Sounded like the new Guys did ok.. Lost Sparkies play by play..switched to Morecombe's...they were saying that Argyle were rubbish.. Look forward to your reports..
BC.....Nail-biting match after taking a 2-0 lead........Sheridan has now first hand experience of how poor we can defend........mid-field strengthening looks very necessary to take pressure off of defence.
We can play as rubbish as they like as long as we bag the 3 points .... Well done Argyle at least this week we are out of the relegation zone
ok 3 points was great, the weather in the first half was atrocious but 2-0 up after 15 mins suggested we would go on and win 5-0. As it was it we were lucky to hang on for a win. Plus points; Branston looked totally at home and is an ideal replacement for Purse (could be his twin in football terms). Blanchard looked good in midfield and we seemed to press well higher up the field and played with a better tempo. Second half we struggled , were too deep and barely challenged for the ball. Not convinced about Ronan Murry(?) but i suspect he is short of playing time. Midfield were too defensive in second half - there were a few attacking opportunities but not enough in the box or supporting the forwards. Not convinced that much has changed other than our luck, but given other results 3 points were vital. BTW I think we need to give Cole another chance in goal- only because Gilmartin was lucky today that his punches and positional play didnt lead to a goal..
I would not disagree with that summary lyndhurst although not totally. Today just showed the old football adage that it is a game of two halves. First half we were worth our lead in my opinion and both goals were very well taken. We pressed when not in possession and played equally as well as Morecambe. Everything looking like a nice easy afternoon with the points in the bag. Sadly the Ref blew for halftime. Morecambe are certainly not the worst team we have played this season but to some extent I think we made them look better than they are. Especially in the second period. The team that went in at halftime were not the same team that came out in the second. For some bizaar reason we took the foot off the metal and defended far more than we had been doing. The goal they scored seemed almost inevitable and once scored I think most people were just waiting for the second and even third if they had got it. The sending off, which I thought Bhasera bought to some extent, came just at the right time and it broke up the play. Bottom line is that we hung on and it was a very decent 3 points in the end. We went back to doing what we have been doing in defending far too deep. Nelson was bein screamed at by most of the crowd for not moving up. He was always about 3/4 yards behind the rest of the defence. We seemed to not believe we could win. In the end we hung on and the result is history as they say. Good start by the new man in charge but hehas work to do.
I meant to add and forgot in my saturday happiness that where I disagree with lyndhurst is in regard to Murray. I thought the lad did well today and I also think he will score goals. Gilmartin is as much a liability as Cole when it comes to crosses and his flap at a shot and just parrying the ball was a joke for a keeper. Do they not learn to catch a ball anymore? I'm not sure which one is best if I'm honest. I also should have added something about the officials again this week. The lino on my side of the ground was a complete and utter joke. Their keeper should have been pulled up for handball outside his box and the lino just bottled the decision altogether. It was so blatant that somebody on the Hoe could have seen it. The Ref was almost as bad. There again we should be used to it by now.
Thanks for your reports..always good to read from a supporters point of view.. Note..our ice Hockey contract dispute has been settled...So the Vancouver Canucks are back in action..
sensible -you clearly sit not too far from me and i agree with your about lino, the handball ,and the tackle on Baz that let to the sending off!
Thing is lyndhurst I try hard not to be green tinted and see things that blatantly are not there. Or, in other words, in a fair manner rather than partisan. If the opposition play well and deserve something I will generally say so and if I'm brutally honest today Morecambe didn't deserve to lose. However, we have thrown point after point away this season which have been totally unmeritted so perhaps today was just the football god balancing the books a little. I wish we could sign their No.11. I remember him from last season and he bossed the match then. He is a more than useful player and sort of reminds me of a lower league Bale. Pace, control on the ball and in the right place at the right time. We don't have anyone like that to run our midfield. But as said I'll take the 3 points and be grateful. Sheridan has a week on the training ground now and lets hope he kicks a few butts and knocks the defensive bit out of them. The stats today on the Beeb site make it look like they were all over us. Just shows how rubbish stats can be because I don't think they tell the true story at all. (just one for notdistant there).
