_Reason":smtf4i42 said:

Oldage, good of you to keep us on our toes and remind us what we are missing with Balham away.

As i stated this time last year we had nobody worth selling. Right now Cooper, Camara, Ennis, Jephcott and Hardie all either have the ability or likely to show enough ability to be worth good money. Add into that Randell who as this moment is an untapped resource - we have the nucleus of a squad who all add value to our bottom line. That will be key to many clubs as we hopefully come out of the pandemic, those that can support themselves will benefit.

You are never as good or as bad as you think, is pretty much how i feel about the current squad, but i maintain that one Coughaln type centre back, one Nalis type central midfielder and we would have been challenging for a play off spot, so we aren't miles away in my opinion.

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Not sure why you are so defensive but I was merely expressing an opinion.IMO we have three strikers who have potential but are currently going through barren spells,our midfield lacks a general and our defence is too soft. Cooper is the pick of our players at the moment. You name 5 maybe 6 players with the potential to be worth a lot of money but on current form we are probably looking at hundreds of thousands rather than millions for the 5.

If I were writing Lowes report I’d give him a C minus.

arrythewurzel":3kdtdi07 said:

If I were writing Lowes report I’d give him a C minus.

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Not sure I would give him this high tbh :banghead:

Biggest mistake not re-signing Palmer. Not that I don’t rate Cooper but the gulf in experience, presence, ability and organisation have been clear.

With Palmer we’d of had 10 more points

football-bet-data":22rm50m7 said:

Biggest mistake not re-signing Palmer. Not that I don’t rate Cooper but the gulf in experience, presence, ability and organisation have been clear.

With Palmer we’d of had 10 more points

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Did we have the choice to sign him?

I support him .... but ... last night is not acceptable to asnyone. Need one point for safety and do that at home?

So my report is: some good work but need to learn and concentrate.
See me after class boy!! :furious:

A vague memory popped into my head. Someone here posted a few games after Niall Ennis was signed, their observation that putting him straight into the team affected the rhythm of the performances and he and Jephcott didn't seem to be working so well as the Hardie/Jephcott partnership, although Niall was individually playing well at the time. I wonder how much it affected Luke psychologically, having developed a good understanding with Hardie, suddenly having to adapt to a new partner, who is a completely different kind of player, and in his first season as a striker in senior football.

So I've taken a look at why our goals started to dry up from around this time, or at least that was a perception. We've all talked in general terms about the first and second halves of the season. Largely, the first team and formation (until the recent experiment with 4-2-2-2) haven't changed, apart from adding Ennis and losing Canavan. There can't be just one reason for the dramatic loss of form. Losing the experience of Canavan appears to have affected us, though it's hard to quantify. I suppose we could look at goals against, before and after Canavan. That might tell us something.

But my thought was around goals scored before and after Ennis. This isn't about Niall, his performances, particularly in the first 10 games looked a step up, and he was scoring 1 in 3 games. Now, like the others, he's not. So this is more about decisions made, players brought in to fit a system and style of play. Niall doesn't really run the channels, although it looks like he's been coached to the past few games, and to hold up the ball.

Just as a talking point, and to repeat, this isn't about Ennis, it's just pointing to something that's coincided with a rapid drop in team performances generally.

18/01/21 Ennis signs.

Goals scored in all competitions to 18/01/21 - 47 (31 games) = 1.5 goals per game

Goals scored after 18/01/21 - 20 ( 22 games) = 0.9 goals per game

Martyn":3fxl8sfv said:

When you consider everything that has happened this season, I think RL, and his management team, has done absolutely brilliant this season.

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I think you must have had a drink when you wrote that! He’s had a shocker in the second half of the season.

Should have tried to keep hold of Canavan who was a decent passer of the ball and should have abandoned the ridiculous three at the back bearing in mind none of the three can pass the ball and two of them Opoku and Watts are pedestrian to say the least.

The number of times we have collapsed from seemingly comfortable positions is ridiculous. The game where Mayor was sent off think it was Ipswich? Ridiculously unprofessional. The two goal lead squandered at Portsmouth. How we almost contrived to lose against Burton having been leading 3 minutes into injury time. The absolutely unprofessional shambles that was Tuesday night etc etc.

Defeats I can accept, you can’t support Argyle and not accept regular defeats, but the manner of the defeats and the outright unprofessional performances are what I find unacceptable.

Larry David":cgo6l3p8 said:

Martyn":cgo6l3p8 said:

When you consider everything that has happened this season, I think RL, and his management team, has done absolutely brilliant this season.

Click to expand...

I think you must have had a drink when you wrote that! He’s had a shocker in the second half of the season.

Should have tried to keep hold of Canavan who was a decent passer of the ball and should have abandoned the ridiculous three at the back bearing in mind none of the three can pass the ball and two of them Opoku and Watts are pedestrian to say the least.

The number of times we have collapsed from seemingly comfortable positions is ridiculous. The game where Mayor was sent off think it was Ipswich? Ridiculously unprofessional. The two goal lead squandered at Portsmouth. How we almost contrived to lose against Burton having been leading 3 minutes into injury time. The absolutely unprofessional shambles that was Tuesday night etc etc.

Defeats I can accept, you can’t support Argyle and not accept regular defeats, but the manner of the defeats and the outright unprofessional performances are what I find unacceptable.

Click to expand...

Yet interestingly, at the midway point we had 30 points. We currently have 53. If we get a couple results in the last three games (I don't think we will), then in result terms both halves of the season are basically the same. Certainly hasn't felt that way!