Argyle crashed out of the cup with a below par performance against a poor league 1 outfit. The 2nd round of the cup provided a good excuse for my first away match of the season and the opportunity to tick another football ground off the still very long list of clubs I haven't visited. Christmas shopping and extensive roadworks on the A38 and M1 could mean only one thing -a nightmare journey so we left Plymouth at the ridiculously early time of 0730- resulting us arriving in a record time and parking within 5 mins walk of the ground by 1200. Oh well, plenty of time to explore the fleshpots of Sheffield. A quick stroll into the town center followed by a burger exhausted the suitable entertainment on offer so we were among the first through the turnstiles and in our seats in the excellent upper tier of the Jessica Enniss stand. Never been a fan of watching games from behind the goal but this was an exception. Because the stand is so steep , the upper tier gives a perfect view of all the pitch and we were made very welcome by all the Sheffield stewards and staff. Bramall Lane is a good stadium and I was impressed; however today's experience adds weight to those who have suggested that we don't need a big new grandstand. A big(ish) stadium with only 7500 punters in it made it a bit of a library at times. The green army were in pretty good voice throughout but I can honestly say it was the quietest home crowd I have ever (not) heard. As far as the football was concerned, well the first half was very forgettable-Sheffield were poor and looked like they could easily be beaten whereas we were off color and the half was littered with errors and misplaced passes with neither goal really threatened. Just my impression but we seemed to struggle with the dimensions of the playing surface which I think is a fair bit bigger than ours. Second half was dominated by three penalties- I have yet to see any replays so may be proved wrong but at least 2 of the 3 seemed poor decisions. Allessandra went down following some decent play out wide but it seemed to me that no, or very little, contact was made -very similar to the Pompey affair. It mattered not, as Reuben managed to completely and inexplicably miss the target. Sheffield attacked and the linesman flagged for a foul half way into Argyle's half which the ref ignored/didn't see (don't think he was playing advantage) but then gave a pen 5 seconds later but not sure if the next challenge was in the box or worthy of a spot kick. No idea what the third pen was given for but needless to say both were converted despite Luke making decent attempts to save both. Very little from Argyle in terms of clear cut chances- the standard of football improved and Blizzard came closest with a sidefoot from the edge of the box. Difficult to find a Man of the match- probably Nelson or Allessandra , Purrington was clearly struggling for match fitness and was off the pace, Mellor looked tired, Blizzard had a poorish game, Banton as always flattered to deceive, and unfortunately Rueben was woeful from start to finish. The game was put to bed with a good finish but by then we had given up. Biggest positive was that if this is the standard of league 1 football then we have little to fear should we go up. As always, an enjoyable away day- not that disappointed about the result, but more frustrated that we played against a team that I know we could have beaten had we turned in a decent performance as has been seen occasionally at home park. No more distractions- just points to play for.
Thanks lyndhurst and I suspect I had a better days entertainment with the grandkids and watching Penguins of Madagascar by the sound of it. No biggy surprise for me. I never wanted a tie like this one in the first place suspecting the outcome when the draw came out. You say if this is the standard of league one then we have nothing to fear. Well if Sheffield were that poor and we still lost 3 - 0 irrespective of how the goals were conceded then I would suggest we have everything to worry about. I'm sort of glad I couldn't even listen to this one. Am I alone in starting to think the wheels may just have come off at Argyle? They were so good along with the results for quite a while but now....... Losing can quickly become a habit as we know. Hope not anyway.
I am not saying that Sheffield didn't deserve to win but in terms of general play they were not as good as I was was expecting. We never really rose to the occasion but some of that was due to the change of formation and enforced changes to personnel- I just think that if we played to out potential we could have competed with them. It was always an awful tie for the 2nd round and with a poor turn out not even a money maker. Despite the 9 hours in the car there is always something 'special' about away matches to strange(according to my son) northern places - being a northerner myself, I appreciate the dark satanic mills, freezing cold, miserable people and cheap pies. As far as the wheels coming off, I think today is irrelevant -I was a bit concerned about the performance last week v York, but we are in the position we are on merit and I have yet to see a team in L2 that I think is 'better' than we are- as always the next 4 weeks will be pivotal in determining just how good (or not) we are.
