Brief Synopsis!!! (Wimbledon)

[Lesley Somerville]

100% agree with this. Oh no wait......he's just plain lazy *rollseyes*

 

[Dorset Green]

There isn't one. As I get fed up saying, it's just lazy and rude to attack a player's character in that way. I hope people will think twice in future before they resort to what is basically name-calling.
As for the point about Jephcott's 'lack of application', how do any of us know what's going on in his mind? Maybe he's got some worries, maybe he's lost confidence, maybe the pressure of people thinking he's a million pound player has got to him - we simply don't know. What we do know is that he's a lad of 21 and he will have good and bad days. Like we all do. They're not robots.

I agree and dire as the second-half might have been it is daft to say the players weren't trying - however it would be true to say that Wimbledon needed a point or more very badly and their players collective mindset in giving it a real go was impressive. Argyle's injuries and the substitutions didn't particularly help. I think it was one of those occasions when the Home Park crowd might have lifted the players towards the end of the game when their performance had become ragged. It seemed like a very honest assessment from Ryan Lowe after the game. He wasn't happy with the second-half performance and I think I actually heard him say that he and the coaching team had to take their share of the responsibility when things don't go well !

 

[Metal Green Mickey]

I agree with Xmastree regarding Jephcott in that he is probably knackered.

I get so annoyed at watching certain players like Ennis, Hardie, Camara and Edwards run around the pitch for 90 mins, even when they aren't playing well.

This is about football. Nothing else. So when your critical about a player you compare him to his team mates around him or players in his position. There is nothing wrong in questioning the attitude of that player if your seeing his team mates do more.

 

[Stiffler]

Can't disagree with most of what's been said on this thread so far - a pretty mediocre performance, game of two halves, draw would have been fair. Now that it's as good as nailed on that we'll stay up and not make the playoffs, I hope we can use our remaining games to focus on ironing out the 2nd half issues we have with this team.

A pleasing win, if not an entirely deserved one.

Cooper 8 - one superb save in the first half, some more regulation ones and (again) faultless command. His kicking prevents it from being a 9.

Edwards 7 - mixed on the ball but did his job defensively and contributed at both ends.

Woods 6 - not quite getting some of the praise for him. The goal was outrageous, one of the goals of the season. However, he completely missed 2 headers in the first half and got sucked into pressing too high up on occasions, leaving space in behind. Opoku starts on Monday for me.

Aimson 8 - I worried about his lack of mobility playing on the left side of defence, but he has been really good there. Covered for Lewis really well, won his headers and won his tackles.

Lewis 6 - an unusual game, in that he was defensively much better than normal but a little wasteful on the ball in attack. Mixed crossing, and some sloppy passes. His off the ball movement in attack impresses me, especially when he drifts inside to create space for Mayor on the overlap.

Fornah 6 - a bit more like the Fornah of old, that early 2nd half chance for Wimbledon was classic pre-Xmas Fornah not being where he should be to pick up 2nd balls... however, his on the ball work was good, especially ball retention.

Grant 8 - sublime first half - he was everywhere. Tailed off a little in the 2nd, but did his job at LWB.

Camara 5 - another quiet game. Not bad, but not great.

Mayor 6 - pivotal in our dominance of the first 20, but also quiet after that.

Hardie 6 - got in behind the AFCW full backs really well, hold up play was decent, but a poor finish for his one sight of goal.

Ennis 6 - see above. His strength and hold up play continues to impress me.

Subs: Jephcott 3 (what has happened to him?!), Watts 6, Moore 6, Reeves 6.

Strange outlook you had on Woods performance, not everybody gets too see everything from a couple of cameras but on 2 occasions he cut out balls across the box with sliding interceptions both in the place Aimson should have been on the front post, those alone and the goal are contributions that far outweigh a mark of 6 and the contriburions others made today. you even marked Cooper an 8 for pulling of one regulation save yet nearly costing us the points late on with a strange bit of goalkeeping at his near post.

 

[HC Green]

I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but after every game I can’t stop myself protesting at this stupid idea that players don’t care. Just stop and think about it. If you’re a player wanting to stay at Argyle next season you will be fighting for your place and your reputation. If you think you’re probably going to leave, of your own free will or not, then you are constantly in the shop window, and again you will be fighting for the best possible move, and again your reputation.

Will somebody give me a single reason why a player would deliberately not give the best performance he was capable of?

Two possible reasons:

1) Players out of contract in July can talk to other Clubs about joining them.

2) it has been stated that the players who left in January were told they wouldn’t be offered a new contract by Argyle, perhaps they weren’t the only ones to be told.

