Brief Synopsis Lincoln

[Guiri Green]

I've just watched the penalty incident several times and can't see any contact prior to the Lincoln player going down. I'll stand by my dive claim.

 

[oldage]

Regardless of whether it was a penalty or not we still lost.
I think our weakness at the moment is the lack of a leader in the team.Someone who is not afraid to be unpopular when the going gets tough and can "kick ass. As somebody else said on another post the nearest to we have to this type of player is Canavan. As for RL perhaps he told the players to carry on doing what they had in the first half during his half time talk .

 

[Balham Green]

Its a pity a large part of post match debate is about a penalty decision which masks the inadequacies of Argyle's performance and asks questions about their potential this season. That after 2 easy home matches which seemed to convince many we were going to challenge at the top. :funny: There are fundamental flaws to this squad. Hope Lowe knows what he's doing.

 

[Tugboat]

The penalty issue was a visible superficial cut.

We had much more serious internal injury's second half.

 

[jimsing]

Its a pity a large part of post match debate is about a penalty decision which masks the inadequacies of Argyle's performance and asks questions about their potential this season. That after 2 easy home matches which seemed to convince many we were going to challenge at the top. :funny: There are fundamental flaws to this squad. Hope Lowe knows what he's doing.

ALL teams have flaws, Balham, even in the Premiership.

Especially ones who have just moved into the division.

Especially ones that have been affected by covid.

We haven't played ten games yet and you are questioning the manager?

Do you expect perfection always?

Constructive criticism required at this stage of the season, Balham, rather than bland phrases of criticism, without any thought put into them, just because a game was lost?

We will lose more games as the season unfolds. Will that mean the manager has lost it again?? Will that mean we will still be flawed? Will we ever become perfect, and is perfection your objective for the team because you are going to be well disappointed?

We lost an away match, it won't be the last, we move on to the next one, hoping covid doesn't interfere too much with our match squad, but we will be willing to adapt if required, knowing that we may not be able to put out a full strength side, but that the side that we do put out will be battling as best as it can under the circumstances.

They may not meet your standards of perfection but they will be trying hard to get the three points on offer, which is all we, as supporters, can expect.

At least I'll be happy with that.

 

[Balham Green]

Its a pity a large part of post match debate is about a penalty decision which masks the inadequacies of Argyle's performance and asks questions about their potential this season. That after 2 easy home matches which seemed to convince many we were going to challenge at the top. :funny: There are fundamental flaws to this squad. Hope Lowe knows what he's doing.

ALL teams have flaws, Balham, even in the Premiership.

Especially ones who have just moved into the division.

Especially ones that have been affected by covid.

We haven't played ten games yet and you are questioning the manager?

Do you expect perfection always?

Constructive criticism required at this stage of the season, Balham, rather than bland phrases of criticism, without any thought put into them, just because a game was lost?

We will lose more games as the season unfolds. Will that mean the manager has lost it again?? Will that mean we will still be flawed? Will we ever become perfect, and is perfection your objective for the team because you are going to be well disappointed?

We lost an away match, it won't be the last, we move on to the next one, hoping covid doesn't interfere too much with our match squad, but we will be willing to adapt if required, knowing that we may not be able to put out a full strength side, but that the side that we do put out will be battling as best as it can under the circumstances.

They may not meet your standards of perfection but they will be trying hard to get the three points on offer, which is all we, as supporters, can expect.

At least I'll be happy with that.

ha hilarious. Where' s the criticism of Lowe?? I said 'I hope he know what he's doing'.
There is a big difference between seeking perfection and fundamental flaws. And a big difference between flaws(which we know every team has) and FUNDAMENTAL thaws. Get the distinction? By the way we have a BIG squad in case you haven't noticed.

 

[jimsing]

So what fundamental flaws have you noticed, Balham?

 

[PL2 3DQ]

Its a pity a large part of post match debate is about a penalty decision which masks the inadequacies of Argyle's performance and asks questions about their potential this season. That after 2 easy home matches which seemed to convince many we were going to challenge at the top. :funny: There are fundamental flaws to this squad. Hope Lowe knows what he's doing.

ALL teams have flaws, Balham, even in the Premiership.

Especially ones who have just moved into the division.

Especially ones that have been affected by covid.

We haven't played ten games yet and you are questioning the manager?

Do you expect perfection always?

Constructive criticism required at this stage of the season, Balham, rather than bland phrases of criticism, without any thought put into them, just because a game was lost?

We will lose more games as the season unfolds. Will that mean the manager has lost it again?? Will that mean we will still be flawed? Will we ever become perfect, and is perfection your objective for the team because you are going to be well disappointed?

We lost an away match, it won't be the last, we move on to the next one, hoping covid doesn't interfere too much with our match squad, but we will be willing to adapt if required, knowing that we may not be able to put out a full strength side, but that the side that we do put out will be battling as best as it can under the circumstances.

