Southern Group B Plymouth A...v...Cheltenham...Tues 2nd Sept...7pm ko. Already played in this group... Tues 26th Aug ...Bristol R...4-4...Spurs U21's. Rovers won 5-4 on penalties.
Just noticed that Cheltenham are bottom of Div Two....with only ONE POINT......if we lose this then what is there left in life.....but a pasty at half-time.
Ashby-Hammond...Edwards...Ross...Wiredu...Sorinola...Boateng...Ibrahim...Hatch...Oseni...Mumba...Tolaj. Subs Baker...Szucs...Benarous...Watts...Roberts...Pepple...Finn. No Mitchell tonight....maybe resting him ?.....without him even on the bench there is no chance of him and Ross spending anytime getting to know each others styles....because surely they will be our first choice central defenders ? Been mentioned that Jack Mackenzie has been seen warming up with the squad......so maybe back soon. Cheltenham are playing a changed side with more youngsters picked for this game.....can we score first for a change ?
2-0.....F/T Tolaj...(5mins)...(45mins). 73.2% possession...21 shots...11 on target. Total dominance....yet only two goals. Pepple misses a penalty....79mins. Cheltenham have a red card...79mins
Plym. I want you to listen to this song and take its message on board https://share.google/SNCiIiJANW8jyfPhb If Ian Dury could find Reasons To Be Cheerful, despite being crippled by polio, I bet you could too if you really, really tried.
No that isn't true.....the alarm is there because this team has no leaders...(Edwards ?).....some teams can play above their abilty and do well......this team seems to be able to play below their ability......what is happening in training....have we got coach's actually teaching what Cleverley wants on the pitch....it isn't showing. Tolaj earnt his bread last night.....against the 92nd team in the leagues.....who where a weakened team playing youngsters.......they were literally no threat at all.....and with our 73% possession....plus Cheltenham being down to 10 men in the 79th minute....we could not score without Tolaj on the pitch.....why did Pepple take the penalty.....that miss hasn't advanced his lack of confidence one iota.....Cleverley needs to impress on these players that he is in charge and somehow get them doing what he wants.....that is assuming he knows what he wants....we have another home advantage on Saturday against Stockport....we need home points because for the last two seasons away game points seem more like the Sahara desert in a drought.
For what it's worth It looks as though Sorinola had another good game. He's suddenly found something we didn't know he had. Tolaj unsurprisingly won the fan-polled MotM by a country mile but Sorinola was second.
Cleverley wants three games without defeat (Cheltenham, Stockport (H) and Luton (A)) as a stabilisation period and then expects stronger results after a difficult period - 8 games in 4 weeks and tough opening games: Barnsley (6th last year) Bolton (3rd last year) Lincoln (7th last year) Leyton Orient (11th last year) Blackpool (8th last year) Cardiff (Championship last year) Stockport (Promoted from League 2) Luton (Championship last year) Peterborough (4th last year) Burton (20th last year) Wigan (12th last year) Mansfield (Promoted from League 2) AFC Wimbledon (Promoted from League 2) Exeter City (13th last year)
Our second match tonight in this Football League Trophy against Spurs U21's.....who lost on penalties to Bristol R after a 4-4 draw in their first game. It will give Joe Edwards a chance of a match having at the moment missed one of his three game red card league ban. Possibilities of Conor Hazard starting his season after his injury break... caused during the international break during the summer. Also the chance of a start for new boy Jack MacKenzie... who is now back in training since his move down here from Scotland. Might also give Caleb Roberts a chance of some game time as well. Out on loan Joe Hatch and Jack Matthews would be eligible to play ...although they are away at Taunton and Bath at the moment....I think one of those teams might have a match tonight. Argyle chief coach Tom Cleverley has supposed to have said that he will put out a strong team tonight.....personally he hasn't got much choice with a host of first team choices injured......Szucs...Watts...Amaechi...Pleguezuelo...Paterson ....this is hoping that no one new has been injured on our dangerous training ground since Saturday. 7pm kick-off tonight.....no extra time....straight into penalties if required.
Hazard...Ross...Wiredu...Edwards...Benarous...Oseni...McCabe...Galloway...Roberts...Pepple...Finn. Subs Ashby-Hammond...Paterson...Tolaj...Mitchell...Ibrahim...Dale...Campbell. First start for Hazard this season. Starting eleven must be one of the weakest teams Argyle have put out for a long time. Ok we're only playing an under 21 team......and giving a run out to some of our lesser attackers is a gamble.....at least we have Tolaj on the bench.
4-0.....H/T Ross...(5mins) Finn...(20mins) Pepple...(28mins) Oseni...(41mins) Dominate Argyle in control.
6-2.....F/T.....(90+4mins) Ross...(5mins).........................................Russell-Denny...(57mins) Finn...(28 & 53mins)...............................Irow...(90+2mins) Pepple...(28mins) Oseni...(41mins) Campbell...(86mins) Plenty of goals....plenty of first time goals scored for Argyle.
Arsenal was the only U21 team not to get beaten badly.....you wonder why they have poor teams and allowed in this competition.
I wonder why we have this competition at all. Still, it’s useful to give a game to players who haven’t been getting much game time, those making a come-back from injury and so on, It’s also a marker for how good the much hyped Tegan Finn is. Up against his Premier League peers, he gets two goals and two assists. Quick, get the blanket back over him before someone sees!
