In sensible's absence. So into the unknown...first Div One game of the season....who knows which teams will make the running at the beginning of the season.. Argyle are playing one of last years relegated clubs.....relegated clubs quite often make the running...depending if they have managed to hold on to their squad from last season. Changes at Barnsley...new manager and new players coming in....so who knows how good they are.....I think a draw might be on the card....but what the hell do I know.
So team for today. Cooper, Gillesphey, Wilson, Scarr, Butcher, Edwards, Hardie, Mayor, Mumba, Azaz, Randell. Subs. Burton, Ennis, Whittaker, Lonwijk, Galloway, Jephcott, Endacott. Missing.....Miller, Camara, Houghton.(suspended).
1-0...F/T. Only one goal scored....good start to the season....but should have scored more goals....19 shots...5 on target...9 to 1 on target for Barnsley.....only 2 corners to 8 for Barnsley....committed 2 fouls against 15 for Barnsley. A win is a win....leaving us 7th in the league the same as back last May.
Schumacher said that Mumba played today because Mickel Miller picked up a thigh injury during training on Friday....it could mean a few weeks out....he immediately went for a scan to find out how serious it might be.
Well we saw one team today that looked as if used to higher division standards and one that looked lower league standard. We were the former and Barnsley the latter, After 5 minutes Barnsley had had one player booked after a series of crude changes by them and the ref felt it necessary to speak to their captain, not a frequent sight. If we’d won this 4-0, Barnsley might have been just about justified in feeling mildly aggrieved but their goal led a charmed life. Towards the end, a few dodgy decisions by an otherwise decent ref gave them a flurry of opportunities but the best side won. No real weak links except Mumba, who was lively going forward but a bit hesitant in defence. Ironically, he was the sponsor’s man if the match and to be fair was out of position after Miller was injured in training. We don’t get much luck do we? Azaz scored a good goal and showed some good touches . Randell was top notch. Scarr barely gave a tall centre forward a touch and pulled a couple of tricks Danny Mayor would have been proud of. Hardie was a constant menace. Good game, good performance with room to improve, great atmosphere in a nearly full stadium including 1,500 (?) from Barnsley.
Just to clarify the starting formation today, it’s Wilson, Scarr, Gillesphy Edwards, Butcher, Randell, Mumba Azaz, Mayor Hardie
Just watched the SKy video....looked a good game. There was a moment near the end when a Barnsley player broke threw....and as he was about to shoot seemed to get pushed in the back.....he protested... but not his team from what we saw.
In the first half, Mumba was dancing through when he went down. Yes, we were 75 yards away but it was one of those where an alley opens through the ruck of players. It was, without a scintilla of doubt, a push and either a penalty and a yellow of a free kick and a red. The ref gave a goal kick. The flurry of late Barnsley attacks I referred to came from a throw in which came off their player so clearly that it’s utterly unbelievable the officials got it wrong. I think the ref overruled the linesman but was completely wrong. These things happen.., there was certainly one incident we were lucky to get away with: Gillesphy was it? But… we were far, far better than them and in another day, we could have won by 3 or 4.
All I could do was wear something Argyle for the day and get my Son-in-Law to keep me posted with scores etc. When I went out for the evening for dinner I did shout Green Army out loud in a crowded area but there was neither an echo or reply. I was however pleased with the day even though it was the first home game at the start of a season for the entire history of mankind and I missed it. At Malaga Airport this morning I did spot an Argyle motiff amongst the travellers and did get to say the magic words out aloud and did get the normal reply. I also saw a chap in a Derby shirt and welcomed him to league one. His reply was "It's better than liquidation". You can't argue with that can you.
Not trying to rub it in but it was a great afternoon. Weather, big crowd, an intense game, especially the first 15 or 20 minutes, which were ferocious, and Argyle eventually playing them off the pitch. It must have been a big come-down for Barnsley. I don’t know how they came to be relegated but I imagine they didn’t expect to be out-skilled by some distance.
I heard today they dhad a terrible away record last season which did a lot for their relegation. Maybe we shouldn't get too carried away as you said. Not sure I agree with the "big come-down" comment. Half of the league are now ex Championship so there are quite a few of them.
I meant to have been not just beaten but outclassed.... perhaps they thought it'd be easy in League 1.
Don't they all or at least their supporters if not club. You only have to go back a bit to other clubs posts when they first arrived. Sunderland was one for sure. Ipswich is another. When the realisation hits home that there is no god given right they do much better.
I'm wrong there: it was 3-1: there was also the ghastly throw in decision late in the second half which went against us. Although a minor matter in itself, it triggered a rash of corners which could have lost us 2 points. I've never seen so obvious a touch overlooked: it wasn't a slight deflection: he stuck his entire leg out and got a significant contact.