They may not meet your standards of perfection but they will be trying hard to get the three points on offer, which is all we, as supporters, can expect.

At least I'll be happy with that.

ha hilarious. Where' s the criticism of Lowe?? I said 'I hope he know what he's doing'.
There is a big difference between seeking perfection and fundamental flaws. And a big difference between flaws(which we know every team has) and FUNDAMENTAL thaws. Get the distinction? By the way we have a BIG squad in case you haven't noticed.

Are FUNDAMENTAL thaws the fault of global warming?

 

[philevs]

I shall be interested to hear Balham Green’s reply and expert explanation of what exactly are the (quote) “fundamental flaws to this squad” which he referred to.

 

[Herts Green]

I’m afraid Balham Green expects us to win every game. And actually more than that, just winning isn’t enough, because if we dare to give the opposition a couple of decent chances in a game which they then don’t take then apparently we are lucky to win those games.

Everything I’ve seen from Argyle this season so far points to what I thought would happen before the season started - that we will finish in a comfortable mid table position. Which personally I will be very pleased with. Unfortunately some, like Balham, will see that as a failure.

 

[Nobby]

I shall be interested to hear Balham Green’s reply and expert explanation of what exactly are the (quote) “fundamental flaws to this squad” which he referred to.

I'm not BG, and often take a more positive outlook than he does, but I think he's right to say we have some fundamental flaws. How fundamental they are may differ depending on your opinion, however the ones I see:

- Tactically not very diverse
- Don't have an effective target man
- Defenders are not good enough on the ball.
- Unproven strikers at this level.
- Too reliant on Mayor for creativity.

The obvious fundamental problem is the Defence, but I think the Defence is better defensively and structurally than we saw in the opening couple of games. I think we still push the full backs slightly too high and that's going to lead to us conceding chances. Jorge Grant had particular fun down our wings on Tuesday. The biggest problem defensively for me is the ability of our Defenders to play out from the back. Canavan is good at it, Watts is comfortable with it, the rest not so much. Aimson has really disappointed me so far this season. I possibly expected too much based on limited appearances last year, but he has looked wasteful in possession (particularly long balls are bad) and he doesn't read the game particularly well. Opoku I like the look of defensively, but on the ball feel he has been sloppy so far, but that is based on limited minutes and as we are seeing with Kell Watts, he may sharpen up with more game time. Wootton, we all know his deficiencies. Prone to mistake and slow. However, he is confident stepping into midfield with the ball and if we are going to play a 3 at the back, it's important one of the outside centre backs does this well. It gets us up the pitch and creates space for the midfield players. Sheffield United are a particularly good example of it.

Tactically, I would like to see us consider playing a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, as I feel this really would suit our personnel. Regardless of the formation, I would like to see us focus our play through the middle more. I think our midfield is our strength and often we either a) go over it, or b) go around it. The more Mayor is on the ball, the better we will be. When we're chasing late on, sacrificing a defender for a forward seems sensible. Whilst I respect Lowe's commitment to our "brand of football", i think he could be more flexible and apply it in a different formation. Changing to 4-3-3 doesn't mean we'll immediately turn into Wycombe (thank the lord).

In attack, I remain unconvinced by all of the options. Hardie has the most quality, but has made a slow start. Nouble, I don't quite see what others do, doesn't look particularly potent and hold up play seems pretty average to me. Telford is a cameo player. Abraham, yet to be determined. Jephcott has had injury problems but is amongst the goals. Probably the first choice for me, however. None of them have a record of scoring at L1 level and admittedly our chance creation has been limited, but lack of intelligent movement can be part of the reason for that. I would go with Hardie and Jephcott, personally, as they're the only pairing where I see evidence of chemistry. We are currently playing quite direct and need the forwards to retain possession better to bring the midfielders into play higher up. It's not happening and that's why as I've said above, I'd prefer us to play through the thirds more and get the midfield with the ball at their feet.

Creativity is the biggest issue, I think. Spamming crosses of mixed quality into the box appears to be our main avenue of attacking, but I don't think any of our forwards are particularly good in the air (Jephcott again probably best). We created one really good chance on Tuesday where Mayor slipped it through for Jephcott. That was a chance we created quite a few times last year and i'd like to see it more. Our final ball needs to improve. Mayor, Moore and Cooper have the quality to put it on a plate for the forwards, we've seen them do it, but right now it's to inconsistent.

Despite all of the above, there are also plenty of positives and generally our performances have been 'good', if not spectacular. The other thing is that a lot of other teams will also have 'fundamental flaws', if they didn't, they wouldn't be in League One. I don't think any of our flaws are fatal to our chances. They require a tweak in style (less direct and play through the middle more) and a tweak in structure (drop the wing backs a little deeper). Plenty to be positive about and as someone says above, so far our opening fixtures show we are a competitive side at this level. The aim this year will have been consolidation and we look capable of that on the evidence so far.

