Six pages on pasoti that Elliot Turner Chief Fitness Coach is leaving.....no news from Argyle about it.....so maybe in the morning. Gives Ian Foster the opportunity to bring his own man in. All a little disturbing and unsettling for the squad....at a time when we need to concentrate on winning matches and getting points on the board to strengthen our league position.
Sky News are saying that Argyle are wanting to loan... with the possibilities of eventually buying a 20 year old Whiz Kid winger called Loizos Loizou who plays for Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus. Other clubs in Europe are also showing interest.
Mounting interest for Morgan Whittaker from clubs in this country....and also Serie A club Atalanta who had him watched at Huddersfield on Saturday. The pressure of the big clubs and their money is making it hard for PAFC to financially hold them at bay....8 players and staff have moved on....maybe 9 soon....all will financially earn more away from Plymouth.
Ten personnel out.....three personnel in......might be at least one more out......just hoping that Lindy doesn't get a better offer and leaves us as well.....just remember your commute at the moment Lindy is just a short walk across the park.
Argyle still contemplating Ovie Ejaria.....match fitness will be a problem....he has played little competitive matches for quite awhile. He is a free agent... and on his day he can be quite a player....so lets see what happens.
Been reading comments from Reading fans about Ejaria......yes he is a gifted player.....but he was a problem boy.....fitness problems and linked with that he didn't turn up for training. Sounds a bit of a gambol taking him onboard.....ok no fee required....but do you need a problem player in the dressing room doing his own thing ? Our dressing room has been disturbed enough with five player leaving for various reasons....do we need someone who doesn't knuckle down and become a team member ?
That is not the profile of player we would sign so if true and he is a naughty boy then I cannot see us taking him on. Remember rule No.1 No dickheads.
Well we might find out that we cannot afford anything but dickheads with the financial resources that we have. The mass exodus that we have been witnessing since Schumacher started the landslide is all because the grass is greener on the other side of the hill.....money is the big god at this level. The cosiness' of Div One has given way to the reality of the Championship....where we're finding out that we are the minnow amongst far larger fish....some clubs can spend on players the value of our whole team. I feel for Simon Hallett who just want's to achieve an accomplished top six Championship club at PAFC....he might have to rethink that....but where does he find a partner with the financial resources to help him in that quest.....he might have to wait for one of us to win the Euro lottery of a £100 million or so....and give him a large chunk of it.
I don't think we are finding out we are minnows, we always knew we were and Simon Hallett has never ever said anything but we will not spend what we don't have. There are no surprises. Most of the exodus has been in management and that is normal when a manager changes. The players who have gone are mostly loanees and we have again always known that they get recalled etc. I would therefore not class this as a mass exodus. We can always get more loanees. Whether they are class or not remains to be seen but we will get signings. I don't think the loanees going have much to do with Schuemaker either. There is a lot of fair play nonsense, I say that because there will never be fair play no matter what rules they have, at the moment and selling fringe players is one way to balance some of that out. The only real exception may be Cundle who I do think has followed a manager he got on with and didn't want to upset his own game chances.
The circumstances of his “bad boy” behaviour need to be taken into account. Was he being unfairly treated by Reading at the time? Family or personal problems? We don’t know. We’ve lost three players who were on loan - always a risk unfortunately. The others we seem to have let go deliberately. Of the three, Azaz. Is a big blow. There’s no denying that. Apparently he went to Middlesbrough for £2.5m so at least we have shown ourselves to be a good place to put players in the shop window. I don’t think Simon Hallett referred to a Top 6 position. I think the phrase was “challenging for promotion” which I’d interpret as regularly Top 10 rather than necessarily the play offs. He’s also admitted he can’t finance the Premier League alone and finding a partner with the same ethical stance will be a task in itself. It was said we’ve come up a year earlier than planned and the “challenging first promotion” aspiration is for the END of the Five Year Plan period, not Year 1 or possibly Year -1. By that time, I presume the new training facilities and academy will be in operation or be about to. Not only will that start to help the playing side directly but the cash outflow on the new facilities will cease, assuming we don’t te start on increasing ground capacity. In case anyone thinks a 5 year plan is too pedestrian, it is in my experience a standard feature in well run businesses. Identifying transformative investments and other developmental projects are exactly what they’re all about and the purpose is not academic: it’s to provide an action list to prevent strategic developments being lost in the hurly burly of everyday operations. There’s probably a recruitment plan in it for example, setting out what the headcount will be and what key appointments need to be made and when. I understand that there will be a big increase in TV money next year as the new broadcast contract comes into force. That won’t make us relatively more competitive versus the other teams in the same league on its own but it will represent a big increase in our budget and we will have a plan how to spend it well. If we stay up of course….. Such a plan tries to identify all the good ideas and all the unavoidable expenditure (e.g unavoidable costs arising from new legislation or replacement of obsolescent assets) and from that long list, come up with an action plan which can be afforded. Once a quarter, there’d be a process of reporting progress against the plan to drive matters forward. It’s not just a vague aspiration. Nine of us are particularly comfortable in our current league position but let’s continue to give credit for what has been achieved. It is a bit nerve wracking at the moment but you can’t really point at anything specific the club has done wrong if you accept that plunging into financial disaster is not an option. I went up club shop a week or so ago to change a Christmas present which I’d bought in the wrong size. A big white tent structure has popped up on the “ice rink land” behind the Mayflower grandstand. I thought perhaps it was some sort of overflow hospitality facility or similar. It’s not. Watching the new player interviews, I see it’s a gym facility. Not very elegant it’s true but it’s a little unheralded improvement until such time as Harpers Park is up and running. Stuff is happening…..
notDistant may I point you towards the following. Simon Hallett said that he wanted PAFC to be by 2028 ...."a top six club with Premier League Aspirations"......2nd November 2023....check it out.
There is talk that 19yr old 6ft Alfie Devine who Spurs have recalled from Port Vale will be going out on loan again in the Championship and Argyle have been mentioned. He is an attacking mid-fielder....and has worked with Ian Foster in the England youth set up.
Nevertheless, let's not run before we can walk. It was also said that the objective this season was survival. S*** happens in football. Poor old Port Vale have for example have today had Alfie Devine recalled by Spurs after featuring in 26 games for them. I bet their fans are fuming.
I just watched the "Welcome" interview with Darko Gyabi. These follow a fairly standard script of questions. "Who's the best player you ever played or trained with ?" "Kevin de Bruyne." Boom. Lets move on.
INCOMING. Alfie Devine on loan from Spurs for the rest of the season. So we've done to Port Vale what Stoke did to us.
Yep that’s official. Also linked with Matty Sorinola, English wing back, once of Fulham and Mk Dons. Most recently registered to Union SG, Belgian top flight club but on loan at Swansea last season when he. played 29 times. Seems now to have been released by Union SG and so a free agent.
Yes I noticed Sorinola.....released by mutual consent....not sure what to read into that comment....23yrs old next month. Fulham , Brentford, & West Ham have all shown an interest in Morgan Whittaker....I think his presence in Argyle's team is worth more than the money at the moment.....how would you replace him without spending all his transfer fee to get someone as good....and unproven in our team.....not worth the risk.
INCOMING. Matthew Sorinola 22 yrs old wing-back... a free agent released by Union Saint-Gilloise.....had been on loan at Swansea last season. This of course is a permanent situation.
