In all the excitement of the comings and goings today I nearly forgot to do this thread. Not sure what to expect from this one so I will just go with a hope instead. A bit of me hopes Schumaker will come back and we will rub their noses in it for fecking us up in the first place. I wouldn't have minded so much if they didn't just discard him for no particular reason other than whim. Go on greens give them a bloody nose. COYG
My initial reaction to rumours we might take him back was that he let us down and once bitten, twice shy. However, on reflection, the rot set in almost immediately after he left. Foster was a disaster and Rooney not much better in terms of results even if he was a substantial upgrade personality wise. We still have the core of the squad Schumacher left. The most notable exceptions are Cooper and Azaz. A good goalkeeper is obviously desirable but does not define your team. Azaz is an ongoing loss but perhaps Baidoo, who we tried to sign in the summer, will fill the hole. I believe a lot of our problems stem from trying to pick a formation we don’t have the players for. Schumacher won’t do that as he likes a back 3. This is all probably purely academic and there’s no chance he will return. If he did. I’ll let bygones be bygones.
It was being said that Schumacher had been looking for a way out of Argyle for awhile before the Stoke job came up......I don't know how true that was....but if it is true then why would Schumacher want to come back......possibly because being at Argyle is better than not being in any job. I don't want him back.....returning managers very rarely have the same success second time around.....he has the best record in Argyle history.....he would never reach such dizzy heights again......no one seems to have chased him or Lowe since they lost their jobs. Even with the extra buying power at Stoke he didn't set the world on fire and lasted less than a year.....let him find a job elsewhere.
We need a manager and quickly, especially as Neil Dewsnip has left too and the transfer window is open, Schumacher knows the club, the owner and a majority of the players. In many ways a 6 month caretaker contract might suit everyone if there's no desire to commit to more.
Hazard, Mumba, Pleguezuelo, Szucs, Whittaker, Obafemi, Gyabi, Randell, Galloway, Al Hajj, Sorinola. Subs Grimshaw, Ogbeta, Houghton, Cissoko, Forshaw, Roberts, Issaka, Finn, Palsson. Looking weak up front.....not a lot of choice to choose from. Only Cissoko on the bench to make a change in attack if necessary.
...........................................Hazard ..........Szucs..................Pleguezuelo...................Galloway ..Sorinola..........Randell................Gyabi.................Mumba ......................Whittaker................Al Hajj ......................................Obafemi
An extremely 0-0 draw. Very scrappy. Argyle getting a lot of the blame from the crowd but it’s no more than we get at Home Park. All Stoke early on but Argyle came into it a bit more as the half progressed.
Commentator just described Argyle as “structured and organised”. That’s not something we hear every day.
Well, well. Who knew we could do that? That was an ugly scrap in which our most common formation was 10-0-0. Nevertheless, Stoke hardly had a decent chance and really didn’t look like scoring. We on the other hand had a few, and I mean a few breakaways which had more potential than anything Stoke managed. If a team came to Home Park and played like that, there would have been a near riot but it doesn’t matter. We’ve been naive too many times and generally too nice. Not today and that takes planning and determination. If we can harness this ferocity with the good stuff we can play, then we’ll be OK.
Happy enough with that no matter how crap the football might have been. We need points away not to entertain the home crowds. I'd take that result in every game away till the end of the season.
That will do and a point is a point, who cares what it was like, i watched that and yeh stoke fans getting Frustrated.. good start to the new year.. 2 points in the bag..