 

[Stiffler]

There isn't one. As I get fed up saying, it's just lazy and rude to attack a player's character in that way. I hope people will think twice in future before they resort to what is basically name-calling.
As for the point about Jephcott's 'lack of application', how do any of us know what's going on in his mind? Maybe he's got some worries, maybe he's lost confidence, maybe the pressure of people thinking he's a million pound player has got to him - we simply don't know. What we do know is that he's a lad of 21 and he will have good and bad days. Like we all do. They're not robots.

I agree and dire as the second-half might have been it is daft to say the players weren't trying - however it would be true to say that Wimbledon needed a point or more very badly and their players collective mindset in giving it a real go was impressive. Argyle's injuries and the substitutions didn't particularly help. I think it was one of those occasions when the Home Park crowd might have lifted the players towards the end of the game when their performance had become ragged. It seemed like a very honest assessment from Ryan Lowe after the game. He wasn't happy with the second-half performance and I think I actually heard him say that he and the coaching team had to take their share of the responsibility when things don't go well !

Would never question any of the players effort and workrate this season and that includes Jephcott, the issue here is that he is just not that good, he might improve and become established at this level but as I have been saying all season he will probably end up at Torquay or Yeovil maybe even back at the likes of Truro.

 

[Dan Ellard]

Can't disagree with most of what's been said on this thread so far - a pretty mediocre performance, game of two halves, draw would have been fair. Now that it's as good as nailed on that we'll stay up and not make the playoffs, I hope we can use our remaining games to focus on ironing out the 2nd half issues we have with this team.

A pleasing win, if not an entirely deserved one.

Cooper 8 - one superb save in the first half, some more regulation ones and (again) faultless command. His kicking prevents it from being a 9.

Edwards 7 - mixed on the ball but did his job defensively and contributed at both ends.

Woods 6 - not quite getting some of the praise for him. The goal was outrageous, one of the goals of the season. However, he completely missed 2 headers in the first half and got sucked into pressing too high up on occasions, leaving space in behind. Opoku starts on Monday for me.

Aimson 8 - I worried about his lack of mobility playing on the left side of defence, but he has been really good there. Covered for Lewis really well, won his headers and won his tackles.

Lewis 6 - an unusual game, in that he was defensively much better than normal but a little wasteful on the ball in attack. Mixed crossing, and some sloppy passes. His off the ball movement in attack impresses me, especially when he drifts inside to create space for Mayor on the overlap.

Fornah 6 - a bit more like the Fornah of old, that early 2nd half chance for Wimbledon was classic pre-Xmas Fornah not being where he should be to pick up 2nd balls... however, his on the ball work was good, especially ball retention.

Grant 8 - sublime first half - he was everywhere. Tailed off a little in the 2nd, but did his job at LWB.

Camara 5 - another quiet game. Not bad, but not great.

Mayor 6 - pivotal in our dominance of the first 20, but also quiet after that.

Hardie 6 - got in behind the AFCW full backs really well, hold up play was decent, but a poor finish for his one sight of goal.

Ennis 6 - see above. His strength and hold up play continues to impress me.

Subs: Jephcott 3 (what has happened to him?!), Watts 6, Moore 6, Reeves 6.

Strange outlook you had on Woods performance, not everybody gets too see everything from a couple of cameras but on 2 occasions he cut out balls across the box with sliding interceptions both in the place Aimson should have been on the front post, those alone and the goal are contributions that far outweigh a mark of 6 and the contriburions others made today. you even marked Cooper an 8 for pulling of one regulation save yet nearly costing us the points late on with a strange bit of goalkeeping at his near post.

I recall one of those Woods interceptions, which frankly would have been an error had he not got to it. Decent defending, but not exemplary. Aimson was regularly dragged out to the left back slot, not his fault, but because Lewis was way further up the pitch trying to counter press or just not getting back quickly enough. As for the "strange" bit of keeping, I assume you mean the attempted cross that almost turned into a shot? Not bad goalkeeping for me, Cooper got it out of danger.

 

[Balham Green]

I agree with Xmastree regarding Jephcott in that he is probably knackered.

I get so annoyed at watching certain players like Ennis, Hardie, Camara and Edwards run around the pitch for 90 mins, even when they aren't playing well.

This is about football. Nothing else. So when your critical about a player you compare him to his team mates around him or players in his position. There is nothing wrong in questioning the attitude of that player if your seeing his team mates do more.

Knackered?! What a load of nonsense? A young man who hasnt played a full 90 minutes for weeks. Hard to accept for many but he just ain't that good. Those saying he was worth millions a few weeks ago looking even more ridiculous now

 

[Mark Pedlar]

I agree with Xmastree regarding Jephcott in that he is probably knackered.

