Brief Synopsis

[Doyley43]

I keep reading Swindon was poor and blah blah blah, but I think we should concentrate on our own performance and I for one believe we played so well we made them look poor. I don't buy some of the comments on here saying we did okay against a very poor team.

We beat Sunderland away too and they won last night away to Ipswich. I sometimes think some of our fans are so hard to please.

I am buzzing after last nights performance

COYG :scarf:

 

[Martyn]

Before anyone has a go at me, I am delighted with the 3 points and another confidence builder. However I am a realist and this is my take on the game.
An average performance to beat a very poor side. Plusses: 2 nicely taken goals, with some good approach play at times. A largely untroubled defence and Coops will not have an easier game.
On the downside, innumerable misplaced passes to the opposition (which in the main were given back to us). Poor shooting as per usual, and crosses into the box were frequently overhit, underhit or just sh1te, Hence Jeffers replacement as he never got a sniff all night, and can do little else.
This was a match set up for us to score goals to improve a poor goal difference. We will have to find another couple of gears and be much sharper on Saturday if we are to keep the run going.

Absolutely agree our final ball was really poor at times. Felt a bit for Jephcott as he was feeding on scraps, Fornah still a concern for me and I still think we need a big dominant experienced centre half if we want to push on and up.

But on the ball we look very comfortable and easy on the eye and it was a comfortable win against a bad side, if only we could have found that final ball, it really should have been five or six.

Opoku looks a completely different player and seems to have made the step up now.

Could you expand on your comment ‘Fornah still a concern for me’.
To me, he is a very good player, that goes under the radar a lot. He works hard, in front of the back 3, wins tackles, does his JOB, Not as forward thinking as Camara, but he is defensive midfielder.

Think he is also having a good run of form, he is not a Camara, Grant or Mayor, but he just as effective.

 

[Larry David]

Fornah is still learning but I just feel that either Ben Reeves or Connor Grant in that role is a better fit at the moment. I think he switches off sometimes and seems slow to react also going forward in possession I think Grant and Reeves are better.

Obviously Ryan Lowe sees it the same way you do, hopefully he will click confidence wise like Jerome Opoku seems to have done.

Saturday against a very good Accrington side will be a good test.

 

[up the line]

Sheridan is a dead man walking at Swindon whose fans want him out ASAP (if their Forums are any indicator) - can’t blame them really as he’s absolutely hopeless as a manager imho. Dour, attritional football like Pulis but without the results to back him up.

Yes, if any manager can get their team spirit and confidence boosted for an away game at 2nd team Hull City on Saturday then Sheridan is not your man!! :doh:

I'll always be thankful to John Sheridan for keeping a basket case football club in the football league. That's pretty much his MO.
He left Argyle at the right time having taken a seemingly non league destined team and put them in the playoffs within 2 seasons

 

[mervyn]

I liked RL’s post match comments about not getting carried away, we are still a work in progress. Am I right in thinking we are a younger than average squad?

Mid table should now be very achievable. If our form suddenly dropped and we consistently produced relegation form of, say, just one point per game, we would still finish above the drop zone. Would be happy with three points from the two Accy and one Portsmouth game. Accy’s current form is fantastic, and Pompey will be desperate to get back on track.

 

[Kentishgreen]

Fornah is a totally different player to Reeves though. Reeves is more of a playmaker surely

 

[EyeOpener]

Fornah is a totally different player to Reeves though. Reeves is more of a playmaker surely

I agree but I would still prefer him in the CDM role than Fornah. Reeves has more awareness, more bite in the tackle and looks more for the forward pass than the backwards or sideways one. Fornah plays with a naivety consistent with his youth i.e. being sucked out of position for Sheffields 2nd goal, giving away stupid fouls in dangerous areas as he did last night and also bad positioning and ball watching in previous games which have resulted in goals against us...from memory, the home games against Portsmouth and Ipswich. Its interesting that Lowe has slotted Wooton in there a couple times. Maybe he can see Fornahs limitations as well.

 

[Tugboat]

Fantastic performance against a pretty woeful Swindon team.

A big confidence boost and amen to 3 points.

