-
This site is sponsored by Lang & Potter.
Re:OGAT:Difficult Second Season? Six and out?
- Thread starter pafcprogs
- Start date
Millwall (Caraboa Cup Round…..blimey is it as high as that already….2)
So as Simon Hallett scrambles around the boardroom and his wallet looking for his receipt from James Brent to see if he has a returns label, and after the humiliation of a 5-1 home reverse despite dominating both possession and shots on/near goal, to the Pish, what could be more enticing than a trek to the East of Londons Fair city to continue our dizzying ascent to the later (for us at least) rounds of the Water Buffalo Cup.
If “Up the ‘Wall” sounds like a pretty good description of what we did with the opening fixtures of our season the general fan reaction (obvious candidates aside) has been remarkably calm. Fans being creatures of habit, perhaps the fact we have hit rock bottom five fixtures early has given them confidence that the run, when it comes, will have started early enough to overcome any late tailing off.
As one of those creatures of habit, and being exiled in Kent, my reaction to the regionalized draw was one of pleasure given Millwall is not too far from home. Then I realized that Millwall’s Sunday fixture at Rotherham would mean the game would slip a night to land fore square on my Birthday, and the one certainty would be that whatever entertainment and distraction my wife has planned, a trip to the New Den would not be remotely near the list, let alone the top of it.( Note: Lieutenant of Inishmore it is...a black comedy...)
Safe to say she has never really forgiven me for the fact I boasted that my then five year old daughter, Freya, was the hardest football fan in the UK having attended two games in her life. Millwall away, and Millwall away again. Her identical twin Phoebe missed sharing the accolade have been debuted at Gillingham the previous season, the softie. Indeed, I can still picture the look of horror on the face of three PC’s as I walked three blonde moppet, all under ten, down the walkway from Bermondsey South to watch Argyle at the cultural hub of East London. How they didn’t phone social services I shall never know. Still Freya wants to be an Army Combat Medical Technician so she will be better qualified if I take her in the future.
Of course no match v Millwall would be complete without reminiscing over the ending of their unbeaten home run in the mid-sixties, and the devastation that followed for both fans and team coaches. In this days fans "war stories" were exactly that. According to one Millwall site they hold a narrow 26-25 lead over us in the fixture, but I haven’t checked the stat for accuracy and given that they also think both Ruben Lameiras and Rueben Reid (???) will be pressing for recalls I am not sure they are paying much attention to the fixture either. Much will depend if we have managed to track down Stuart O'Keefe from where ever he is now hiding writing apology notes to Neil Warnock and promising to be good from now on if he can come home.
So is tonight a free hit to sort some tactics/selection issues for Derek or simply just another game? In 1973/4 Argyle flirted with relegation from the then Third Division but reached the semi final of the League Cup beating a string of higher ranked teams. Double header v Manchester City in January anybody? Potentially the first time in history of football that a team declares in its first leg match?
We certainly need a reaction to the Saturday fixture. Mike Tyson once stated, paraphrasing the old wartime saying that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, that no plan survives a punch in the mouth. It does help, however. if the first two punches in the mouth are not self-inflicted ones.
COYG!! Round Three and Oxygen supplies await the victors.
So as Simon Hallett scrambles around the boardroom and his wallet looking for his receipt from James Brent to see if he has a returns label, and after the humiliation of a 5-1 home reverse despite dominating both possession and shots on/near goal, to the Pish, what could be more enticing than a trek to the East of Londons Fair city to continue our dizzying ascent to the later (for us at least) rounds of the Water Buffalo Cup.
If “Up the ‘Wall” sounds like a pretty good description of what we did with the opening fixtures of our season the general fan reaction (obvious candidates aside) has been remarkably calm. Fans being creatures of habit, perhaps the fact we have hit rock bottom five fixtures early has given them confidence that the run, when it comes, will have started early enough to overcome any late tailing off.
As one of those creatures of habit, and being exiled in Kent, my reaction to the regionalized draw was one of pleasure given Millwall is not too far from home. Then I realized that Millwall’s Sunday fixture at Rotherham would mean the game would slip a night to land fore square on my Birthday, and the one certainty would be that whatever entertainment and distraction my wife has planned, a trip to the New Den would not be remotely near the list, let alone the top of it.( Note: Lieutenant of Inishmore it is...a black comedy...)
