After speaking to a friend of mine about his beloved Reds and why he wants Rodgers gone I've done some extensive research on Liverpool's transfer policy.
Going back as far as the arrival of Gérard Houllier and his meticulous painstaking overhaul of everything from Melwood to Anfield in a bid to halt Manchester United's dominance and bring back the league title back to Anfield.
It hasn't happened and 17 years later, 5 Managers and 77 Million spent and they seem even further away then the day Gérard Houllier stepped of the plane in England.
Of course its just my opinion after all but the amount of money been spent at Liverpool on players that have been majorly over priced IMO has not helped matters.
Rodgers has nearly spent the same as Rafa Benitez only 40 million less and he will probably go over that in January should the board again open the cheque book, and that's in only 3 season and took Rafa 6 seasons to spend the same.
Houllier also only spent half of what Rodgers has, again in 6 seasons and arguably he left Benitez with only minor tinkering in his first season to win the Champions League with the squad Gerard had assembled.
Below is a document I've spent a while on and I've tried highlighting the players who I believe have just not lived up to the price or reputation and they're far to many of them that fit that bill.
Until Liverpool start spending the money they have more carefully they have no hope of becoming champions.
Every manager buys duds and they always will but some of the player in the last 17 years are just nowhere near.
You only have to look at the players that have signed and then left with the exception of a couple ie Xabi Alonso and a few more who have moved on and progressed since leaving.
Most have left and disappeared into the football wilderness and the reason is because they were just never good enough.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wBETaAglNQQ34ryp_zrrd-Z6Ia-u2LeoxL8EN2hnZJc/pubhtml
Semper Fidelis.
Ps There is a few players who I'm undecided on if they will work out so haven't included them in the GOOD BUYS or DUD list so will amend if they make me sway one way or the other
Tuesday 23 December 2014
Thursday 11 December 2014
Champions League: Can Chelsea, Manchester City or Arsenal challenge in the Champions League?
Manchester City's win in the Italian capital's Stadio Olimpico against AS Roma was just about enough to push them into the last 16 knockout stage for a second successive season under Manuel Pellegrini.
But in all honesty can Chelsea, Manchester City or Arsenal Challenge in the Champions League?
In short my opinion is Yes but it isn't going to be easy, But when should becoming European Champions be easy!
Who is into the last 16?
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Real Madrid, Basel, Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Schalke, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk.
The fact that from the 3 progressing English clubs only Chelsea managed to top their group is going to no doubt give Arsenal and City a huge task in the first knock out round, on paper it looks grim reading though all hope is not lost as we know winning the group by no means guarantees you an easy passage to the quarter finals.
Who can English sides can face in Monday's last-16 draw?
Arsenal - Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Monaco, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Porto.
Chelsea - Juventus, Basel, Bayer Leverkusen, PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Manchester City - Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Porto.
Whatever the outcome of the draw on Monday the clubs will have until the end of February to prepare for knockout football and hope to keep players injury free around the busiest time of the season over Christmas and New Year, And also try to get injured players back before the 17 February.
The Usual Suspects
Arsenal - Arsene Wenger has come under much scrutiny again but his Champions League record speaks for itself. Arsenal have yet to match the 2005/06 final, on their day will provide a stern test for anyone and most teams will fear the pace in the side from the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis Sánchez and Theo Walcott when he returns. They really need to keep the squad fit to have any chance of bettering the 05/06 final.
Chelsea - The Pensioners were the group stages highest scorers finding the net 17 times in the 6 group games and that's without the prolific Diego Costa yet to bring his league scoring exploits to this years Competition, Having also only conceded 3 they go into the last 16 flying in Europe and will be a match for anyone.
Real Madrid - Carlo Ancelotti will be looking to bump his CV into football history, after securing 'La Decima' with Real's 10th title when they beat neighbours Atletico Madrid in Lisbon. If he can repeat last season he would become the only manager to win it 4 times. At the moment he's in good company tied with Bob Paisley on 3. They have also been the only team to win all 6 group games and with a squad of new Galácticos really showing how strong they can be and must be the last team you want to have in the first knockout games.
Barcelona - The Catalans are also a team you really don't want, Lionel Messi is now on 75 Champions League goals and the all time leading goal scorer in the competition. The biggest threat without doubt is the attacking options they have are scary with Messi, Neymar and the small £75m signing from Liverpool, Luis Suarez. Defensively though they can be rattled.
Bayern Munich - Pep Guardiola twice a winning manager with Barcelona crashed out last season to Madrid will want to make amends. The German champions will need to improve on the showing in Manchester if they want to progress even though they did field a weakened side. With a solid well balanced squad they have quality all through the squad from arguably the best goalkeeper in the world Manuel Neuer to experienced midfield maestro Xabi Alonso and Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and World Cup golden boot winning Thomas Muller they will be a match for anyone.