Fornah still improving but I think he still needs to have a better match awareness, that will come with game time. You’d probably notice more of what he does if he wasn’t playing. However I still expect Macleod to slot back into that position once fit.

Only thing we lacked last night was more goals for our efforts. I like the Jephcott and Hardie partnership but I think they could do we a little deserved rest. Maybe have a look at either Moore up front or Ennis starting a game.

 

[EyeOpener]

Fantastic performance against a pretty woeful Swindon team.

A big confidence boost and amen to 3 points.

Fornah still improving but I think he still needs to have a better match awareness, that will come with game time. You’d probably notice more of what he does if he wasn’t playing. However I still expect Macleod to slot back into that position once fit.

Only thing we lacked last night was more goals for our efforts. I like the Jephcott and Hardie partnership but I think they could do we a little deserved rest. Maybe have a look at either Moore up front or Ennis starting a game.

It doesn't hurt to freshen things up and there's nothing like competition to get people motivated. It would be nice to see Moore and Ennis given a couple games just to see how that works. Moore is such a balanced and quick player who i think would do well up front and from what ive seen of Ennis so far, he can hold the ball up and also has a bit of pace. I do like Hardie though.... :think:

 

[Graham Clark]

The two away wins at Sunderland and Swindon may have been unexpected to some but they were thoroughly deserved and I think were the product of a lot of hard work at Harpers Park. Ryan Lowe alluded to this in his post match comments last night

“The defence was solid, but it worked from the front with the two strikers. All over the park, to a man, they were very good. [They were] in the right areas and we played a lot more than we have done in terms of the passing, lending it to each other and waiting for openings.

“Tonight, they knew when to press when not to press and were getting in good areas, it was fantastic, so I’m pleased.”

The work rate against Sunderland was as good as I've seen from an Argyle team, away from Home Park in recent times. The distances covered must have been phenomenal. The result was well merited. Last night the passing and patterns of play were an immeasurable improvement on pre-Christmas performances albeit aided and abetted by a woeful opposition.

Both Sunderland and Swindon were noticeably poor in pressing and countering our patterns of play. First half at Bramall Lane demonstrated how better opponents can frustrate the way we play. The expectation is that Accrington who have now successfully adapted to a 3-5-2 which has accelerated them up the table will be a stern test (home and away). Our ability to push the wing backs up and for the likes of Camara and Mayor come short and assist in moving the ball forward with purpose and imagination will be examined. It will also test Hardie's and Jephcott's ability to press the opposition defence which they have done unceasingly and create and take chances.

Come through the Accrington tests and away at Pompey then we will be able to properly assess how far we have come in firmly establishing ourselves in League 1. If we do that then a sniff around the edges of the Play-Offs is not an unrealistic proposition and I am rather excited by that prospect as we move into the second half of the season.

 

[xmastree]

Fantastic performance against a pretty woeful Swindon team.

A big confidence boost and amen to 3 points.

Fornah still improving but I think he still needs to have a better match awareness, that will come with game time. You’d probably notice more of what he does if he wasn’t playing. However I still expect Macleod to slot back into that position once fit.

Only thing we lacked last night was more goals for our efforts. I like the Jephcott and Hardie partnership but I think they could do we a little deserved rest. Maybe have a look at either Moore up front or Ennis starting a game.

Why change things when we are going well? It's change for the sake of change. Lowe and his staff see the players every day, and have access to things like the GPS trackers. They will know when individual players need a rest, which is more relevant than them deserving one.

 

[davie nine]

Fantastic performance against a pretty woeful Swindon team.

A big confidence boost and amen to 3 points.

Fornah still improving but I think he still needs to have a better match awareness, that will come with game time. You’d probably notice more of what he does if he wasn’t playing. However I still expect Macleod to slot back into that position once fit.

Only thing we lacked last night was more goals for our efforts. I like the Jephcott and Hardie partnership but I think they could do we a little deserved rest. Maybe have a look at either Moore up front or Ennis starting a game.

Why would Hardie need a rest? He has just scored a great goal in the 67th minute by sprinting from his own penalty area, taking the ball from Camara and continuing his run to score. That must have given him a lot of confidence which I think has been lacking.
After that goal, he also had a very powerful shot which just cleared the crossbar.
He definitely doesn’t need a rest after that performance.

