Its no suprise we have struggled. Hallett & the board have alot to answer for.

[Kentishgreen]

Is it going to though? Only Rotherham and Birmingham have picked up fewer points than us in the last 10 league games. We have had some tough games in that time, but we've also faced a Sunderland side so poor under their manager that he's now been sacked, a West Brom side who hadn't won away in two months before facing us, a Middlesbrough side who hadn't won at home in two months before playing us and a Blackburn side who are in terrible form. Sure, we beat Middlesbrough, and we weren't far off beating Coventry, but there's very little to suggest this football will keep us up. The three games after Norwich are huge. We probably need seven points from those games. Current form suggests we won't get that.

I admit the current situation is far from ideal but the last time I looked there were still 6 teams worse off than us and two teams above us not out of the woods yet. Some of our rivals have very difficult games ahead and some play each other. So it’s far from over, apart from Rotherham who already look gone.

 

[L G]

I think you may have forgotten he has been indisposed since the New Year following a leg operation in the US. He may well be recuperating, possibly more slowly than expected?

I've missed that piece of news, thanks.
As someone who has been in and out of hospital for the last 6 months of 2023, I can fully understand how some things can take a back seat due to health concerns and slower that expected recovery.
I wish Simon all the best with that recovery. A couple of Argyle wins will help us all I'm sure.

 

[The Doctor]

What you are basically saying is Simon Hallett is behind the wheel so it's his fault even though he was side swiped by a HGV

No, Schuey was at the wheel and the collision happened because he pulled out without looking carefully enough or using his indicators properly.

 

[Argonut]

If Schuey was at the wheel, is Foster sat in the back seat watching Love Island on his I-pad, while the vehicles speeding towards Lands End. 'Ticket To Ride' is blasting out the car stereo.

 

[jimsing]

No, Schuey was at the wheel and the collision happened because he pulled out without looking carefully enough or using his indicators properly.

No, Shuey WAS at the wheel but he bailed out without warning, leaving the car to collide with whatever came its way.

 

[Staffsgreeneye]

This is a mad thread. I'm not really sure what people expected out of this season, I'm currently watching Burton Vs Vale and the standard is awful,we need to remember this is what we faced last season. We are now playing teams with multi million pound players,the step up in quality is massive.
I just think people need to have a think where we came from and where we are now.

 

[jimsing]

This is a mad thread. I'm not really sure what people expected out of this season, I'm currently watching Burton Vs Vale and the standard is awful,we need to remember this is what we faced last season. We are now playing teams with multi million pound players,the step up in quality is massive.
I just think people need to have a think where we came from and where we are now.

They also need to give themselves a bit of realism as to our lack of Championship experience and the fact that we have all but a Division one team trying to outplay a far more experienced and more skillful Championship team when we play in this league.

They also need to look at themselves and see what damage they could be causing to our team and our club in general.

Supporters need to support, not destroy confidence during a game of football.

 

[Matts 19]

Been a few years since I last posted on here

I am a Bury fan who was welcomed with open arms at Home Park in 2019 just after Lowe joined Argyle. Ever since I always look out for your results and have a bit of a soft spot you tbh

Reading some of the criticism on here about Simon Hallett is truly mind boggling, Argyle fan, brought up in the area and blatantly cares about the club massively

This Foster appointment is looking like a bad appointment granted but looking at were you are today as opposed to when he took over it is insane that anybody would start to turn on this guy. He has turned your club around and got you back to were you deserve to be, Attendances have doubled and you have been treated to great attacking football for the last few years. Its crazy how fickle some people are, your first bad spell in nearly 5 years and the daggers are out. Surely SH has enough credit in the bank to be trusted. This season was always going to be a struggle, if anything you have over achieved up to this point, such a shame to see people turning against a man who has done so much for you

Get behind your team for the remaining games and fingers crossed you stay up. A toxic atmosphere around the place will do nobody any favours

As a Bury fan I know all to well what a bad owner can do to a club. Be thankful you have one who genuinely cares about you

Fingers crossed for you

 

[MGM]

Been a few years since I last posted on here

I am a Bury fan who was welcomed with open arms at Home Park in 2019 just after Lowe joined Argyle. Ever since I always look out for your results and have a bit of a soft spot you tbh

Reading some of the criticism on here about Simon Hallett is truly mind boggling, Argyle fan, brought up in the area and blatantly cares about the club massively

This Foster appointment is looking like a bad appointment granted but looking at were you are today as opposed to when he took over it is insane that anybody would start to turn on this guy. He has turned your club around and got you back to were you deserve to be, Attendances have doubled and you have been treated to great attacking football for the last few years. Its crazy how fickle some people are, your first bad spell in nearly 5 years and the daggers are out. Surely SH has enough credit in the bank to be trusted. This season was always going to be a struggle, if anything you have over achieved up to this point, such a shame to see people turning against a man who has done so much for you

Get behind your team for the remaining games and fingers crossed you stay up. A toxic atmosphere around the place will do nobody any favours

As a Bury fan I know all to well what a bad owner can do to a club. Be thankful you have one who genuinely cares about you

Fingers crossed for you

A nice post, welcome back.