Atlético Madrid - Diego Simeone is proving as adept a manager as he was as a player, after winning the Europe League in his first season and then following it up with a Cope Del Ray and Super Cup and then last season proving his most fruitful grappling the La Liga trophy from the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid and also coming runners-up to Madrid in last years final. This has all been done whilst losing arguably his best players each summer. In the summer Thibaut Courtois loan ended and also selling Diego Costa and Filipe Luis to Chelsea like the previous season losing Radamel Falcao to Monaco doesn't seem to of effected their progress with key replacements of Mario Mandžukić and Antoine Griezmann proving quality replacements. Having only lost one game in the group they will again be a deadly opponent.
Borussia Dortmund - After a stuttering start domestically Dortmund have faired better in Europe topping group D above Arsenal. Losing Robert Lewandowski last summer and replacing his 28 goals from last season is starting to have an impact, and has made goals hard to come by with replacement Ciro Immobile hardly hitting the ground running isn't helping. Still a well organised outfit but not quite what they were.
Paris Saint-Germain - Since QSi acquisition of Paris Saint-Germain in June 2011 a lot of money has been spent bringing in the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and most recently David Luiz. Seemingly unfazed after receiving €60 million fine along with City for breaking Financial Fare Play ( FFF ) rules. The fact they got through a group also containing Barca and beating them once this season they will fear nobody. They have plenty of talent and I don't see them going out easily. Chelsea only beating them on the away goals last year proves that and they've only strengthened since.
Manchester City - With a formidable squad it's quite bizarre that city left it until the final group game to scrape through the groups. Will they have any chance of progressing? Its not going to be easy as like Arsenal only coming second in the group means the heavyweights await on Monday's draw and both will be hoping to avoid the Spanish sides but with the likes of Sergio Aguero who has been on fire this season and a solid defence with the likes of Kompany and Zabaleta and Hart between the posts they have every chance.
Bayer Leverkusen - After just squeezing into 4th to qualify on the last day of the season it may be a surprise to see them making the knockout stages. But with Stefan Kießling they have someone who knows his way around the box and the back of the net so they can't be taken lightly.
Juventus - The Old Lady are no European fools, The Serie A Champions came runners-up behind Athletico and always provide a test in Turin. The away form hasn't been great and with Tevez and Llorente leading the line they have goals in the side. Also Gianluigi Buffon shows no sign of slowing down.
Basel - The reigning Super League Champions are obvious underdogs and have little or no chance of making the final let alone winning it, Saying that they've been around the competition and have a few players who have got good pedigree and can damage you as Liverpool and Manchester United have found out in recent seasons. Paulo Sousa has Argentine hardman Walter Samuel with his wealth of experience sure to help along with captain Marco Streller also clever player and topped with Albanian Shkëlzen Gashi scoring 11 from his first 15 appearances he's one to keep an eye on.
Monaco - Remarkably goal shy Monaco won their group after only scoring 4 goals in the 6 opening games, Despite this it was enough to top the group and the fact that they sold James Rodríguez and let Radamel Falcao join United on loan to scale down on wages is surely going to coat them. They do obviously have quality in the team but I don't think even captain Jérémy Toulalan probably wouldn't of expected them to make the knockout stages.
Porto - The Portuguese Dragons topped the group without losing a game. The fact they lost two players in Mangala and Fernando to City in the summer for a combined €42 million they've used that money well bringing in Yacine Brahimi and Dutch International Bruno Martins Indi and also Adrián López Álvarez from Athletico Madrid. The squad has no fewer than 9 Brazilians which shows were the majority of there players are scouted. Jackson Martinez has a phenomenal goal scoring record and with pace to catch out any defenders expecting an easy game.
Schalke - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting provide the attacking options for the 4th Germans left in the competition. Along with pace from the likes of Jefferson Farfán and Sidney Sam a summer arrival from Leverkusen. Benedikt Höwedes is captain and normally with Kevin Prince Boateng providing the strength in the middle of the park. Also 21 year old hot prospect Julian Draxler is a player to watch out for.
Shakhtar Donetsk - The Ukrainians make up the final place and with this years leading scorer Luiz Adriano on 9 Goals which is 1 more then Messi they do have quality. Though it has to be said the group they were in was by far the easiest with FC BATE Borisov in the group winning 7-0 away and 5-0 home helped massively. They Also have Brazilians Fred and Bernard and Croatian Darijo Srna as captain they have plenty of experience but definitely not enough quality to win it.
Will this year see an English team become champions of Europe remains to be seen but for the record I think it will be Real Madrid with Carlo Ancelotti becoming the first to do it outright as a manager 4 times putting ghim ahead of the legend Bob Paisley. Add that to his to winners medals as a player this could be his 6th year of holding the European Cup which would really be something.
Semper Fidelis
But in all honesty can Chelsea, Manchester City or Arsenal Challenge in the Champions League?
In short my opinion is Yes but it isn't going to be easy, But when should becoming European Champions be easy!
Who is into the last 16?
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Real Madrid, Basel, Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Schalke, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk.
