3-0...F/T Argyle have no shots at goal and Whittaker stays on the bench......relegation form. BBC Final Score programme mentioned that we failed to register any shots on goal.
Just watched the goals. First thing is that having no shots whatsoever is very poor even if it was intended to defend defend defend for the whole game. The stats look terrible. However, for goal assists they should show the last 2 as being Argyle players. Not that they intended it or knew much about it. Ricochets just fell for their players and in most cases would be deemed simply unlucky. I read something on Pasoti about them and it said Leeds seemed to get pretty much all of them. Now whilst we were definately not in the right ball park today and there can be no excuses for picking up nothing, Leeds must be a little bit worried that they dominated all the stats for the whole game and yet only managed three goals with two assists from us. They scored nothing in the second half. If they needed help from a team as poor as we obviously were then it doesn't bode that well for them does it.
I've watched the video and never once saw the other half of the pitch that Leeds where defending. To not have one wild shot from distance makes you wonder why they bothered to turn up. I think Rooney had given up on this game even before they left Home Park....looks more like they came without a plan one let alone a plan two. If he intended to rest Whittaker so he was fresher for the Tuesday Portsmouth match why did he bother to bring him in the first place. To throw Roberts and Finn into the lions den to play in this match I find alarming.....ok we had players unavailable....but I don't feel he did the right thing there. Rooney has got to change his approach to away games....we have only 1pt on the road at the moment with a 16-1 against goal difference.....that is only slightly better than not turning up at all. I dread to think what will happen if we lose on Tuesday at home....you cannot avoid relegation by just doing well at home....I feel this game was sacrificed with the hope of winning against Portsmouth. Was Randell injured I haven't seen that he was and left behind on purpose. I did feel uneasy about Rooney getting the job in the first place.....I'm beginning to wonder if he knows how to set up a team to play away from home....it puts so much pressure on doing well at home....we only got a draw last time by the skin of our teeth. Team Moral doesn't need many performances like that before it disappears. On paper this team should be better than last years team but are they being coached to achieve that....I'm beginning to wonder.
Perhaps it’s your distance from the city and the club but you miss the point. This club is being run as an ethical business. We are not under a transfer embargo like Sheffield Wednesday and we aren’t going to be. We were able to turn down bids for Morgan Whittaker without having to check with the bank manager. Like all good businesses, it’s being built up from the bottom. The new academy is about to break ground. That will help Argyle develop young players without the risk of them being pilfered by bigger clubs just at the wrong time. The land’s been bought for the new training ground. The land behind the grandstand has also been bought. Although its eventual use hasn’t been announced, on match days it hosts a band and bars and food and stuff for the kids. The swish new Green Taverners bar has become part of the club: still available for their charitable purposes but also to the club for additional hospitality space. That’s probably been the one hiccup so far. We invested in the entertaining space in the grandstand partly to host corporate events on weekdays. I believe it is usually sold out on match days and is used for other things but Covid broke the habit of conferencing and seminars and so on. Who could have foreseen that? From experience I can tell you it would have faced little competition in Plymouth but the market has changed. The ladies team has been brought in-house and the new and expensive pitch will enable them to play some games at Home Park. There will also be a mini-stadium at the academy for youth and ladies’ games. I think it’s clear now that we need to somehow find competitive games for a reserve team. That will cost money but also bring benefits in strengthening the pool of players available. Now you can poo-poo all this and say that all that matters is not being relegated no matter what the financial cost. I don’t agree, although clearly I don’t want to be relegated and neither does anyone. But I think we’re on the right track and even if we do go down, we’ll be back. I’m not going to talk about the actual football because you don’t listen. But I don’t think we will go down. It may be tight and injuries don’t help but on a good day we can beat anyone in this league bar a small number: I wouldn’t be super-confident against the current top 4 but otherwise we can compete.
Wasn't Wayne Rooney given a three year contract ?......if he is found wanting how could we afford to get rid of him. If our home form disintegrates as it showed signs of doing against PNE will we just soldier on regardless.....will Rooney start to lose interest ?
I'm just getting started on my forecast and I noticed that the Top 4 teams at home (Sunderland, Sheffield United, Watford and Leeds) have all won 5 of their last 6 home games. The Top 4 away from home are Sunderland, Leeds, West Brom and Norwich and they've won 3, 2, 2 and 2 of their last 6 way games. Sheffield United are 6th in that table with only 2 wins in 6 and Watford are way down in 21st, having only won 1 of their last 6 away games. So, it's not unusual to have a significant disparity between home and away form. Now you won't be surprised to know that we're bottom of that table with no wins in 6 aways. But neither have Oxford, Derby, Blackburn or Cardiff immediately above us and Watford only one victory in six. So yes we have a problem. Yes we have the worst away form in the division. No, we aren't totally dissimilar to other teams in having the problem.