The problem is that with football once you tasted success, people want more and more.

Some of the ‘nuts’ comments l’ve heard this year are truly mind blowing. With one regular, experienced forward in our squad people thought it was achievable to be looking at top half of the table.

And this is what Simon Hallett & Argyle board has to cope with. It’s not just outrageous expectations given our level of budget & those that we face but it’s lack of patience because people are fearful of relegation.

If we get relegated it won’t be good. Nobody is saying that. Yet we will be off the field in a much stronger position than when we won league one with an inexperienced coach.

People don’t want to wait years. Maybe they feel unfortunately they don’t have years left waiting for Argyle to become good. However, that’s the price you pay for supporting a small club. And people hate saying we are a small club, but when you look around at other teams in this league thats exactly what we are currently.

People want somebody to blame. They can’t go after Simon Hallett & the board. They can’t go after the players after the connection over recent years between them & the fanbase. So it leaves one person, Ian Foster.

People are asking questions why aren’t we getting results when unfortunately if you get to see this team week in, week out you have to admit they are one of the weakest in the championship. A realist as a fan. Or am l a defeatist? Yet those who turned the atmosphere toxic at Home Park against Preston l’d say are behaving in a more defeatist way. Especially when the game is still ‘live’.

I really love Argyle. And although we on a poor run, l am a fan who l think understands our financial implications & why this would impact us in a league such as this. It could well be Argyle had a squad that fantastically over achieved but club wasn’t quite ready to sustain itself in the championship given our lack of infrastructure.

I truely feel sorry for those who can’t see beyond a result. Because without that you don’t get to really enjoy the beauty of being a Plymouth Argyle fan. Sad days, frustrating days, angry days but if you believe in the current regime (relegated or not) then it’s a good day to be a Argyle fan.

 

[Matts 19]

A nice post, welcome back.

The problem is that with football once you tasted success, people want more and more.

Some of the ‘nuts’ comments l’ve heard this year are truly mind blowing. With one regular, experienced forward in our squad people thought it was achievable to be looking at top half of the table.

And this is what Simon Hallett & Argyle board has to cope with. It’s not just outrageous expectations given our level of budget & those that we face but it’s lack of patience because people are fearful of relegation.

If we get relegated it won’t be good. Nobody is saying that. Yet we will be off the field in a much stronger position than when we won league one with an inexperienced coach.

People don’t want to wait years. Maybe they feel unfortunately they don’t have years left waiting for Argyle to become good. However, that’s the price you pay for supporting a small club. And people hate saying we are a small club, but when you look around at other teams in this league thats exactly what we are currently.

People want somebody to blame. They can’t go after Simon Hallett & the board. They can’t go after the players after the connection over recent years between them & the fanbase. So it leaves one person, Ian Foster.

People are asking questions why aren’t we getting results when unfortunately if you get to see this team week in, week out you have to admit they are one of the weakest in the championship. A realist as a fan. Or am l a defeatist? Yet those who turned the atmosphere toxic at Home Park against Preston l’d say are behaving in a more defeatist way. Especially when the game is still ‘live’.

I really love Argyle. And although we on a poor run, l am a fan who l think understands our financial implications & why this would impact us in a league such as this. It could well be Argyle had a squad that fantastically over achieved but club wasn’t quite ready to sustain itself in the championship given our lack of infrastructure.

I truely feel sorry for those who can’t see beyond a result. Because without that you don’t get to really enjoy the beauty of being a Plymouth Argyle fan. Sad days, frustrating days, angry days but if you believe in the current regime (relegated or not) then it’s a good day to be a Argyle fan.

He took a gamble on a manger with no real experience in Foster which appears to be a bad one. He took a similar gamble on SS which worked out. Arsenal took the same gamble with Arteta and stuck with him, look at them now. As a football supporter you have to take the bad with the good. I can see why people want a change and quick to hopefully get that new manager bounce but the chairman appears to be sticking with his decision, You can't really do anything other than back your team come matchday.

I watched the game today and tbh I thought you played well. No signs that the manager has lost the dressing room from what I watched, Players gave 100% and deserved a point. Its a results business though and ultimately that's what he will be judged on. Surely the target for this season was for Argyle is to stay up, if you had been offered your current league position and points total at the start of the season with 7 games to go I'm pretty sure you would have taken it. You need to be sticking together now more than ever

Turning on a man who has done nothing but good for you club at this stage is insane. I would be over the moon to be watching Bury in a relagation fight right now. Be careful what you wish for

 

[MGM]

He took a gamble on a manger with no real experience in Foster which appears to be a bad one. He took a similar gamble on SS which worked out. Arsenal took the same gamble with Arteta and stuck with him, look at them now. As a football supporter you have to take the bad with the good. I can see why people want a change and quick to hopefully get that new manager bounce but the chairman appears to be sticking with his decision, You can't really do anything other than back your team come matchday.