Safe to say she has never really forgiven me for the fact I boasted that my then five year old daughter, Freya, was the hardest football fan in the UK having attended two games in her life. Millwall away, and Millwall away again. Her identical twin Phoebe missed sharing the accolade have been debuted at Gillingham the previous season, the softie. Indeed, I can still picture the look of horror on the face of three PC’s as I walked three blonde moppet, all under ten, down the walkway from Bermondsey South to watch Argyle at the cultural hub of East London. How they didn’t phone social services I shall never know. Still Freya wants to be an Army Combat Medical Technician so she will be better qualified if I take her in the future.
Of course no match v Millwall would be complete without reminiscing over the ending of their unbeaten home run in the mid-sixties, and the devastation that followed for both fans and team coaches. In this days fans "war stories" were exactly that. According to one Millwall site they hold a narrow 26-25 lead over us in the fixture, but I haven’t checked the stat for accuracy and given that they also think both Ruben Lameiras and Rueben Reid (???) will be pressing for recalls I am not sure they are paying much attention to the fixture either. Much will depend if we have managed to track down Stuart O'Keefe from where ever he is now hiding writing apology notes to Neil Warnock and promising to be good from now on if he can come home.
So is tonight a free hit to sort some tactics/selection issues for Derek or simply just another game? In 1973/4 Argyle flirted with relegation from the then Third Division but reached the semi final of the League Cup beating a string of higher ranked teams. Double header v Manchester City in January anybody? Potentially the first time in history of football that a team declares in its first leg match?
We certainly need a reaction to the Saturday fixture. Mike Tyson once stated, paraphrasing the old wartime saying that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, that no plan survives a punch in the mouth. It does help, however. if the first two punches in the mouth are not self-inflicted ones.
COYG!! Round Three and Oxygen supplies await the victors.
A belated entry this week, so apologies to the three fans and bad luck to Balham...
So we enter another week where we get to cross swords with one of the league flyers in our friends from Pompous.
Let's get one this straight from the outset. No matter what the press and Jeff Stelling say this is not a derby, anymore than a fixture versus Rosyth or Chatham would be. To be a derby requires three things
1) Clubs are from the same city. Pompous are not even in the same county.
2) There are families that the local and national press can interview where one or more of the renegade offspring have irrationally decided to support the opposite team to the rest of their family
3) If you want it to be a significant Derby, then the match has featured said family on Football Focus or some such.
Next up to a Derby is a rivalry.
Rivalry requires similar attributes
1) the clubs should be in close proximity ( eg not several hundred miles a way)
2) They should have a significant history of playing each other
3) The fans should care
On that basis Pompous v argyle barely registers a tremor on the rivalry scales.
In fact the only reason it gets called a derby is that for the last four season or so we have been the two biggest fish in the League 2 pool and then were close rivals last season before both sides failed to make the play offs.
Yes we both have dockyards, but so ( nearly) does Gillingham. yes we both have contingents of Royal Marines and naval history. But if the dockyard thing was a thing they should call us The Guz (unpleasantly close to the Gas) and we would find a way to link Pompey back to the French ship Pompeii, used as a prison ship.
So after a history win which the clubs occasionally met Pompous thrive on their heritage and the fact the have a better history, more titles, more cups, even more ( and bigger ) administrations.
So I suspect it rankles hugely that we bring a decent following and have Peter Hartleys winner in recent years. It probably ranges that having gained promotion no-one was that bothered when they won the Championship on the last day when we were both promoted.
Fratton is a good ground for Argyle by and large. The five one tactical masterclass by Malcolm Allison, the late Kevin Summerfield winner, Gregg Wyldes goalscoring exploits. Although we lose the immutable law of the exes of Jervis and Bradley, we still have Taylor and now O' Keefe.