 

[Tugboat]

Fantastic performance against a pretty woeful Swindon team.

A big confidence boost and amen to 3 points.

Fornah still improving but I think he still needs to have a better match awareness, that will come with game time. You’d probably notice more of what he does if he wasn’t playing. However I still expect Macleod to slot back into that position once fit.

Only thing we lacked last night was more goals for our efforts. I like the Jephcott and Hardie partnership but I think they could do we a little deserved rest. Maybe have a look at either Moore up front or Ennis starting a game.

Why change things when we are going well? It's change for the sake of change. Lowe and his staff see the players every day, and have access to things like the GPS trackers. They will know when individual players need a rest, which is more relevant than them deserving one.

You don’t see mental exhaustion on a GPS tracker.

I’m not saying drop them for the fun of it but now and again let them start a match from the bench. Let them watch a match and come into it.

Sometimes it’s refreshing to have a first half off.

Added to that has Moore or Ennis had a chance to show what they can do?

With Tuesday, Saturday matches booked on for the foreseeable, let’s get the legs stretched on the players waiting in the wings and make them feel valued

 

[999mattyg]

The two away wins at Sunderland and Swindon may have been unexpected to some but they were thoroughly deserved and I think were the product of a lot of hard work at Harpers Park. Ryan Lowe alluded to this in his post match comments last night

“The defence was solid, but it worked from the front with the two strikers. All over the park, to a man, they were very good. [They were] in the right areas and we played a lot more than we have done in terms of the passing, lending it to each other and waiting for openings.

“Tonight, they knew when to press when not to press and were getting in good areas, it was fantastic, so I’m pleased.”

The work rate against Sunderland was as good as I've seen from an Argyle team, away from Home Park in recent times. The distances covered must have been phenomenal. The result was well merited. Last night the passing and patterns of play were an immeasurable improvement on pre-Christmas performances albeit aided and abetted by a woeful opposition.

Both Sunderland and Swindon were noticeably poor in pressing and countering our patterns of play. First half at Bramall Lane demonstrated how better opponents can frustrate the way we play. The expectation is that Accrington who have now successfully adapted to a 3-5-2 which has accelerated them up the table will be a stern test (home and away). Our ability to push the wing backs up and for the likes of Camara and Mayor come short and assist in moving the ball forward with purpose and imagination will be examined. It will also test Hardie's and Jephcott's ability to press the opposition defence which they have done unceasingly and create and take chances.

Come through the Accrington tests and away at Pompey then we will be able to properly assess how far we have come in firmly establishing ourselves in League 1. If we do that then a sniff around the edges of the Play-Offs is not an unrealistic proposition and I am rather excited by that prospect as we move into the second half of the season.

Good post. Totally agree. The work rate at Sunderland was phenomenal.

 

[therealdsg]

Fantastic performance against a pretty woeful Swindon team.

A big confidence boost and amen to 3 points.

Fornah still improving but I think he still needs to have a better match awareness, that will come with game time. You’d probably notice more of what he does if he wasn’t playing. However I still expect Macleod to slot back into that position once fit.

Only thing we lacked last night was more goals for our efforts. I like the Jephcott and Hardie partnership but I think they could do we a little deserved rest. Maybe have a look at either Moore up front or Ennis starting a game.

Why change things when we are going well? It's change for the sake of change. Lowe and his staff see the players every day, and have access to things like the GPS trackers. They will know when individual players need a rest, which is more relevant than them deserving one.

You don’t see mental exhaustion on a GPS tracker.

I’m not saying drop them for the fun of it but now and again let them start a match from the bench. Let them watch a match and come into it.

Sometimes it’s refreshing to have a first half off.

Added to that has Moore or Ennis had a chance to show what they can do?

With Tuesday, Saturday matches booked on for the foreseeable, let’s get the legs stretched on the players waiting in the wings and make them feel valued

Not sure there’s much mental exhaustion when you’re on a good form and winning, usually you can’t wait for the next game. Different kettle of fish entirely when you’re on poor form however the GPS tracker would probably show lower output in that case as you’d be a step or two off the pace.