The fact that from the 3 progressing English clubs only Chelsea managed to top their group is going to no doubt give Arsenal and City a huge task in the first knock out round, on paper it looks grim reading though all hope is not lost as we know winning the group by no means guarantees you an easy passage to the quarter finals.
Who can English sides can face in Monday's last-16 draw?
Arsenal - Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Monaco, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Porto.
Chelsea - Juventus, Basel, Bayer Leverkusen, PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Manchester City - Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Porto.
Whatever the outcome of the draw on Monday the clubs will have until the end of February to prepare for knockout football and hope to keep players injury free around the busiest time of the season over Christmas and New Year, And also try to get injured players back before the 17 February.
The Usual Suspects
Arsenal - Arsene Wenger has come under much scrutiny again but his Champions League record speaks for itself. Arsenal have yet to match the 2005/06 final, on their day will provide a stern test for anyone and most teams will fear the pace in the side from the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis Sánchez and Theo Walcott when he returns. They really need to keep the squad fit to have any chance of bettering the 05/06 final.
Chelsea - The Pensioners were the group stages highest scorers finding the net 17 times in the 6 group games and that's without the prolific Diego Costa yet to bring his league scoring exploits to this years Competition, Having also only conceded 3 they go into the last 16 flying in Europe and will be a match for anyone.
Real Madrid - Carlo Ancelotti will be looking to bump his CV into football history, after securing 'La Decima' with Real's 10th title when they beat neighbours Atletico Madrid in Lisbon. If he can repeat last season he would become the only manager to win it 4 times. At the moment he's in good company tied with Bob Paisley on 3. They have also been the only team to win all 6 group games and with a squad of new Galácticos really showing how strong they can be and must be the last team you want to have in the first knockout games.
Barcelona - The Catalans are also a team you really don't want, Lionel Messi is now on 75 Champions League goals and the all time leading goal scorer in the competition. The biggest threat without doubt is the attacking options they have are scary with Messi, Neymar and the small £75m signing from Liverpool, Luis Suarez. Defensively though they can be rattled.
Bayern Munich - Pep Guardiola twice a winning manager with Barcelona crashed out last season to Madrid will want to make amends. The German champions will need to improve on the showing in Manchester if they want to progress even though they did field a weakened side. With a solid well balanced squad they have quality all through the squad from arguably the best goalkeeper in the world Manuel Neuer to experienced midfield maestro Xabi Alonso and Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and World Cup golden boot winning Thomas Muller they will be a match for anyone.
Atlético Madrid - Diego Simeone is proving as adept a manager as he was as a player, after winning the Europe League in his first season and then following it up with a Cope Del Ray and Super Cup and then last season proving his most fruitful grappling the La Liga trophy from the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid and also coming runners-up to Madrid in last years final. This has all been done whilst losing arguably his best players each summer. In the summer Thibaut Courtois loan ended and also selling Diego Costa and Filipe Luis to Chelsea like the previous season losing Radamel Falcao to Monaco doesn't seem to of effected their progress with key replacements of Mario Mandžukić and Antoine Griezmann proving quality replacements. Having only lost one game in the group they will again be a deadly opponent.
Borussia Dortmund - After a stuttering start domestically Dortmund have faired better in Europe topping group D above Arsenal. Losing Robert Lewandowski last summer and replacing his 28 goals from last season is starting to have an impact, and has made goals hard to come by with replacement Ciro Immobile hardly hitting the ground running isn't helping. Still a well organised outfit but not quite what they were.
Paris Saint-Germain - Since QSi acquisition of Paris Saint-Germain in June 2011 a lot of money has been spent bringing in the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and most recently David Luiz. Seemingly unfazed after receiving €60 million fine along with City for breaking Financial Fare Play ( FFF ) rules. The fact they got through a group also containing Barca and beating them once this season they will fear nobody. They have plenty of talent and I don't see them going out easily. Chelsea only beating them on the away goals last year proves that and they've only strengthened since.
Manchester City - With a formidable squad it's quite bizarre that city left it until the final group game to scrape through the groups. Will they have any chance of progressing? Its not going to be easy as like Arsenal only coming second in the group means the heavyweights await on Monday's draw and both will be hoping to avoid the Spanish sides but with the likes of Sergio Aguero who has been on fire this season and a solid defence with the likes of Kompany and Zabaleta and Hart between the posts they have every chance.
Bayer Leverkusen - After just squeezing into 4th to qualify on the last day of the season it may be a surprise to see them making the knockout stages. But with Stefan Kießling they have someone who knows his way around the box and the back of the net so they can't be taken lightly.
Juventus - The Old Lady are no European fools, The Serie A Champions came runners-up behind Athletico and always provide a test in Turin. The away form hasn't been great and with Tevez and Llorente leading the line they have goals in the side. Also Gianluigi Buffon shows no sign of slowing down.