With Derek getting a birds eye view as he completes a two match touchline ban for being strangled the team selection dilemma remains how to pick a team that can out score our somewhat porous defence. With Carey hopefully to return after being rested ( not dropped surely). we will need a minimum of two to get past the ubiquitous penalty concession that appears to be this seasons unwanted habit. Instead of dry January lets have clean September.
Pompey may be without Pitman, but Lowe has maintained the form of last season and the new lad from Ireland seems to have pace to burn...so that could be an issue.
It was a naff August, so hopefully September will see the start of the resurgence we all crave. There is no better ground to start it at than our old friend but not rivals Pompous
COYG!
So we enter another week where we get to cross swords with one of the league flyers in our friends from Pompous.
Let's get one this straight from the outset. No matter what the press and Jeff Stelling say this is not a derby, anymore than a fixture versus Rosyth or Chatham would be. To be a derby requires three things
1) Clubs are from the same city. Pompous are not even in the same county.
2) There are families that the local and national press can interview where one or more of the renegade offspring have irrationally decided to support the opposite team to the rest of their family
3) If you want it to be a significant Derby, then the match has featured said family on Football Focus or some such.
Next up to a Derby is a rivalry.
Rivalry requires similar attributes
1) the clubs should be in close proximity ( eg not several hundred miles a way)
2) They should have a significant history of playing each other
3) The fans should care
On that basis Pompous v argyle barely registers a tremor on the rivalry scales.
In fact the only reason it gets called a derby is that for the last four season or so we have been the two biggest fish in the League 2 pool and then were close rivals last season before both sides failed to make the play offs.
Yes we both have dockyards, but so ( nearly) does Gillingham. yes we both have contingents of Royal Marines and naval history. But if the dockyard thing was a thing they should call us The Guz (unpleasantly close to the Gas) and we would find a way to link Pompey back to the French ship Pompeii, used as a prison ship.
So after a history win which the clubs occasionally met Pompous thrive on their heritage and the fact the have a better history, more titles, more cups, even more ( and bigger ) administrations.
So I suspect it rankles hugely that we bring a decent following and have Peter Hartleys winner in recent years. It probably ranges that having gained promotion no-one was that bothered when they won the Championship on the last day when we were both promoted.
Fratton is a good ground for Argyle by and large. The five one tactical masterclass by Malcolm Allison, the late Kevin Summerfield winner, Gregg Wyldes goalscoring exploits. Although we lose the immutable law of the exes of Jervis and Bradley, we still have Taylor and now O' Keefe.
With Derek getting a birds eye view as he completes a two match touchline ban for being strangled the team selection dilemma remains how to pick a team that can out score our somewhat porous defence. With Carey hopefully to return after being rested ( not dropped surely). we will need a minimum of two to get past the ubiquitous penalty concession that appears to be this seasons unwanted habit. Instead of dry January lets have clean September.
Pompey may be without Pitman, but Lowe has maintained the form of last season and the new lad from Ireland seems to have pace to burn...so that could be an issue.
It was a naff August, so hopefully September will see the start of the resurgence we all crave. There is no better ground to start it at than our old friend but not rivals Pompous
COYG!
So off we go, heading back to the most successful city so far this season for Argyle as we return to the approximate scene of the solitary triumph in Bristol, this time the blue and white quartered persuasion.
Hopefully that will be positive enough for the negativity averse head of football Derek Adams as the at best stuttering start to the season came to a grinding halt with a somewhat comprehensive 3-0 tonking by the Pompous in their pomp. This despite the fact the game may or may not have turned on a cleaning out of Freddy Ladapo that would not have gone unpunished at Twickenham. When your luck is out, your luck is out.
Indeed I was probably not alone in thinking when seeing a headline of "Plymouth coach spontaneously combust"s in thinking, well he can be a bit volatile can our Derek, it was only a matter of time before he exploded. Good that all were unharmed. I was on a coach that had a blow out en route to Bury in the late seventies ( one all , Binney , thanks for asking) and all we suffered was a four hour layover in Crewe on the way back....
