Not too much news at present....other than two staff replacements.....nice and warm and sunny so lets go for summer news time.
I left the bedroom window open last night, for the first time this year. I'm pretty bleary eyed. An owl twit-towoo-ing for a solid hour, followed by a cat fight. Then of course the organic milk delivery two doors down. And from 6am, traffic on the nearby main road. If I win the EuroMillions on Friday, I'm definitely moving back out into the country. Still get the owls and the cats of course, plus foxes, but it's a better quality of sleep-deprivation.
You could buy yourself into PAFC with some of the eye watering sums that I've seen dished out on that lottery.....won quite often by brits I notice. In fact on second thoughts you could buy the whole of PAFC and have enough left to donate a trophy towards the winner of our famous prediction league.....of course starting from next season. We just leave a quarter light window open at night......we live a five minute drive from the Princess Royal University Hospital (known as the PRUH) so we just hear the ambulances ringing their way to and fro just a little bit clearer......but it is the young foxes squabbling in the garden that annoys us more.....just another distraction other than the nightly trip to the loo that happens at my age.
Mustapha Bundu will not be returning to PAFC next season.....his agent has confirmed that he will be moving on to fulfil his ambitions....which obviously doesn't include continuing his career in Div One.....that was expected....a players career is short enough without relegation taking him down to a lower league. A shame....but it does emphasis the need for Argyle not to lose Hardie as well.
The remarkable career of the first black footballer to receive an England call-up will be honoured with a second blue plaque. John "Jack" Leslie who played for Plymouth Argyle between 1921 and 1934, was selected for the national team in 1925. But the striker was denied an England appearance because of the colour of his skin after selectors discovered his heritage. The London born former Argyle captain died aged 87 in 1988. The plaque is being unveiled in his adopted home town of Plymouth after one was earlier placed in London. In a statement, Jack's grand-daughters Lesley Hiscott, Gillian Carter, Lyn Davis said, "We feel honoured as members of Jack Leslie's family that a blue plaque is being unveiled in recognition of his achievements. Our grandad made a major contribution to the history of not only football but the integration of black people into our communities. He was a true trailblazer and we'll always be immensely proud of him."..Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, who will lead the plaque ceremony, said, "Leslie's story is not only about football, it is a testament to his resilience in the face of racism, While he never played for his country, Leslie's story serves as an inspiration for current generations, to continue to challenge racial boundaries in sport." The blue plaque will be unveiled in Glendower Road in Plymouth, Where Jack lived with his family. In 2020 a blue plaque was placed outside his former home in Canning Town. Two years ago, the FA presented his relatives with a posthumous cap.....Defender Viv Anderson became the first black player to represent England in 1978. Daily Express 16/05/2025.
There are always people looking at the statue outside the ground on match days, both home and away fans. I'm proud to see it there. Less cheerfully, the anti-vehicle barriers seem to have become a fixture to prevent vehicles crashing into people outside the ground. please log in to view this image You can see how it works: if you hit it, the barrier falls over backwards and momentum carries the front end of the vehicle up in the air and pins it there. It's sad to think they are necessary and I believe something similar is to be deployed at The Hoe, particularly with summer music events coming up. I see the first transfer rumour is out. https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/plymouth-argyle-linked-released-preston-10187690 I don't know about you, but that looks suspiciously like a dive......
Stressful evening for my son down the Valley last night....only one goal over two games and near the end as well....gives him a trip to Wembley on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend versus Leyton Orient.....a London derby. Grandson will have a nice gap in his exams at Durham Uni....and helpfully it is a 1pm kick off time....he will come down early Sunday and be back up there late evening....so a break for him....he's already done... by then... 14 hrs of exams.....with 6hrs left for after the bank holiday......so we might not have to play Charlton next season....managed by Nathan Jones.
I've been waiting to find out if we are to be punished for the "Sheff United Tunnel Gate" incident which they instigated. It's been weeks and nothing so far. How long does it take the FA to decide if punishment is going to happen. Anyone heard anything?
They can stop a game minutes after an "incident" has happened and then take another 5 minutes to decide sometimes nothing to correct......so maybe they'll wait till everyone is on the beach then do something.....Sheffield U still have one game to play..
Miron Muslic is being linked with the vacant manager positions at QPR and latterly Hull City. The Hull City story is in today's printed version of the Western Morning News, which no doubt was written yesterday. It's also in a few places online. Oddly though, it's is NOT on Plymouth Live today. As far as I've ever seen, the WMN (and the the Echo) normally have the same coverage as Plymouth Live, with the online version always being more up-to-date of course. Is it a rumour which the Club have quashed? As Muslic has 3 years remaining on his contract, any interested party would have to ask for the Club's permission to speak to him. Perhaps they've told the paper they've had no such request or that they have been asked but have said "No".
