What a fantastic September day we had at Kew Gardens yesterday.....the annual family outing to Kew couldn't have had better weather.......as a member of Kew it costs my family nothing for me to get them in (children always free) so there was nine of us, six adults and three grandchildren. So tired but pleased after a good day we eventually got home about 7-30 pm.....checked on here to see how Argyle did and another home defeat took the pleasure down a notch or two.....rustled up something to eat and settled down to relax for a couple of hours in front of the box (no not the X-Factor). So this morning read a few match reports and skimmed through the Argyle websites to see the reaction.....and even I, a none Fletcher fan was surprised how much stick Argyle and Fletcher in particular where getting,especially from the PASOTI faithful. Checked the GoS website on the match and looked through the pics (must find out who those Orpington fans are,lived here 42 years and never come across them} and of course did my weekly cringe at the Sparksy/Fletcher interview......comment of the week/month/year/decade.... from Fletcher this time... "it's hard to put your finger on what went wrong,losing goals makes a difference obviously"... yes Carl your on the right track there.....now have a rest before you blow a fuse. Micky Adams didn't help either......by being devious and changing things around to bring Argyle under control, the worrying thing is ....was Fletcher the only one in the ground who didn't notice that Adams had done it ? Did Wotton go off injured....because it seems things changed when he did....Fletcher replaces him with a teenager and Argyle where floundering. Why bring in Madjo as an emergency transfer and hardly play him.....isn't goal scoring our No 1 problem.....he'll be gone in a couple of weeks. A serious question....does Fletcher know what he is doing ? Another question....is James Brent showing too much faith in Carl Fletcher ? I read on another site this morning...."if Ridsdale was still here, he would have recognized that he was wrong to put Fletcher in charge and sacked him months ago", totally agree. Bristol R on Tuesday.....if we can't beat them we will definately be in trouble......but be confident that Brent will not have a Knee-jerk reaction (unfortunately) and sack Fletcher, so don't worry things will continue to slide down hill and we will all be thinking of the Conference again.....and we thought the horrors of that where left behind last season. sensible and Gat-Po...... surely you know why you've both got bad backs.....it's that continual effort of trying to prop up PAFC's worst ever manager from total wipe-out of all that we have believed and supported since before Fletcher was even a glint in his fathers eye.
No Plymborn, scoring wasn't the problem yesterday, although chances were missed in the first half. Conceding 3 in 45 minutes was the problem..... Which would you rather see? Money spent on paying up Fletcher's contact in order to bring in..... who? There are no guarantees anyone else would be better. Or, spending that same money on loan players to beef up the squad and giving Fletcher until Christmas?
Scoring was the problem yesterday........a long distance poke was all we had to show for it.......another goal could have covered over the cracks of no forward goals and no managing awarness.
Apologies if you have already seen this but this is what Pasoti think of Fletcher ..... sadly I think they have him spot on http://www.pasoti.co.uk/talk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=70902
It would be funny if it wasn't true..........maybe Fletcher is the kitman filling in until Alec Ferguson feels he needs a new challenge......sorry Sir Alec that job is a step too far even for you.......you don't deserve such a sentence.
I repeat the contrast in the Tweets before & after half time - like Brazil to "sack the manager". On that basis, I have no interest on what's on Pasoti. After all, they [and others] were begging Brent to come in 18 months ago and now half of them want him out. Be judged on what you said at the time......
Mrs LaLa...good to hear from you.......I shall not be too disillusioned and will continue to say how I see things regarding Mr Fletcher. Someones got to be fit enough to continue....seeing old sensible is using a zimmer frame at present and also Gat-Po with her walking stick.....these youngsters are not up to it at present........it's not just the team with injuries by the look of it.