Rovers, or as they insist on styling themselves, The Gas, have had a marginally better start than us, with all their points coming from away fixtures ( so that's a good sign Derek), and the fans on their forum are very bit as pessimistic as we apparently can be, so it is a wider spread phenomenon than you might think, this looking on the black side. They also don't share the love for DA, having suggested he might be getting "sacked in the morning" at their home victory. The poor darlings got a mite upset when Derek enjoyed the late penalty drama and a 3-2 home win towards the tail end of our magnificent surge last season. Note to any stray Rovers fans. He won't be .....but yours might.....as impatient owners trigger fingers are already firing away.
A little ungrateful given we apparently helped them choose their original and unusual theme song Goodnight Irene back in the day. Argyle, with their accordionist ( drums a re so old hat) sang a repertoire including the aforementioned Goodnight Irene rather vocally when they took the lead in a match in November 1950. Rovers fans responded with a version of Goodnight Argyle when they scored three times to win...and then returned to the song again in later matches....so technically it is our song....maybe our response to their singing it should be "Our songs, you always nick our songs....."
Team wise there seems no chance of the lesser spotted Ainsworth, nor sweeping changes resulting in the Dyson being added to the squad. Is Carey rested sufficiently to return, will we see TLC again this season? In Central Defence bingo has anyone got Songo'o and Sawyer in the sweep.
In more good news, the nearest we got to conceding a pen last week was Bradley at Wycombe for Luton ( well not for Luton but you get my drift).
So once again, in match that is not a Derby despite being in the same sub-continent which appears to be sufficient these days to qualify, the chance to begin that inevitable surge upwards looms large, and early, meaning we win we can stay higher for longer as the other fixtures won't have taken place.
Honestly Derek, this optimism is exhausting....
COYG
Hopefully that will be positive enough for the negativity averse head of football Derek Adams as the at best stuttering start to the season came to a grinding halt with a somewhat comprehensive 3-0 tonking by the Pompous in their pomp. This despite the fact the game may or may not have turned on a cleaning out of Freddy Ladapo that would not have gone unpunished at Twickenham. When your luck is out, your luck is out.
Indeed I was probably not alone in thinking when seeing a headline of "Plymouth coach spontaneously combust"s in thinking, well he can be a bit volatile can our Derek, it was only a matter of time before he exploded. Good that all were unharmed. I was on a coach that had a blow out en route to Bury in the late seventies ( one all , Binney , thanks for asking) and all we suffered was a four hour layover in Crewe on the way back....
Rovers, or as they insist on styling themselves, The Gas, have had a marginally better start than us, with all their points coming from away fixtures ( so that's a good sign Derek), and the fans on their forum are very bit as pessimistic as we apparently can be, so it is a wider spread phenomenon than you might think, this looking on the black side. They also don't share the love for DA, having suggested he might be getting "sacked in the morning" at their home victory. The poor darlings got a mite upset when Derek enjoyed the late penalty drama and a 3-2 home win towards the tail end of our magnificent surge last season. Note to any stray Rovers fans. He won't be .....but yours might.....as impatient owners trigger fingers are already firing away.
A little ungrateful given we apparently helped them choose their original and unusual theme song Goodnight Irene back in the day. Argyle, with their accordionist ( drums a re so old hat) sang a repertoire including the aforementioned Goodnight Irene rather vocally when they took the lead in a match in November 1950. Rovers fans responded with a version of Goodnight Argyle when they scored three times to win...and then returned to the song again in later matches....so technically it is our song....maybe our response to their singing it should be "Our songs, you always nick our songs....."
Team wise there seems no chance of the lesser spotted Ainsworth, nor sweeping changes resulting in the Dyson being added to the squad. Is Carey rested sufficiently to return, will we see TLC again this season? In Central Defence bingo has anyone got Songo'o and Sawyer in the sweep.
In more good news, the nearest we got to conceding a pen last week was Bradley at Wycombe for Luton ( well not for Luton but you get my drift).
So once again, in match that is not a Derby despite being in the same sub-continent which appears to be sufficient these days to qualify, the chance to begin that inevitable surge upwards looms large, and early, meaning we win we can stay higher for longer as the other fixtures won't have taken place.
Honestly Derek, this optimism is exhausting....