It does surprise me if QPR and Hull are interested in Miron Muslic .....less than 6 months in the Championship and has a relegation against his name. Ok that is unfair....the relegation basically wasn't his doing.....Wayne Rooney is mainly to blame for that... trying to get these players to play a style that they were unable to achieve.....Rooney needed to adapt his style to suit the level of players he had at his disposal at PAFC....he couldn't ......and he couldn't adapt his coaching style so we saw the same end result that he had achieved at all his other coaching jobs. In hindsight it is easy to blame Simon Hallett and the Board.as well....Rooney's record was there for all to see....but they took the gambol and it didn't work-out....and Muslic picked the pieces up and just failed to save us from relegation. I am concerned about Muslic and his present position....casting doubt on being available to continue his three year contract.....having brought some of the backroom staff that have worked for him before......leaving them wondering what their position is if he leaves cannot be beneficial to anyones state of mind. If Muslic has doubts and might be tempted to leave....it leaves me with the question....is he the right man for the job....Hallett gave him a three year contract and showed Muslic the faith he had in him......if that faith isn't returned by Muslic then it leaves us in a dodgy situation....will players be tempted to leave....and how do you tempt new players to sign on if there is uncertainty in the camp.....Muslic's position needs answering....and Hallet needs to ask the question to Muslic....what is your position....are you with us or not.
St Johnstone have put a multitude of players on the leaving list.....Including Graham Carey ? Ok he is older now....but that goal he scored a couple of months ago shows he has still got something to offer. I'm sure he could do a job for us in Div One.....he is a free agent....a No10 ....we haven't had one since he left......but of course we need to have a settled management to entice any player to us at the moment.
These are rumours Plym. Muslic was clearly upset at the end of the season and was keen to get home to his family - hardly surprising. But if a manager comes in as he did and made a struggling team perform pretty strongly in just a few months, he's bound to draw attention. You'll have to turn the cookies off manually on this site, but the posts add some background. https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/plymouth-argyles-miron-muslic-exit-fear-eased-hull-city-factor/ https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/c...eaving-plymouth-for-hull-city-become-clearer/
The reasoning...... https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/plymouth-argyle-sheffield-united-fined-10199757 And the bigger story... Sheffield United fined £445k last year! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cqj774qz1vdo
Which goes to show how out of touch the FA is. There was one protagonist in this and that was Wilder. He is a disgrace and he should have been punished individually for the scuffle. I get that Argyle's fine is token but it still wrenkles. When does a club get no more chances and gets hammered where it really hurts. Sheff United are cerial offenders and have learned nothing from countless fines before.
Wilder accosted two Argyle players as they passed by his after-match, on-pitch team huddle. The two were celebrating a victory but it was in no way provocative - as far as I could see, there was no interaction between the Argyle players and the Sheffield United huddle until Wilder lost it. As he’d chosen to do it on the pitch only yards from the access to the tunnel, the two had no real alternative to passing close by except perhaps waiting on the pitch until Wilder had finished. Really? At someone else’s stadium? Yes it was in front of the United fans in the Barn Park end but then, there’s a large group of Argyle fans, including a lot of kids, that gather in that corner of the Lower Grandstand precisely to be close to the Argyle players as they go in and out. Why shouldn’t they and why shouldn’t the players interact with them after a big win?
TWO COLUMN ARTICLE ON MICHAEL COOPER. Todays Daily Express has a write up on Michael Cooper. Michael Cooper has taken Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder from "lunatic" to laid back on the goalkeeper spectrum. With 23 clean sheets this season...Cooper was voted player of the year by blades fans and one more shut out in tomorrow's Championship play-off final against Sunderland could complete an immediate return to the Premier League. The 25yr old is so easy-going that he gets in trouble at home for zoning out. Bur at Bramall Lane the fans love his assurance and consistency after the traumatic relegation of 12 months ago.....when United shipped 104 goals in 38 matches. Wilder who led his boyhood club into the Premier League six years ago after signing Crystal Palace FA Cup hero Dean Henderson on loan, said I don't care whether your goalkeeper is a rock star or a Librarian. His job is to make big saves in big moments....and Michael contribution has been outstanding ....I've gone from one extreme to the other in terms of having the lunatic in goal for two seasons (Henderson) to Coops Article continues........... Daily Express...Friday...23/05/2025.
INCOMING. James Paterson...33 yrs old...forward released by Coventry. A bit of a surprise this one.....but it seems Miron Muslic was involved....so does that mean he will be staying at PAFC ?