I watched the game today and tbh I thought you played well. No signs that the manager has lost the dressing room from what I watched, Players gave 100% and deserved a point. Its a results business though and ultimately that's what he will be judged on. Surely the target for this season was for Argyle is to stay up, if you had been offered your current league position and points total at the start of the season with 7 games to go I'm pretty sure you would have taken it. You need to be sticking together now more than ever

Turning on a man who has done nothing but good for you club at this stage is insane. I would be over the moon to be watching Bury in a relagation fight right now. Be careful what you wish for

You see what happened to you & your club has given you a sense of “footballing perspective”. I believe people were saying the very same as you when Argyle were saved after entering administration.

It’s amazing how time alters thoughts. I’d not saying we should expect to just accept anything but the realism in football at a club the size of Argyle is just lost to an insane, tunnel vision outlook thinking the premier league will give us some kind of insane happiness once we get there.

 

[Graham Clark]

Talking of ‘footballing perspective’ it seems to have gone unnoticed that given we are apparently on a playing budget par with Rotherham who are also a club with extensive yo-yo experience of being in the Championship we have outperformed them by 21 points so far this season. Add to that losing your management team just before Christmas and a turnover of 14 players in the window including losing three top performers in that first half of the season outsiders may consider we have done remarkably well to still have our fate in our own hands with seven games to go.

Ian Foster has unquestionably improved our away game set up and has achieved results and performances away from Home Park that seemed beyond Schuey. As a fan base the home form and performance under Schuey was often intoxicating and exhilarating. Towards the end of his tenure there were signs that it might not be possible for it to be sustained, particularly if it was known that Azaz was to leave in the January window. I am not sure any managerial appointment could have realistically replicated what we witnessed in the earlier months of the season with the turnover of players. Foster deserves credit for improving our away performances and points return.

From a ‘footballing perspective’ fans were perhaps unrealistic in expecting a replication of attacking swagger and occasional recklessness that epitomised the Schuey approach at Home Park without key members of that team. Foster was faced with a January window of inflated prices / wages and a notable shortage of available Championship quality players. The subsequent recruitment reflected that.

Our fate is in our own hands. We simply have to match the results of two of the three below us (given Rotherham have gone). If we can also get ahead of Blackburn points wise then their run in may tell against them. When our stated aspiration was to finish 21st at worst it cannot be a surprise that we would constantly be looking over our shoulder at the business end of the season. That would have been the ‘footballing perspective’ calculation of Simon Hallett at the start of the season and no doubt as the season has progressed. In terms of outsmarting and outperforming we only have to do that for two of the three teams immediately below us. As fans we have a choice - give everything to get behind the team irrespective of performance or outcome. Yes the last four home performances have been abject and reminiscent of the latter stages of the Adam’s era and playing on the front foot has to be rediscovered but any repeat of the Preston post match toxicity will only exacerbate an acceleration towards playing in League 1 next season - do any of us really want that?

From a ‘footballing perspective’ Simon and Jane Hallett deserve full backing from the fanbase for all they have done for the club, to assist in getting the team above the relegation line no matter the performances on the pitch. It is ‘blood and spotters’ time where outcome is more important than performance. No matter the views on the competency of the Head Coach nothing is more important than securing safety In the Championship this . Then we can reassess and recalibrate in the close season.

 

[Steve Evans]

i do not blame simon.the blame is entirely on the manager mister demotivator.i wish i was a fly on the wall at the interviews fozzy had.

 

[Duncanrice1]

As ever, the voice of reason and sanity Graham. Your 8 team mini league post is all anybody needs to read and assimilate. Personally I feel the title of this string devisive and would have been best culled at birth!

 

[GreenEden]

i do not blame simon.the blame is entirely on the manager mister demotivator.i wish i was a fly on the wall at the interviews fozzy had.

Look I'm not fan of Foster but the real issue here is the timing of Schueys departure and the amount of change ie backroom staff.
Foster was not to blame for that result yesterday and had he picked teams to play like that at HP over the last month I doubt that he would be in this position with the fans
I've been 15 away games this season and seen 2 wins but you know what I've enjoyed it up until foster coming in because we tried. I said to my son after 20mins at Huddersfield I'm not sure about this bloke looks like a long ball team and I have been proven right but for me it's about perspective nothing that happened yesterday made Ian Fosters position more untenable in my eyes team played well albeit running out of legs against an in form team with a bench seriously lacking in quality not really sure how Foster is at fault for that I'm sure he has used his budget in January and has nothing left
Do I think regardless of division next season Foster is the right man no I don't because the fans have decided already but do I also believe we should criticise every move he makes no I don't. Yesterday I enjoyed us giving it a go the same as at Coventry and Leeds and countless other games earlier in the season when SS was beyond criticismn for using crap players as inverted full backs