COYG
And so a group of seemingly random strangers, partnered with experienced professionals, all of whom have proved their worth in the past, are thrown together and asked to create a semblance of organisation, skill and grace, to please a baying crowd, and they do so, knowing that unless they perform of a Saturday they may not make the stage for Blackpool.
But enough of the return of Strictly Come Prancing, what we want to know is when the Poolies arrive at the true Mecca of Football, will a goalless scrap at the Gas be enough to persuade Derek to keep an unchanged central defence.
Obviously we know the chance of the right back being retained is dependent on whether Joe Riley recovers from his half time departure, but we must also ask ourselves if the curse of the goalkeeper that afflicted Argyle last term has moved up a number and has become the new bête noire of positions chez Home Park. Certainly the performance of Scott Wootton for the second half means that having now tried three players in that position, amongst the fans, brought up on Nisbet, Patterson, Poole Taylor, Hore, Randell and even Hodges, there remains debate and some concern as to how the Bermuda triangle of defensive positions is shaping up. True we still have Sawyer and Songo’o who have filled that berth with varying degrees of distinction to try. Some even recall a famous day when tricky and experienced Luton Town (and ex Manchester United) winger Johnny Aston was the first opponent for youth team graduate Kevin Smart, who emerged from a goalless draw with some distinction.
Of course, if we did go down that road again then we would at least be comforted by the familiarity of seeing a Hodges back on the team sheet. More likely Riley or Moore though. Mellor, Miller…..will the scapegoating never end?
Blackpool arrive on the fringe of the play off positions having only lost one game so far in the league and belying the chaos that has been bestowed upon them by that paragon of virtue and underpinner of the Fit and Proper Owners Test, Owen Oysten. Currently in limbo between being forced to sell up or pay off fellow shareholder Valeri Belokon a mere 25 million for compensation for stripping the club of assets (money), with the possibility of an auction to resolve the ownership issue, Blackpool, have hit the heights and plumbed the depths in the time we have taken to recover from our sortie into financial mismanagement and chaos. They have then snuck back up through the play offs, instead of the six toes, and despite losing the vast majority of their squad in the summer have made a decent start.
Indeed the thought of Oysten reminded me of my planned attempt to match each League 1 Club to their World Cup equivalent. Blackpool were twinned with Russia. Workmanlike, not expected to do much but capable of springing a surprise. Run by a dictator with no regard for what his people truly want and who are oppressed by police and legal strictures if they attempt to show antipathy to the leadership. And Russia is no better under Putin. Perhaps no surprise that manager Ian Bowyer walked away in the first week of the season. Indeed convicted rapist Owen Oysten takes nepotism to a whole new level, and since purchasing the club for £1 has appointed in turn his wife son and daughter to CEO positions. His latest offer to sell the club and remove the ownership impasse would require him receiving £5 million (from the man who owes him £25 million, so net £30 million), and appears to leave him still the clubs landlord! Suddenly Putin doesn't seem such a bad guy after all. You have to figure those two sports nutritionists from Russia who day tripped Salisbury so effectively would be right at home in the Blackpool backroom team.
Still, we have the EFL Fit and Proper person test to protect clubs ( and therefore their fans). Indeed Bolton and Birmingham having already flirted with administration this season, and Blackpool subject to convoluted financial maneuvering following a high court ruling, you can hardly claim the EFL are appearing to be in favour of “B” teams at present no matter what they do in the Checka Thingummy.
Hopefully the sight of a tangerine phalanx will remind young Graham of the “goal of the season” he scored up at their place last season, which stands as unofficial third best volley scored by an Argyle player, behind John Delve v Walsall ( 1974/5) in second and winner Steve Davey at Birmingham in the League Cup win in 1973/4, which due to the 3 day week and a shot so speedy it defeated the cameramans ability to keep up means barely a few hundred Argyle fans ever saw it…..Gary Sprake certainly didn’t!
Last seasons Donkey Botherers visit ran the full gamut of disasters available. Deflected opener, stupid red card, two breakaway goals and a Tuesday night floodlit disappointment. Now the question has to be can we go on an undefeated run of two and can we get a first win….
COYG!
