Plymouth Argyle mid-season REVIEW

Summer

So after finishing last season in a disappointing 10th place and just outside the playoffs like many others we were hoping for more this season.

When Sheridan came in we were a club in disarray and with an unbalanced squad of journey men just looking to gaining another year on their contract and another years wages.

In all honesty it took John Sheridan time, a year and a half to have any chance to really check the status of the squad and last summer completely get rid of all the dead wood and baggage at the club had been carrying for the past few seasons.

He managed to convince Reuben Reid to put pen to paper after his successful loan last season and Reid repaid the faith put on him from Sheridan and the green army this campaign scoring goals and chipping away at the 20 goal a year striker everybody needs.

Also the fact that in Luke McCormick probably the best keeper you can get at this level has helped.
I think had it not been for Luke's past he would have at a  minimum championship clubs after him.

We also seem to have got in the right balance of players bringing in Kelvin Mellor, Peter Hartley,
Oliver Norburn and Carl McHugh.

Loanees

Like many other clubs not in the top flight rely on loanees to get the by. In recent season the majority of these haven't really paid off for us for one reason or another. Of the four loans we have got in this season 3 of the 4 have played a major part in our good form this season. And the other Alex Bray from Swansea ruptured anterior ligament in the knee so returned to Swansea.

Bobby Reid from Bristol City has been in excellent form scoring two goals and creating a mountain of chances in the 12 games since he's been here.

Anthony O'Connor from Blackburn has played a part in every fixture since the opening day loss against Cambridge with 25 starts and 2 substitute appearances, The fact that since his first professional contract was signed with Blackburn in 2011 he's yet to make an appearance for his parent club instead spending the last 2 & 1/2 seasons out on loan, First to Burton 12/13 getting 46 appearances then last year at Torquay getting 31 appearances I think he'd be happy to leave Blackburn if we were to offer him a deal of maybe 2-3 years and can get Blackburn to let him go.
That's surely the whole point of the loan system. A try before you buy but nowadays seems to be used with the bigger clubs just using it to get they're younger players game time.

Andy Kellett is proving really popular with the fans and manager alike. In April Kellett was Bolton's first academy player to make an appearance for the first team in eight years and has shown a lot of promise since his arrival in October making 12 starts for the pilgrims since.

With a bit of luck I think we should try to sign O'Connor in a permanent deal in January and try to persuade Bristol and Bolton to extend the other two for the remainder of the season.

All 3 Loanees are due to expire in January:

Bobby Reid  = 03 January
Anthony O’Connor = 10 January
Andy Kellett = 17 January

Summary

Up until now we've had a solid defence. Unfortunately due to injuries to captain Curtis Nelson and Peter Hartley being out for the last two games with elbow and groin injuries respectively both are due to return against York on the weekend and hopefully we can shake of the last two results.

We currently sit in the final play off spot despite losing the last two games and we're on 37 points, that's an improvement of 7 points on last season at this stage so there is room to be optimistic.

84 points would of got you automatic promotion the last 5 seasons in League two so that surely has to be Sheridan's and the clubs aim.

The thought of ending in the lottery of the playoffs fills me with thoughts of Exeter v Plymouth Argyle final at Wembley which is a game you just cant afford to lose.

Lots of football to look forward to in the second half and if we can keep the loan players there is no reason we cant get one of the three automatic spots!

Semper Fidelis.

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

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.

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

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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

Reading = 18
Huddersfield Town = 2.3
Ipswich Town = 2.3
Leeds United  = 2.3
Middlesbrough  = 2.3
Millwall  = 2.3

Norwich City  = 23

Nottingham Forest  = 2.3

Rotherham United  = 2.3

Sheffield Wednesday = 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

Plymouth Argyle 1 - 0 Exeter City , Sat 30 March 2013

Never has a Devon Derby been as important as this for Argyle. Flirting with relegation from the football league for most of the season whilst Exeter looking to establish a playoff spot there was plenty to play for.
So the scene was set for the 60th Football League meeting between the Devon clubs with the sun shining on Home Park and the highest league 2 attendance this season of 13'251 we were hopeful that we wouldn't choke.
The game like most home games started very scrappy as you could sense the nerves of the players in front of the leagues highest attendance was apparent.
Eventually after the opening 15 minutes we settled down and started passing the ball around nicely with Reid occupying the lone striker role which is a thankless task at the best of times. This did however give plenty of space to Banton and Gurrieri
and with Hourihane dominating the midfield against previous Argyle loanee Moseley it was only a matter of time before the breakthrough. A nothing ball in the 45th minute into Bantons feet and the Palace Loanee with his back to goal turned and nut megged Baldwin and then pulled his shot in off the keepers left post from 18 yards leaving Krysiac no chance in the City goal.
The rest of the game didn't have many chances albeit one for Cureton from 12 yards smashed high and wide and one from Reuben Reid right down Krysiac's throat.
Argyle closed city down all over the park and have put a dent in City's aspirations and hope in our survival fight.
We have now won 3 in a row for the first time in along time.Next up for us is York away on Easter Monday who are having problems of their own having not won in their last 16 games and sacking manager Gary Mills along the way.
On January 1st York were 12 point ahead of the relegation places but have since only picked up eight points from a possible 48 dropping them to 23 in the table.
The did manage a point against Bristol Rovers on Easter Saturday in a 0-0 draw but hopefully we can put a nail in the coffin today and pull ourselves clear.

Semper Fidelis