Basel - The reigning Super League Champions are obvious underdogs and have little or no chance of making the final let alone winning it, Saying that they've been around the competition and have a few players who have got good pedigree and can damage you as Liverpool and Manchester United have found out in recent seasons. Paulo Sousa has Argentine hardman Walter Samuel with his wealth of experience sure to help along with captain Marco Streller also clever player and topped with Albanian Shkëlzen Gashi scoring 11 from his first 15 appearances he's one to keep an eye on.
Monaco - Remarkably goal shy Monaco won their group after only scoring 4 goals in the 6 opening games, Despite this it was enough to top the group and the fact that they sold James Rodríguez and let Radamel Falcao join United on loan to scale down on wages is surely going to coat them. They do obviously have quality in the team but I don't think even captain Jérémy Toulalan probably wouldn't of expected them to make the knockout stages.
Porto - The Portuguese Dragons topped the group without losing a game. The fact they lost two players in Mangala and Fernando to City in the summer for a combined €42 million they've used that money well bringing in Yacine Brahimi and Dutch International Bruno Martins Indi and also Adrián López Álvarez from Athletico Madrid. The squad has no fewer than 9 Brazilians which shows were the majority of there players are scouted. Jackson Martinez has a phenomenal goal scoring record and with pace to catch out any defenders expecting an easy game.
Schalke - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting provide the attacking options for the 4th Germans left in the competition. Along with pace from the likes of Jefferson Farfán and Sidney Sam a summer arrival from Leverkusen. Benedikt Höwedes is captain and normally with Kevin Prince Boateng providing the strength in the middle of the park. Also 21 year old hot prospect Julian Draxler is a player to watch out for.
Shakhtar Donetsk - The Ukrainians make up the final place and with this years leading scorer Luiz Adriano on 9 Goals which is 1 more then Messi they do have quality. Though it has to be said the group they were in was by far the easiest with FC BATE Borisov in the group winning 7-0 away and 5-0 home helped massively. They Also have Brazilians Fred and Bernard and Croatian Darijo Srna as captain they have plenty of experience but definitely not enough quality to win it.
Will this year see an English team become champions of Europe remains to be seen but for the record I think it will be Real Madrid with Carlo Ancelotti becoming the first to do it outright as a manager 4 times putting ghim ahead of the legend Bob Paisley. Add that to his to winners medals as a player this could be his 6th year of holding the European Cup which would really be something.
Semper Fidelis
Thursday 20 November 2014
Pushing For Promotion
So after a great 0-1 win on the 6th September on Sky Sports against Luton at Kenilworth Road, September took a change for the worse. Going on to lose three of the next four games with only a 2-0 home win against Hartlepool the only points picked up in a dismal few weeks after Luton.
Since then Sheridan and Argyle have gone under the radar quietly creeping up the table picking up five wins out of seven and also progressing through the 1st round of the FA Cup against a tricky Conference North side AFC Fylde.
We now have the best defence in the Football League only conceding 12 goals in the first 17 league fixtures.
That encompassed with Reuben Reid carrying his goal scoring exploits to 9 league goals the confidence is starting to flow out of a free playing progressive Argyle side.
The 3-5-2 formation is putting every opponent to the sword especially at home and that with not only a defence but a whole team who now seem to have had it drummed into them that defending as a team and keeping clean sheets is the mainstay every championship winning team needs to gain promotion I ask myself, Is this the year of true revival after seven years of terrible clueless football with players who don't seem to care ?
I believe that Sheridan now with HIS team is starting to get the best out of a decent group with the help from the correct people is finally paying dividends, Paul Wotton having played 491 games for Argyle as Captain must be doing a lot with the defensive unit that screams organisation of the Coughlan / Wotton partnership of 01/02 season.
Before the season started many questioned the appointment of a young captain selected by Sheridan in Curtis Nelson, At 21 years old Curtis has already picked up 164 appearances since the 2010/11 season he is the only player we've managed to keep who didn't seem to be carrying the scars of succesive relagations on to the turf. The rest are long gone and hopefully we can continue to carry on picking up points whilst tring to get past Sheffield United on the 6th December and be in the 3rd round draw with hope of a money-spinning tie in January.
The last seven league games have seen us score ten and only concede a single goal in a remarkable improvement in our fortunes.
We have six league games before the new year and things are looking good!
Semper Fidelis
Since then Sheridan and Argyle have gone under the radar quietly creeping up the table picking up five wins out of seven and also progressing through the 1st round of the FA Cup against a tricky Conference North side AFC Fylde.
We now have the best defence in the Football League only conceding 12 goals in the first 17 league fixtures.
That encompassed with Reuben Reid carrying his goal scoring exploits to 9 league goals the confidence is starting to flow out of a free playing progressive Argyle side.
The 3-5-2 formation is putting every opponent to the sword especially at home and that with not only a defence but a whole team who now seem to have had it drummed into them that defending as a team and keeping clean sheets is the mainstay every championship winning team needs to gain promotion I ask myself, Is this the year of true revival after seven years of terrible clueless football with players who don't seem to care ?