Just aswell we won as everyone around us did too...need to beat Southend on Sat. though but well done Argyle!
Interesting what you say sensible about the stats not being a true reflection of the game. They suggested that if this had been a boxing match Sheridan should have thrown the towel in to save us from anymore punishment. Sheridan will be earning his money this coming week to address the problems that we get into......giving way mid-field and dropping back too far in defence....thus allowing the opposition to take the inititive and bring us under undue pressure.
Actually Sensible the stats showed it very well - during the first half hour or so it was all PAFC, certainly in terms of possession and that was born out by Sparksy's half time comments - good start, could/should have had more goals though. Second half was a deluge the other way - very much as you & Lyndhurst have described. Three points are very welcome but just as I didn't agree with the savaging Fletcher got, I'd urge caution against lionising Sheridan too soon. If we'd played that badly in the 2nd half under Fletcher, with apparently no tactical influence to change it, the gallows would have been ready with 15 minutes to go. That isn't any criticism of Sheridan, I doubt what any manager can do under those circumstances unless he has a quality benchful of substitutes.
It's only his first game in charge, ok he added 2 new players to the team but did turn up trumps in the end. Hopefully he noted the laid back approach again in the second half all will be corrected for the future. We need a string of wins desperately!
You need to read the coments on the beeb football website where Sheridan says he noted the "defensive" attitude in the second half and it is something he will need to knock out of them. That is definately the crux of the matter and he has seen it first hand, noticed it already, and intends to sort it out. That is a plus for him and I don't think the result is seen in any great favour of him but the tactical bit will be and rightly. Therein lies the difference. Fletcher saw this time and time again and did nothing about it. I do not agree that Argyle were under some sort of seige in the second half. There were loads of corners but for once we didn't conceed from any of them. Wow!!!! what a change that makes because more than half of goals against this season and last came from them. Their shots tally was a bit tenuous also. Depends what you call a shot. If it's miles off target they still count it and in the main they were. Also please note that Argyle nearly scored a third close to the end. They weren't great in the second half but Morecambe didn't make the most of that. They had the possession and stroked it about a lot without much in the way of penetration. My previous comment about waiting for the second when they scored was more about expectation of past experience. We have thrown it away so many times. Sheridan also made changes when needed. Another change from normal. We had a couple of newbies in the team as well who had only been here 5 minutes. It always takes a couple of games for them to bed in properly and get a wave length going with others. Morecambe may not have particularly deserved to lose but they didn't deserve to win it either even if th bare stats suggest otherwise. That is an objective opinion from me not a tinted one. We will have to wait and see what happens next. Southend away is a hard one for any team wherever they are in the league. I'm not going to judge Sheridan on this one result or on the next one either. Lets say it looked better than it has before without being fantastic. If he can change the mindset of the players and instill some confidence then I think they will be ok this season. All we can do is concentrate on our results and never mind the rest. If all the bottom teams start winning then it will mean the ones above are not and will be dragged downwards. Once heading south in the league then it is hard to turn it around with games running out and panic setting in. This match was stage one and worked out but there is a lot of hard work to do still and I don't think Sheridan will be thinking job done by a long way.
Sensible I have to correct you there. For all we know, Fletcher may have seen the "defending too deep" thing and tried his level best to sort it out without saying so in public. Sheridan may have said it in public but may not be able to sort it out either! Time will tell as you say and I hope & pray he can sort it out!
notdistant, Fletcher had a vey long time to both notice it and sort it out. He was the manager for christ sake. Fletcher set the team up to defend more than attack almost every game both home and away. Please just leave off with the "Fletcher was ok really" patter because he ****ing well wasn't. The difference here is that I actually believe Sheridan WILL sort it out if he wants to.
Fletcher is history! let's get behind the new man and hope he does sort it.. Fletcher had his chance and fu cked it up and had no idea.. I am not saying sheridan will do it, but he needs more than one game.. fletcher had a lot longer than he deserved to put it right.. Pullis came and played that way if you remember, defend deep and let them have the ball alot.. he kept us up!! Its boring football but hey if we stay up who cares!!