But enough of the return of Strictly Come Prancing, what we want to know is when the Poolies arrive at the true Mecca of Football, will a goalless scrap at the Gas be enough to persuade Derek to keep an unchanged central defence.
Obviously we know the chance of the right back being retained is dependent on whether Joe Riley recovers from his half time departure, but we must also ask ourselves if the curse of the goalkeeper that afflicted Argyle last term has moved up a number and has become the new bête noire of positions chez Home Park. Certainly the performance of Scott Wootton for the second half means that having now tried three players in that position, amongst the fans, brought up on Nisbet, Patterson, Poole Taylor, Hore, Randell and even Hodges, there remains debate and some concern as to how the Bermuda triangle of defensive positions is shaping up. True we still have Sawyer and Songo’o who have filled that berth with varying degrees of distinction to try. Some even recall a famous day when tricky and experienced Luton Town (and ex Manchester United) winger Johnny Aston was the first opponent for youth team graduate Kevin Smart, who emerged from a goalless draw with some distinction.
Of course, if we did go down that road again then we would at least be comforted by the familiarity of seeing a Hodges back on the team sheet. More likely Riley or Moore though. Mellor, Miller…..will the scapegoating never end?
Blackpool arrive on the fringe of the play off positions having only lost one game so far in the league and belying the chaos that has been bestowed upon them by that paragon of virtue and underpinner of the Fit and Proper Owners Test, Owen Oysten. Currently in limbo between being forced to sell up or pay off fellow shareholder Valeri Belokon a mere 25 million for compensation for stripping the club of assets (money), with the possibility of an auction to resolve the ownership issue, Blackpool, have hit the heights and plumbed the depths in the time we have taken to recover from our sortie into financial mismanagement and chaos. They have then snuck back up through the play offs, instead of the six toes, and despite losing the vast majority of their squad in the summer have made a decent start.
Indeed the thought of Oysten reminded me of my planned attempt to match each League 1 Club to their World Cup equivalent. Blackpool were twinned with Russia. Workmanlike, not expected to do much but capable of springing a surprise. Run by a dictator with no regard for what his people truly want and who are oppressed by police and legal strictures if they attempt to show antipathy to the leadership. And Russia is no better under Putin. Perhaps no surprise that manager Ian Bowyer walked away in the first week of the season. Indeed convicted rapist Owen Oysten takes nepotism to a whole new level, and since purchasing the club for £1 has appointed in turn his wife son and daughter to CEO positions. His latest offer to sell the club and remove the ownership impasse would require him receiving £5 million (from the man who owes him £25 million, so net £30 million), and appears to leave him still the clubs landlord! Suddenly Putin doesn't seem such a bad guy after all. You have to figure those two sports nutritionists from Russia who day tripped Salisbury so effectively would be right at home in the Blackpool backroom team.
Still, we have the EFL Fit and Proper person test to protect clubs ( and therefore their fans). Indeed Bolton and Birmingham having already flirted with administration this season, and Blackpool subject to convoluted financial maneuvering following a high court ruling, you can hardly claim the EFL are appearing to be in favour of “B” teams at present no matter what they do in the Checka Thingummy.
Hopefully the sight of a tangerine phalanx will remind young Graham of the “goal of the season” he scored up at their place last season, which stands as unofficial third best volley scored by an Argyle player, behind John Delve v Walsall ( 1974/5) in second and winner Steve Davey at Birmingham in the League Cup win in 1973/4, which due to the 3 day week and a shot so speedy it defeated the cameramans ability to keep up means barely a few hundred Argyle fans ever saw it…..Gary Sprake certainly didn’t!
Last seasons Donkey Botherers visit ran the full gamut of disasters available. Deflected opener, stupid red card, two breakaway goals and a Tuesday night floodlit disappointment. Now the question has to be can we go on an undefeated run of two and can we get a first win….
COYG!
A
andyr1963
Guest
:clap:
Oh yes, that Tuesday night disappointment! Surely Saturdays performance can't be as bad again?.....can it?
Oh yes, that Tuesday night disappointment! Surely Saturdays performance can't be as bad again?.....can it?