I believe that Sheridan now with HIS team is starting to get the best out of a decent group with the help from the correct people is finally paying dividends, Paul Wotton having played 491 games for Argyle as Captain must be doing a lot with the defensive unit that screams organisation of the Coughlan / Wotton partnership of 01/02 season.
Before the season started many questioned the appointment of a young captain selected by Sheridan in Curtis Nelson, At 21 years old Curtis has already picked up 164 appearances since the 2010/11 season he is the only player we've managed to keep who didn't seem to be carrying the scars of succesive relagations on to the turf. The rest are long gone and hopefully we can continue to carry on picking up points whilst tring to get past Sheffield United on the 6th December and be in the 3rd round draw with hope of a money-spinning tie in January.
The last seven league games have seen us score ten and only concede a single goal in a remarkable improvement in our fortunes.
We have six league games before the new year and things are looking good!
Semper Fidelis
Friday 19 September 2014
Plymouth Argyle 2001-2002 v Plymouth Argyle 2014-2015
I've been trying to be optimistic about this season and now we're 8 games in hopefully the next 4 games will give us hope of establishing ourselves in the league and looking towards an automatic position come May.
After much debate I've been trying to look and think about what we may have or need to clamber out of the lowest tier in the Football League, Below I've listed the Champions of 01/02 the last time we romped to the league title and probably one of my favourite seasons watching Argyle, and the current squad.
Although man for man I feel we match up to that side I feel we have a way to go to emulate the record breaking greens that year in amassing 102 points, 27 Clean Sheets, Only conceding 28 Goals and maybe the only way people will start to trust and believe JS is if in May he is picking up manager of the year award as Sturrock did.
Also one thing I vividly remember is the fact we played pretty much with a solid 4-4-2 and giving Evans the chance of holding the ball up with the likes of Stoney or Marino to do all the chasing around and a whole squad chipping in with goals from defence to strikers.
The main problem for me is relying heavily on one man in Reid to score all the goals is a big ask.
On a positive note we had an ever present CB partnership in 01/02 in Coughlan and Wotton and this season an ever present partnership in Hartley and Nelson have started well so you never know.
Without IMO an box to box CM in Friio scoring 11 goals that season and creativity that this side clearly lacks I fear playoffs our best hope.
Plymouth Argyle 2001-2002 Plymouth Argyle 2014-2015
# NAME POS PREV CLUB APP SUB GOALS
1 Romain Larrieu GK Valence 51,0,27 23 Luke McCormick GK Oxford 9,0,0
23 Luke McCormick GK Youth 0,0,0 1 James Bittner GK Salisbury 0,0,0
26 Chris Adamson GK WBA 1,0,0
3 Jon Beswetherick LB Youth 27,7,0 16 Carl McHugh LB Bradford 9,0,1
7 Brian McGlinchey LB Gillingham 30,4,1 3 Ben Purrington LB Youth 0,2,0
5 Graham Coughlan CB Livingston 52,0,11 29 Peter Hartley CB Stevenage 9,0,1
15 Paul Wotton CB Youth 56,0,6 5 Curtis Nelson CB Youth 9,0,1
6 Craig Taylor CB Swindon 0,1,0 15 Paul Wotton CB Yeovil
25 Aaron Bentley CB Youth
2 David Worrell RB Dundee U 47,0,0 2 Kevin Mellor RB Crewe 9,0,0
24 Paul Connolly RB Youth 0,0,0 28 Anthony O'Connor RB Blackburn 8,0,0
14 Lee Hodges MF Reading 48,3,6 4 Lee Cox MF Swindon 6,2,0
12 Steve Adams MF Youth 44,8,2 6 Oliver Norburn MF Bristol 5,1,0
4 David Friio MF Valence 47,0,11 11 Dominic Blizzard MF Yeovil 2,1,1
8 Sean Evers MF Reading 4,5,0 19 Nathan Thomas MF Sunderland 0,4,0
11 Martin Phillips MF Portsmouth 42,2,8 17 Alex Bray MF Swansea 0,1,0
20 Jason Bent MF Col Rapids 19,6,4 24 River Allen MF Youth 0,4,0
22 Joe Broad MF Youth 1,7,0 8 Jason Banton MF Palace 8,0,0
25 Neil Heaney MF Dundee U 1,7,0 7 Lewis Alessandra MF Morecambe 8,0,1
9 Michael Evans ST Bristol R 34,9,7 9 Reuben Reid ST Yeovil 9,0,5
10 Ian Stonebridge ST Tottenham 34,14,9 14 Tyler Harvey ST Youth 3,2,1
21 Blair Sturrock ST Dundee 4,17,1 18 Matt Lecointe ST Youth 0,0,0
19 Marino Keith ST Livingston 13,12,9 10 Marvin Morgan ST Shrewsbury 2,5,0
16 Martin Gritton ST Porthleven 1,7,0 22 Deane Smalley ST Oxford 3,3,1
17 Kevin Wills ST None 15,7,0
18 Nicky Banger ST Dundee 4,7,2
19 Dean Crowe ST Stoke 0,1,0
Semper Fidelis.