My dad was a "northerner" from the other side of the Pennines in what was Lancashire but could now be Cumbria with the borders being moved about. The grandparents were country folk and to a south western youth they did seem a bit odd to be fair. I've maybe been a devotee for too long lyndhurst which gives me the sense of doom and gloom associated with Home Park and the greens. They have flattered to more often than not deceive me over the years and I perhaps just assume every season is going to go the same way. If 2 teams are in with a chance then Argyle are the one who blows it sort of thing. I thought they had gotten over the also ran tag when they did a runaway season followed shortly after with another promotion but also as Champions. However look where we ended up once more so the hebbie jebbies came back again. I think my stance is fairly common locally though.
Yes, I suppose I've only been watching them for the last 30 years so am perhaps a little less jaded than some... Some of the football in recent weeks has been outstanding and the credit for that has to go to the management team.(From what I gather John Harbin is responsible for the performance, fitness & team spirit, with the tactics supplied by JS). The quality of the players isn't as good as the promotion seasons but the standard of football appears to be at least on a par with them. I do however understand the somewhat pessimistic view of a lot of fans. There is every chance that we could fade badly and end up in mid table mediocrity. I am just the eternal optimist where PAFC is concerned which I guess is what keeps me going. Even when things are going badly and we lose 'there is always next week'! All things being equal we ought to have an upper 1st division/lower championship team for a city of this size. Incidentally I was was brought up in a town right on the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire with the border literally splitting the town hall in half- clearly I used to try and stay in Yorkshire as much as I could-cant understand why anyone would think us Yorkies were odd!
Thanks Lyndhurst, by all accounts a disappointing performance and result but probably for the best, we are now free from distractions and able to concentrate all our efforts on the main goal, promotion.
Always a silver lining now we can concentrate on the league. No no no no.....I wanted a cup run as well just for once. It's not much to ask for once every 25 years or so is it. My grandparents lived in a small village called Silverdale which is right opposite Morecambe across the Bay lyndhurst. Well I say in the village what I mean is about a mile or so outside it. The nearest house to them was about half a mile up or down the road. I spent many an hour on the foreshore where those Chinese cockle pickers drowned a couple of years ago. Boy does the tide come in rapidly there. They weren't as strange as people from Yorkshire though as they would often tell me.
Having watched the highlights, our penalty looks genuine whereas their two looked soft. I would say that, but the first guy stood up to a fair bit of physical pressure on the way into the box and then seemed to choose his moment to go down when it was clear he was being pushed wide of the goal. The second one took a swing at the ball, got the shot away but went down on the follow through. Looked like a loss of balance as much as significant physical contact that I could see. One the face of it, they'd have won it with a good third goal anyway but if we'd been 0-1 up with 20 to go, they'd have been the ones making substitutions and chasing the game. I have been wondering for a while if Reuben Reid is fully fit. I think he's been subbed off at 70 minutes for several games now. Perhaps he's just being protected given he's pretty vital to our chances of going up. Then on the other hand, there's a "woeful" performance at Bramall Lane.
I agree notDistant.....Reid is not firing on all cylinders.......wasn't it his hip awhile back that caused him to miss a game ?........Sheridan hasn't got any realistic back-up to give him a rest for a game or two......no Reid means nearly no goals from this team.....must address that problem in January.....assuming that we are there abouts regarding promotion.
So if we had beaten Sheff U.....we would have been away to QPR.....not much of a pay day....but better than nothing.
I never look at it that way anymore plym. We lost so end of and we don't get drawn against anyone. Yeovil have an incentive to with the replay this time though. or Accrington of course. The way Yeovil's season is going you can see them dipping out again can't you.