I get so annoyed at watching certain players like Ennis, Hardie, Camara and Edwards run around the pitch for 90 mins, even when they aren't playing well.

This is about football. Nothing else. So when your critical about a player you compare him to his team mates around him or players in his position. There is nothing wrong in questioning the attitude of that player if your seeing his team mates do more.

Knackered?! What a load of nonsense? A young man who hasnt played a full 90 minutes for weeks. Hard to accept for many but he just ain't that good. Those saying he was worth millions a few weeks ago looking even more ridiculous now

Ah the "i know better than you" post. Tick

 

[Metal Green Mickey]

I don’t think you can write Jephcott off at all.

The guy needs service. By which l mean he needs a playing partner to do his running. He also needs service from positions out wide. He is a player that seems to be in the right positions to score. That’s his strength.

Unfortunately, he isn’t particularly quick. So he will have to work on his ability to hold the ball up.

I’m just disappointed by what l have seen from him recently. This isn’t just about today performance. If your going to press as a team unit you need to do it from the front. I just think when Hardie went off we became even worse.

 

[demportdave]

I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but after every game I can’t stop myself protesting at this stupid idea that players don’t care. Just stop and think about it. If you’re a player wanting to stay at Argyle next season you will be fighting for your place and your reputation. If you think you’re probably going to leave, of your own free will or not, then you are constantly in the shop window, and again you will be fighting for the best possible move, and again your reputation.

Will somebody give me a single reason why a player would deliberately not give the best performance he was capable of?

You are very naive if you think every player gives 100% every game and there are a number of reasons for this.

A player could be carrying an injury, or not happy with the role the Manager has given him; he may have personal problems or he just plain wants away, etc. It may also be a sub-conscious thing where a player is not giving his all but it is not intentional.

Then you get the likes of Lyle Taylor who basically refused to play for fear of getting injured and missing out on a big money move. There will be players at Argyle who have one eye on next season and pastures new, but I don't think we have anyone as bad as our old friend Taylor.

Based on the second half performance this afternoon, I can understand those Argyle fans who are accusing some players of not giving their all. Performances like that make fans frustrated and angry.

Personally, I don't agree that any of the players are not trying for whatever reason because this season, we have seen so many games like today where we only turn up for 45 minutes.

I think this is Lowe's biggest challenge to address for next season and if he doesn't, we can forget about any talk of a tilt at the Play-offs.

 

[Stiffler]

Can't disagree with most of what's been said on this thread so far - a pretty mediocre performance, game of two halves, draw would have been fair. Now that it's as good as nailed on that we'll stay up and not make the playoffs, I hope we can use our remaining games to focus on ironing out the 2nd half issues we have with this team.

A pleasing win, if not an entirely deserved one.

Cooper 8 - one superb save in the first half, some more regulation ones and (again) faultless command. His kicking prevents it from being a 9.

Edwards 7 - mixed on the ball but did his job defensively and contributed at both ends.

Woods 6 - not quite getting some of the praise for him. The goal was outrageous, one of the goals of the season. However, he completely missed 2 headers in the first half and got sucked into pressing too high up on occasions, leaving space in behind. Opoku starts on Monday for me.

Aimson 8 - I worried about his lack of mobility playing on the left side of defence, but he has been really good there. Covered for Lewis really well, won his headers and won his tackles.

Lewis 6 - an unusual game, in that he was defensively much better than normal but a little wasteful on the ball in attack. Mixed crossing, and some sloppy passes. His off the ball movement in attack impresses me, especially when he drifts inside to create space for Mayor on the overlap.

Fornah 6 - a bit more like the Fornah of old, that early 2nd half chance for Wimbledon was classic pre-Xmas Fornah not being where he should be to pick up 2nd balls... however, his on the ball work was good, especially ball retention.

Grant 8 - sublime first half - he was everywhere. Tailed off a little in the 2nd, but did his job at LWB.

Camara 5 - another quiet game. Not bad, but not great.

Mayor 6 - pivotal in our dominance of the first 20, but also quiet after that.

Hardie 6 - got in behind the AFCW full backs really well, hold up play was decent, but a poor finish for his one sight of goal.

Ennis 6 - see above. His strength and hold up play continues to impress me.

Subs: Jephcott 3 (what has happened to him?!), Watts 6, Moore 6, Reeves 6.