After much debate I've been trying to look and think about what we may have or need to clamber out of the lowest tier in the Football League, Below I've listed the Champions of 01/02 the last time we romped to the league title and probably one of my favourite seasons watching Argyle, and the current squad.
Although man for man I feel we match up to that side I feel we have a way to go to emulate the record breaking greens that year in amassing 102 points, 27 Clean Sheets, Only conceding 28 Goals and maybe the only way people will start to trust and believe JS is if in May he is picking up manager of the year award as Sturrock did.
Also one thing I vividly remember is the fact we played pretty much with a solid 4-4-2 and giving Evans the chance of holding the ball up with the likes of Stoney or Marino to do all the chasing around and a whole squad chipping in with goals from defence to strikers.
The main problem for me is relying heavily on one man in Reid to score all the goals is a big ask.
On a positive note we had an ever present CB partnership in 01/02 in Coughlan and Wotton and this season an ever present partnership in Hartley and Nelson have started well so you never know.
Without IMO an box to box CM in Friio scoring 11 goals that season and creativity that this side clearly lacks I fear playoffs our best hope.
Plymouth Argyle 2001-2002 Plymouth Argyle 2014-2015
# NAME POS PREV CLUB APP SUB GOALS
1 Romain Larrieu GK Valence 51,0,27 23 Luke McCormick GK Oxford 9,0,0
23 Luke McCormick GK Youth 0,0,0 1 James Bittner GK Salisbury 0,0,0
26 Chris Adamson GK WBA 1,0,0
3 Jon Beswetherick LB Youth 27,7,0 16 Carl McHugh LB Bradford 9,0,1
7 Brian McGlinchey LB Gillingham 30,4,1 3 Ben Purrington LB Youth 0,2,0
5 Graham Coughlan CB Livingston 52,0,11 29 Peter Hartley CB Stevenage 9,0,1
15 Paul Wotton CB Youth 56,0,6 5 Curtis Nelson CB Youth 9,0,1
6 Craig Taylor CB Swindon 0,1,0 15 Paul Wotton CB Yeovil
25 Aaron Bentley CB Youth
2 David Worrell RB Dundee U 47,0,0 2 Kevin Mellor RB Crewe 9,0,0
24 Paul Connolly RB Youth 0,0,0 28 Anthony O'Connor RB Blackburn 8,0,0
14 Lee Hodges MF Reading 48,3,6 4 Lee Cox MF Swindon 6,2,0
12 Steve Adams MF Youth 44,8,2 6 Oliver Norburn MF Bristol 5,1,0
4 David Friio MF Valence 47,0,11 11 Dominic Blizzard MF Yeovil 2,1,1
8 Sean Evers MF Reading 4,5,0 19 Nathan Thomas MF Sunderland 0,4,0
11 Martin Phillips MF Portsmouth 42,2,8 17 Alex Bray MF Swansea 0,1,0
20 Jason Bent MF Col Rapids 19,6,4 24 River Allen MF Youth 0,4,0
22 Joe Broad MF Youth 1,7,0 8 Jason Banton MF Palace 8,0,0
25 Neil Heaney MF Dundee U 1,7,0 7 Lewis Alessandra MF Morecambe 8,0,1
9 Michael Evans ST Bristol R 34,9,7 9 Reuben Reid ST Yeovil 9,0,5
10 Ian Stonebridge ST Tottenham 34,14,9 14 Tyler Harvey ST Youth 3,2,1
21 Blair Sturrock ST Dundee 4,17,1 18 Matt Lecointe ST Youth 0,0,0
19 Marino Keith ST Livingston 13,12,9 10 Marvin Morgan ST Shrewsbury 2,5,0
16 Martin Gritton ST Porthleven 1,7,0 22 Deane Smalley ST Oxford 3,3,1
17 Kevin Wills ST None 15,7,0
18 Nicky Banger ST Dundee 4,7,2
19 Dean Crowe ST Stoke 0,1,0
Semper Fidelis.
Wednesday 20 August 2014
ARGYLE v Exeter City F.C 16-8-14
So a new season has crept up on us quite nicely, thanks largely to an entertaining World Cup in Brazil.
Considering England went home on the first flight back to London, which even for me was earlier than I expected.
I enjoyed the World Cup and was pretty happy to see the likes of Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia all putting in a good showing against the might of Brazil, Uruguay and Holland.
I think in the end German efficiency again showed what football is all about, CONSISTANCY.
Anyway enough of all this about World Cups its two games into the REAL season.
Having missed the first game of the season away to Cambridge and the midweek loss on penalties in the league cup to Leyton Orient it was time for this seasons one and only home Devon derby.
Our first home game of the season since Torquay and Bristol Rovers have both fallen out of the football League.
So after a week of local and national press pushing a #wallofcolour at all football league clubs, I turned up with my brother Rob, brother in law James and Nephew Harvey, sporting his first Argyle shirt.