I didn't go yesterday and have avoided reading anything much about the match out of sheer frustration. I don't want Brent out particularly but the jury is still well and truly out in his case and I am not about to voice my undying love of the chap. Fletcher though is a worry. If what little I've read is right he started the match, once again, at home with Feeney as the loan striker. IT DOES NOT WORK. IT HAS NOT WORKED ONCE SO FAR. Why oh why does he persist in this tactic when it has blatantly failed over and over again. He has options even if Griffiths is not available. I can forgive the loss but what I can't forgive is the constant playing of the same tactic with the same outcome almost every time. We WILL be relegated if this continues. I can see it and every other person who goes to Home Park can see it so why does he not see it. I am not one to jump on a bandwagon for the sake of joining the majority. If I believe in something enough and it is against the majority view or I am the only one with it then I will defend my belief. However, it is very hard to defend Fletcher at the moment and unless there is a mamoth turn around very soon then I'm sorry but he should go. I'm not talking about the odd result here and there either, I'm talking about consistant points gathering. Brent isn't stupid or so we are led to believe so if he persists with him without the results then I fear the complaints about Brent might begin to show some validity in that he doesn't really care about the football and only cares for his own portfolio of development.
Playing a defensive, rather ugly style got us out of the mire last season Sensible [just] and there'll be times when it's still the best option this season. I thought before the game that Port Vale were the sort of opponents where discretion was the better part of valour, at home or away, and the 4:1:4:1 system did indeed work well in the first half. http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Argyle-beaten-surrender-early-lead/story-16910564-detail/story.html To quote "Argyle deserved their 1-0 lead at the break after playing some excellent passing football...... Argyle made a confident start to the match, passing the ball with purpose, and they were rewarded when they took the lead in the 18th minute....... Argyle continued to play some fluent football and Neal was forced into a fine save in the 25th minute to keep out a rasping 25-yard drive from Bhasera. It remained 1-0 until the interval, with the Pilgrims producing easily their best first half performance of the season....... The home side then went close to scoring a second goal when Wotton whipped a free-kick into the visitors' six-yard area. Argyle captain Darren Purse and MacDonald could not quite get a finishing touch and, in the end, Neal did well to keep the ball out of the net." OK, vital chances missed again, but at least chances were made and rather than being the wrong system, it looks more like the system going wrong later the second half particularly after Wotton went off. In his defence, Fletcher didn't have an experienced midfielder or defender to put into that vital anchor role in the 4:1:4:1 and perhaps that's indicative of a still threadbare squad. Maybe though Fletcher does lack the experience to come up with an alternative tactical solution to counter the Port Vale's revival - 4:2:3:1 or something - but I doubt 4:4:2 was the answer under the circumstances. It was a very very disappointing result but you do have to look at the root causes. Now Bristol Rovers, apparently on their beam-ends, at Home Park, maybe that is the time for 4:4:2......
My point is that if you don't show some bottle as the manager and confidence in your players then that will not instill any in their own minds. Apart from the fact that you want people to pay to watch what you produce. Nelson was a midfield player and so is Blanchard. He could switch it about a bit that way for example. Feeney on his own does not work and it never has. He is not the lone striker type player and this has been proved. Just because it worked up to a point of safety last season does not mean he should rely on it now. If we are short of people in places then that is also down to the manager not getting in the right people in the needed positions. It still all points to Fletcher whichever way you look at it. I have said before that I think Fletcher does have this try not to lose mentality rather than try to win. I can see where it would come from given our backs to the wall seasons for the last 4 years. But he needs to change and get his head in the right place. I don't dislike Fletcher and don't go along with the slating of him at interviews. I don't judge him on how he comes across verbally. I hope I am looking at this with some objectivity rather than gut reaction. He is not showing he has much idea right now. If we played this way and won 1 - 0 then we would be happy(ier) but the fact is we are not winning 1 - 0 so what he is doing is not working out. Brent is backing him openly which leads to the belief he doesn't really care about the football. Nothing is happening to dispell this and there will be trouble at Mill soon if it doesn't alter.
Looks like Lecointe in the holding role tonight: Cole Berry Purse Blanchard Williams Lecointe MacDonald Hourihane Young Bhasera Madjo Or is it: Cole Berry Purse Blanchard Williams MacDonald Hourihane Young Bhasera Madjo Lecointe We shall see. Got to be things wrong with the squad when you don't know the answer to that question....