Strange outlook you had on Woods performance, not everybody gets too see everything from a couple of cameras but on 2 occasions he cut out balls across the box with sliding interceptions both in the place Aimson should have been on the front post, those alone and the goal are contributions that far outweigh a mark of 6 and the contriburions others made today. you even marked Cooper an 8 for pulling of one regulation save yet nearly costing us the points late on with a strange bit of goalkeeping at his near post.

I recall one of those Woods interceptions, which frankly would have been an error had he not got to it. Decent defending, but not exemplary. Aimson was regularly dragged out to the left back slot, not his fault, but because Lewis was way further up the pitch trying to counter press or just not getting back quickly enough. As for the "strange" bit of keeping, I assume you mean the attempted cross that almost turned into a shot? Not bad goalkeeping for me, Cooper got it out of danger.

I do not think anybody would disagree that Aimson was excellent just as he was last time out. However, to think anybody else apart from Aimson put in a performace anywhere near as good as Woods is way off the mark and I would guess you are the only one who thinks he was as average as the rest.

 

[RKB]

Cooper 7
Edwards 7
Woods 8
Aimson 9
Lewis 7
Fornah 7
Grant 6
Camara 5
Mayor 6
Hardie 6
Ennis 6

Jephcott 4
Watts 6
Reeves 6
Moore 6

Rest Jephcott for 3 matches and give Lolos some sub time. Jephcott is burnt out and looks like the bang average player that made his debut under Derek Adams, before being shipped off to Truro.
His fall and rise and fall again is bordering on bizarre. He now looks like the player we sent to Truro again. And yet from Jan-Mar and Sep-Dec 2020 he looked like the best finisher at the club since Tommy Tynan. A real head-scratcher.

 

[Balham Green]

I agree with Xmastree regarding Jephcott in that he is probably knackered.

I get so annoyed at watching certain players like Ennis, Hardie, Camara and Edwards run around the pitch for 90 mins, even when they aren't playing well.

This is about football. Nothing else. So when your critical about a player you compare him to his team mates around him or players in his position. There is nothing wrong in questioning the attitude of that player if your seeing his team mates do more.

Knackered?! What a load of nonsense? A young man who hasnt played a full 90 minutes for weeks. Hard to accept for many but he just ain't that good. Those saying he was worth millions a few weeks ago looking even more ridiculous now

Ah the "i know better than you" post. Tick

Ah 'the I can't think of anything else to say' post. What do you disagree with in my post?

 

[Paranoid Android]

I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but after every game I can’t stop myself protesting at this stupid idea that players don’t care. Just stop and think about it. If you’re a player wanting to stay at Argyle next season you will be fighting for your place and your reputation. If you think you’re probably going to leave, of your own free will or not, then you are constantly in the shop window, and again you will be fighting for the best possible move, and again your reputation.

Will somebody give me a single reason why a player would deliberately not give the best performance he was capable of?

You are very naive if you think every player gives 100% every game and there are a number of reasons for this.

A player could be carrying an injury, or not happy with the role the Manager has given him; he may have personal problems or he just plain wants away, etc. It may also be a sub-conscious thing where a player is not giving his all but it is not intentional.

Then you get the likes of Lyle Taylor who basically refused to play for fear of getting injured and missing out on a big money move. There will be players at Argyle who have one eye on next season and pastures new, but I don't think we have anyone as bad as our old friend Taylor.

Based on the second half performance this afternoon, I can understand those Argyle fans who are accusing some players of not giving their all. Performances like that make fans frustrated and angry.

Personally, I don't agree that any of the players are not trying for whatever reason because this season, we have seen so many games like today where we only turn up for 45 minutes.

I think this is Lowe's biggest challenge to address for next season and if he doesn't, we can forget about any talk of a tilt at the Play-offs.

I also think it's naive for some on here to perpetuate the myth about players attitudes. While that might be true of the odd individual, as you alluded to, this is not the same as the accusation the majority of the 11 aren't playing for the club.

Think about it, a team plays like promotion contenders first half and like relegation contenders second half. If it were a collective attitude issue why would they play teams off the park in the first half? There's no logic to the accusation and it needs to stop, it's been allowed to fester on here for too long, in my view.

Now, if we discussed sensible reasons why this team seems to lose momentum in the second half, we could be discussing things like the system, does Lowe get them to press too hard first half and they come out second half lacking energy? Lowe keeps talking about the guys doing 10-12k a match, is that expected in League 1 or is that too much? It only takes a few percent drop off for players to stop getting to 2nd balls first, reaching interceptions, making tackles, making runs off the ball into space. Could it be we're not adapting to the opposition changing shape at half time? Does Lowe not talk about this during the break, eg. if they go to this shape I want you to do that? I suspect it's a combination of both things, But there may be other ideas if someone has any?