The idea of the #wallofcolour is a pretty new concept and seems to be well received amongst most clubs a couple of times a season.
Personally I prefer a wall of flags rather than coloured pieces of bin bags but must admist it looks pretty effective.
Anyway so after losing our first game away to Cambridge who have returned after a nine year exile from the football league 1-0 on the opening day of the season, our second game of the season against our old foes hopefully has shown what can be achieved this season with a bit of hard work and consistency in which I believe is John Sheridan's pivotal season to prove to the Green Army he has what it takes to get us up and out of the lowest rung of the football league ladder.
So with 11'418 all set for the off, Roger East a Premier League ref got the game underway,
With only 5 players in the starting 11 remaining from the last game of the season in a 3-3 draw away to Portsmouth, its always exciting to see how all these new players are going to start their new career's as Pilgrims.
So as the sun shone down on HP the nerves and excitement crept into my mind as always with the anticipation of another good season about to embark, Will we finally start the turnaround of fortunes after a dismal 5 years.
So off we went popping the ball around like Barcelona, It didn't take long for us to really start taking the game to the Grecians and getting carried away thinking this is going to be the season we really push on, Argyle really set up well playing a 4-2-3-1 against an Exeter City who dominated us only in March playing a 3-5-2.
The formations were really helping us get on the front foot and it didn't take long to make the early pressure give us an early chance.
A corner after a few minutes of early pressure fell right onto the head of new Argyle captain Curtis Nelson crashing his effort off the bar and then scrambled away by the defence.
At the time I was worried we may come to rue the chance but it was only a sign of how the afternoon would pan out acting as a springboard for us to mount attack after attack without much response.
It wasn't long before Banton was terrorizing the fullbacks before getting cynically chopped down time and time again until finally one was in range,
So on only his 7th start up steps Tyler Harvey , A product of Argyle youth set up and free-scoring midfield/striker, places the ball down and hits an unstoppable free kick over the wall and beyond the keeper into the top left hand corner.
One Nil,
This only seemed to spur us on further with Banton and Harvey really causing all sorts of problems,
And it wasn't long before Harvey once again played the decisive pass between two defenders for Reid to slot a second low and hard past a rushing keeper.
Two Nil,
After going two up we seemed happy to pop the ball around forcing Tisdale to change his system and players at half time.
The second half started a much more even contest.
Exeter changed their shape and did cause us some more problems in the second half but rarely threatened McCormick's goal and to me showing they look like being destined to a hard season, It showed when Argyle made changes bringing on fresh hungry faces on, Marvin Morgan for the impressive and prolific Reuben Reid at 70 minutes who had showed his raw strength and power and eye for goal all night , River Allen on at 76 minutes for the versatile and busy Tyler Harvey who continues to impress with each outing.
Alessandra who was brought down 60 yards out allowed Argyle to clip a dangerous free kick into the box from deep causing big problems for a ragged City defence and rookie keeper Christy Pym making only his 9th appearance after the release of Artur Krysiak in the summer,
Pym who seemed to struggle all afternoon dropped the free kick in a packed box to leave the new Argyle captain Curtis Nelson to hook the ball in from 6 yards.
Three Nil,
After the restart Banton was replaced by Nathan Thomas and the game was over giving us a platform to really kick on.
I think if this season is to be a success we HAVE TO at a minimum make the playoffs though I feel for most, anything less then promotion be it playoffs or automatic will be a failure and will ultimately cost JS his job if we don't go up.
The Green Army have been through enough and they're starting to lose patience!
This season I will also rate all the Argyle players of every game I attend and will use this to tally up my player of the year come May.
McCormick, 7
Mellor, 7
Nelson, 8
Hartley, 7
McHugh, 7
Alessandra, 7
O'Connor, 8
Norburn , 9
Banton, 8 (Thomas 85), 6
Harvey, 8 (Allen 76), 6
Reid, 8 (Morgan71). 7
Non-playing subs: James Bittner, Ben Purrington, Dominic Blizzard, Deane Smalley.
Semper Fidelis.
Wednesday 16 July 2014
Football's Financial Madness
Now the World Cup dust has settled in Brazil, it gives us a little over a month before domestic football returns.
I have been meaning to do a piece on the current state of finances within our football clubs for a while.
What I have found is long what I've suspected that for clubs like my club Plymouth Argyle, the dream of making the promised land of the Premiership are now further away then ever and the chance of ever getting there has never been so unobtainable than they are at the moment.
Unless things are drastically changed in the way money in English football is distributed, then I fear there are many clubs who will never obtain top flight status.
In this piece I will try to tell you why.
Parachute payments are probably one of the most unfair ways of the Premier League to dispense their money from TV rights deals to keep the same group of clubs around the division without much chance of league 1 or 2 clubs even getting to the Championship let alone the top flight.