 

[Dreamgreen]

Pretty fair comments there Nobby.

I would definitely agree that playing the ball in the air to our forwards in the box has been pretty useless if our players are being marked. Our header win ratio must be pretty low up top.

However, as Jephcott and Frank has proved, the forwards need to move to create their own space to win a header. If they do they can be productive.

 

[davie nine]

I shall be interested to hear Balham Green’s reply and expert explanation of what exactly are the (quote) “fundamental flaws to this squad” which he referred to.

I'm not BG, and often take a more positive outlook than he does, but I think he's right to say we have some fundamental flaws. How fundamental they are may differ depending on your opinion, however the ones I see:

- Tactically not very diverse
- Don't have an effective target man
- Defenders are not good enough on the ball.
- Unproven strikers at this level.
- Too reliant on Mayor for creativity.

The obvious fundamental problem is the Defence, but I think the Defence is better defensively and structurally than we saw in the opening couple of games. I think we still push the full backs slightly too high and that's going to lead to us conceding chances. Jorge Grant had particular fun down our wings on Tuesday. The biggest problem defensively for me is the ability of our Defenders to play out from the back. Canavan is good at it, Watts is comfortable with it, the rest not so much. Aimson has really disappointed me so far this season. I possibly expected too much based on limited appearances last year, but he has looked wasteful in possession (particularly long balls are bad) and he doesn't read the game particularly well. Opoku I like the look of defensively, but on the ball feel he has been sloppy so far, but that is based on limited minutes and as we are seeing with Kell Watts, he may sharpen up with more game time. Wootton, we all know his deficiencies. Prone to mistake and slow. However, he is confident stepping into midfield with the ball and if we are going to play a 3 at the back, it's important one of the outside centre backs does this well. It gets us up the pitch and creates space for the midfield players. Sheffield United are a particularly good example of it.

Tactically, I would like to see us consider playing a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, as I feel this really would suit our personnel. Regardless of the formation, I would like to see us focus our play through the middle more. I think our midfield is our strength and often we either a) go over it, or b) go around it. The more Mayor is on the ball, the better we will be. When we're chasing late on, sacrificing a defender for a forward seems sensible. Whilst I respect Lowe's commitment to our "brand of football", i think he could be more flexible and apply it in a different formation. Changing to 4-3-3 doesn't mean we'll immediately turn into Wycombe (thank the lord).

In attack, I remain unconvinced by all of the options. Hardie has the most quality, but has made a slow start. Nouble, I don't quite see what others do, doesn't look particularly potent and hold up play seems pretty average to me. Telford is a cameo player. Abraham, yet to be determined. Jephcott has had injury problems but is amongst the goals. Probably the first choice for me, however. None of them have a record of scoring at L1 level and admittedly our chance creation has been limited, but lack of intelligent movement can be part of the reason for that. I would go with Hardie and Jephcott, personally, as they're the only pairing where I see evidence of chemistry. We are currently playing quite direct and need the forwards to retain possession better to bring the midfielders into play higher up. It's not happening and that's why as I've said above, I'd prefer us to play through the thirds more and get the midfield with the ball at their feet.

Creativity is the biggest issue, I think. Spamming crosses of mixed quality into the box appears to be our main avenue of attacking, but I don't think any of our forwards are particularly good in the air (Jephcott again probably best). We created one really good chance on Tuesday where Mayor slipped it through for Jephcott. That was a chance we created quite a few times last year and i'd like to see it more. Our final ball needs to improve. Mayor, Moore and Cooper have the quality to put it on a plate for the forwards, we've seen them do it, but right now it's to inconsistent.

Despite all of the above, there are also plenty of positives and generally our performances have been 'good', if not spectacular. The other thing is that a lot of other teams will also have 'fundamental flaws', if they didn't, they wouldn't be in League One. I don't think any of our flaws are fatal to our chances. They require a tweak in style (less direct and play through the middle more) and a tweak in structure (drop the wing backs a little deeper). Plenty to be positive about and as someone says above, so far our opening fixtures show we are a competitive side at this level. The aim this year will have been consolidation and we look capable of that on the evidence so far.

Accurate assessment, Nobby.
I, particularly, like your comment about Danny Mayor ‘slipping Jephcott through’.
These are the killer passes that we don’t often see from Danny. Last season, most of his positive passes found McFadzean or Cooper. This season it is mainly Cooper.
He needs to find situations where he can feed Hardie, Jephcott, Telford or Abraham directly.
It is interesting that, in 2018/19 season, Danny provided 9 direct assists and scored 8 goals under Ryan Lowe as manager
What is the main cause of this reduction in goals and assists? Did he have a more advanced role in his last season with Bury?
That’s the million dollar question!!!

 

[philevs]

Fantastic reply by Nobby, really enjoyed reading it.

 

[PlymOdi]

Spot on, Nobby. Well put.