Typical..If Reid had scored on the penalty shot I would have got all 3 points in the prediction league.. That also could have been the turning point...but it was not to be.. Goes to show that Argyle can beat anyone in the league...with a bit of luck..
Went visiting the inlaws in Dartmouth today so didn't even know the result till I got home at around 8pm. Not a shock I guess so haven't looked at it any closer. Didn't even know they missed a penalty. Need to get back on the horse quickly and start with next Saturday I think with positive results. Could be a long Christmas otherwise.
I expect it was too much to ask that the defence would continue playing scrooge all the time. Without goals being scored this team could be in yet another relegation tussle. When Reid missed the golden chance to get us back into the match by scoring from the spot....and against ten men.....any belief the team had was gone. John Sheridan doesn't seem to be able to find a solution to goalscoring......unable during the transfer and loan windows to bring in anyone who remotely resembled a striker. The mid-field isn't much better at providing the answer.....and am I right in thinking that wonder boy Hourihane has now picked up a ban. If so Sheridan will be forced to play some other combination that doesn't include him.....I'm hoping that that might be a blessing in disguise....but I wont be holding my breathe.
John Sheridan is concerned about our lack of goals.......join the rest of us John. Commenting on this Sheridan said, 'we are not on the front foot anticipating the ball arriving in their penalty area, they seem to be waiting for the ball to come to them'. It sounds to me that they are not hungry enough and don't go looking for the ball.....there is not a natural goalscorer any where near our squad at present.....and that is putting undue pressure on the defence.....who have been keeping their part of the bargain, the moment we conceed the chances of a point are as good as gone.
Partly through injuries, he went back to that Alessandro/Boco thing which didn't work before. Shame Obadeyi got injured although maybe he wouldn't have been picked for a difficult away game.
Chesterfield had more players out than we did......made no difference at all to them.....we had more of the ball than they did.....but powder-puff attacking doesn't score goals.
Maybe time for a change I think before it's too late....JS has had 20 games now to get the team together but struggling....need a more experienced manager to attract some strikers so come on JB up the budget a little or put new stand on hold....what's happening to the new stand anyway?
Outstanding contracts to be sign........BUT the real problem is asbestos in the old grandstand.....which will take awhile and cost a fortune to correctly dispose of.
I hate to play this card Plymborn as I'm sure you'd attend if you were closer but I have had the advantage of going to a few games this year. It's not a question just of being one player down, it's the formation that results. In my amateur opinion, Alessandra is much better as a 2nd striker than he is a wide player. When Boco plays, that's where Alessandra ends up. When Abadeyi got into the side, we were playing him on one wing and Gurrieri on the other with Reid and Alessandro in the middle. I suppose the better results included a Cup win against Lincoln and perhaps it's a bit aggressive for an away game against Chesterfield: but at least it didn't end up with Alessandro wasted and/or going for the same balls as Boco. So, it's not the size of the squad but maybe the wrong mix of players available for the midfield/wide positions...... Also of course he left Luke Young out on Saturday and there's no doubt from what I've seen that he's by far our best passer of the ball.
Thanks for that notDistant. It will be interesting to have a mid-field without the ever present Hourihane involved......let us see how Sheridan copes with that. My judgement of Hourihane is from a distant as you know......but I am just not convinced that he is a captain or a mid-field leader.
I know you can't attend and see them seldom these days plym and like notdistant this isn't a dig. But you don't see Hourihane and didn't previously. He has come on a great deal since the armband was given to him. He actually pulls out of the stupid challenge he used to make. He gets stick for not passing forward all the time. Firstly there isn't always any movement of players in front to pass to and secondly he retains the ball in Argyle possession. It's frustrating sometimes but he is actually thinking about what he's doing rather than just trying the impossible all the time. He gives his all in every game now and never goes missing. He doesn't get everything right but then again who does. The biggest waste of space in the side is Bocco. He is just plain rubbish. Alessandra is far better.