Never has this been more apparent then it is now. The gulf in money earned in the Premiership to the Championship is massive but the real problem lies in clubs receiving parachute payments after failing in the Premiership, to then being given a massive budget in comparison to other clubs in the Championship.
Below I have broken down the amount Sky Bet Championship clubs will receive, and you will see that in the Championship that no fewer than 10 clubs are receiving different stages of parachute payments from the Premier League and IMO are giving them a massive advantage over the other half of the league receiving the standard solidarity payments of 2.3 million.
This makes it unless you have a miracle manager or a lot of luck just making the playoffs can be any teams best hope of getting promoted.
Keeping this in mind after relegation from the top flight the said clubs will receive 4 years of Parachute payments as detailed below.
Year 1 = 23 Million Year 2 = 18 Million Year 3 = 9 Million Year 4 = 9 Million
I make the various stages of payment for the following 14/15 Sky Bet Championship as the following
I have been meaning to do a piece on the current state of finances within our football clubs for a while.
What I have found is long what I've suspected that for clubs like my club Plymouth Argyle, the dream of making the promised land of the Premiership are now further away then ever and the chance of ever getting there has never been so unobtainable than they are at the moment.
Unless things are drastically changed in the way money in English football is distributed, then I fear there are many clubs who will never obtain top flight status.
In this piece I will try to tell you why.
Parachute payments are probably one of the most unfair ways of the Premier League to dispense their money from TV rights deals to keep the same group of clubs around the division without much chance of league 1 or 2 clubs even getting to the Championship let alone the top flight.
Never has this been more apparent then it is now. The gulf in money earned in the Premiership to the Championship is massive but the real problem lies in clubs receiving parachute payments after failing in the Premiership, to then being given a massive budget in comparison to other clubs in the Championship.
Below I have broken down the amount Sky Bet Championship clubs will receive, and you will see that in the Championship that no fewer than 10 clubs are receiving different stages of parachute payments from the Premier League and IMO are giving them a massive advantage over the other half of the league receiving the standard solidarity payments of 2.3 million.
This makes it unless you have a miracle manager or a lot of luck just making the playoffs can be any teams best hope of getting promoted.
Keeping this in mind after relegation from the top flight the said clubs will receive 4 years of Parachute payments as detailed below.
Year 1 = 23 Million Year 2 = 18 Million Year 3 = 9 Million Year 4 = 9 Million
I make the various stages of payment for the following 14/15 Sky Bet Championship as the following
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Birmingham = 9
Blackburn Rovers = 9
Birmingham = 9
Blackburn Rovers = 9
Blackpool = 9
Bolton Wanderers = 9
Bournemouth = 2.3
Brentford = 2.3
Brighton & Hove Albion = 2.3
Cardiff City = 23
Charlton Athletic = 2.3
Derby County = 2.3
Fulham = 23
Bolton Wanderers = 9
Bournemouth = 2.3
Brentford = 2.3
Brighton & Hove Albion = 2.3
Cardiff City = 23
Charlton Athletic = 2.3
Derby County = 2.3
Fulham = 23
Reading = 18
Huddersfield Town = 2.3
Ipswich Town = 2.3
Leeds United = 2.3
Middlesbrough = 2.3
Millwall = 2.3
Norwich City = 23Huddersfield Town = 2.3
Ipswich Town = 2.3
Leeds United = 2.3
Middlesbrough = 2.3
Millwall = 2.3
Nottingham Forest = 2.3
Rotherham United = 2.3
Sheffield Wednesday = 2.3
Watford = 2.3
Watford = 2.3
Wigan Athletic = 18
Wolverhampton Wanderers = 9
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The above figures also don't account for the fact the additional 2.3 million that the clubs in Red receiving parachute payments would also receive.
And because of the new £5 Billion 3 year TV deal the Premier League signed last year all Premier League clubs have had a massive increase in what the 13/14 season has paid them.
Cardiff after finishing bottom and being relegated have been awarded 67 Million which is more the Manchester United received for becoming the champions the previous year.
This is not an attack on Cardiff but just shows how clubs who have yet to taste top flight football in the last 4 years are really going to struggle.
Cardiff
Relegation = 67 Million
Year 1 = 23 Million
Year 2 = 18 Million
Year 3 = 9 Million
Year 4 = 9 Million
127 Million
And lets presume that AFC Bournemouth will stay in the Championship for the next 4 without being promoted or relegated.
AFC Bournemouth
Previous Season Payment = 2.3
Year 1 = 2.3 Million
Year 2 = 2.3 Million
Year 3 = 2.3 Million
Year 4 = 2.3 Million
11.5 Million
Obviously this doesn't mean that Cardiff will hammer the league but surely this is the most unfair system in the world and considering the 3 relegated clubs will also hold onto half the squad that has played in the Premiership is also giving them the best chance to push for a top 3 finish or by minimum the playoffs
The figures in this article make me feel sick to my stomach and the thought of Plymouth ever getting a crack at it one day have never felt further.
Semper Fidelis
Sunday 13 July 2014
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