I nearly forgot to post this. It's been far too exciting lately. Another 6 pointer apparently. Out luck away must change eventually surely. You can do it boys............ COYG
Its certainly a nervous time up here in hull,especially with our terrible home form....think it will be a very tight game and i am going for a very nervy 1-0 to us,but i sincerely want Plymouth to stay up along with us...we had such a wonderful weekend when we played you in august,best fans weve come across all friendly and helpful....plus the barbican is a great night out!!!!.…safe journey to all making the long trip
Team news including, but not limited to, Adam Randell. Plymouth Argyle midfielder Adam Randell injury doubt for vital Hull City match https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sp...gyle-randell-hull-city-9988604?utm_source=app
Thanks for the kind words Tigers. It’s nervous here too but oddly, spirits are high because we have a manager again. He keeps it simple, has rebuilt team spirit but is as hard as nails. Anyone not giving 100% doesn’t appear on the teamsheet.
Hull haven't played since last Tuesday....so will be far better rested than Argyle....who had a hard game chasing the ball against Man C as expected against a classy ball retaining side.....they need to be up for it straight away against Hull or the game might be beyond them.
Let’s not raise the white flag before the first whistle blows Plym. Houghton played 30 mins and Gyabi 60 so there are some legs left there and he had Joe Edwards on the bench: he’s the number 8 shirt because he started as a midfielder. Randell may make the bench anyway. He played Boateng as a DM on Saturday, which was a surprise because I’d hot the impression he was an AM. So we have cover there. The other main high energy running positions are the wing backs and he’s got Sorinola, Ogbeta, Szucs, and Puchacz plus Edwards. Where we are short is up front with Hardie and Tijani out injured and Obafemi apparently out of favour, which just leaves us Mus. We have got Baidoo, Mumba, Wright, Issaka, Al Hajj and Boateng for those No 10 type roles so he has choices.
Hazard, Mumba, Houghton, Pleguezuelo, Bundu, Puchacz, Gyabi, Katic,Al Hajj, Sorinola, Talovierov. Subs Grimshaw, Ogbeta, Szucs, Edwards, Wright, Obafemi, Boateng, Baidoo, Palsson. Obafemi back in the squad.....so is Randell ..will he get any game time tonight......we need our first away league win tonight....losing not to be considered.
................................................Hazard ...........Talovierov.....................Katic.......................Pleguezuelo ....Mumba............Gyabi.......................Houghton................Puchacz ................Sorinola...............................................Al Hajj .............................................Bundu
2-0.....F/T Gelhardt...48mins Kamara...61mins Two poor teams....but Argyle have no striker action... and poor performance all round. Ominously looking like the drop for Argyle
This was poor, It’s all very well setting a team out to avoid a hammering from Liverpool or Man City but perhaps less so Hull, with all due respect. To be fair to Hull, they got on top from the start and played the game in our half. We just couldn’t break out and nothing played forward seemed to stick with a white shirt. Hardie would have loved it: a whole half to run into but it’s disappointing that we didn’t get more out of Mumba in particular, I wasn’t quite sure he was on the pitch with about 30 minutes gone. It’s not all his fault: we just seemed incapable of getting over the half-way line in any sort of order. The ball didn’t stick with Bundu and Al Hajj just got overwhelmed by Hull’s intensity. Nevertheless, we somehow managed to get to half time at 0-0 and you hoped that we’d drawn the sting. With a pep-talk and a bit of tactical fiddling, perhaps we could do what we normally do and improve in the second half. We never found out really because within 3 minutes, Hull were 1-0 up. I’m not suggesting they didn’t deserve a lead but the goal was a fluke. We’d defended pretty poorly in the first half but this was unlucky. A shot from distance hit Katic 10 yards out and it bounced right into the stride of Gelhardt (who I think we were linked with earlier in the season) who finished calmly. Muslic took Puchacz off - he had a poor game compared to his earlier buccaneering performances - but then disaster struck. Having watched the replays: the lino was in a reasonable position but failed to see an absolutely blatant offside that gave Hull their second. This isn’t just a frustrated fan saying so with the benefit of replays though: both of us still awake watching called it before the ball went into the net and the commentators were of the same opinion. Having watched replays, the summariser said something like “well some offsides are close and difficult to see - that one wasn’t”. Maxi went off amongst others and we went to a back 4. Almost immediately we looked better but of course by then, Hull were in the comfortable position of being able to sit on a 2-0 lead. We’re going to have to do a lot better than this: our worst performance for a while. I’d pick Sorinola as our MotM largely because he had very little competition. As usual he was busting a gut in defence and attack as he continues to blossom under Muslic. Obafemi looked like a man with a point to prove as he got his first game time for a while and perhaps he’s worth a start in the No 9 position, but over the 90 minutes, Katic and Peggy were probably the closest behind Sorinola. They certainly had plenty to do, but Maxi was poor by his standards With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps world events this week have taken their toll on him. He almost burst into tears when in an interview after the Man City game, he told the interviewer that he hadn’t seen his father, who’s still in Ukraine, for three and a half years. Rather puts it into context, doesn’t it?
Just one tactical point. The summariser (not sure who it was) said that the key to making a wing back system work Is to be able to keep possession in midfield while they get forward into attacking positions. Makes sense. It was though something we were unable to do, partly of course because of Hull’s determination we shouldn’t have that possession but also our inability to string three passes together consecutively. We missed Randell’s passing and with Hull playing aggressively high up the pitch, there was room in behind them if we’d had a player that could find it.
I'm clutching at straws a little here.....but after the intensity of the Man C game where they weren't expected to win....the Hull game was a different kettle of fish....we had a chance of getting something ?.....and as I mentioned in an earlier post Hull had a whole week to prepare for this match....Argyle in the meanwhile had only three days...and had stayed up there and maybe missed the comforts of home. The above is the best excuse I can come up with.....Edwards in the squad for the second game running....but wasn't called on....I would have thought Captain Marvel if fit would have been ideal for such a special occasion....if it was never intended for him to come on because say he isn't fit enough yet then why put him in the squad. They say that good or bad luck evens itself out over the length of a season....if that is the case then we're abouit to start a relegation saving run.....It is heart breaking that the nearest we have to a goalscoring striker is Hardie....last season he did well and was our second best striker after Whittaker.....this season he has no challengers in the striker department....the most challenging this season (maybe half season) seems to be Talovierov with his menace from dead ball situations....assuming he gets the right support from the quality of the kicker. Not one shot on target last night....how can we be so bad against a struggling side....with our disastrous goal difference....we are now 7pts from safety....at the moment I cannot see us getting another 7pts all season......would love to be proved wrong.
Well if I was wanting to ultra pessimistic, I’d say that it took a while for opposing teams to realise that the arrival of Mirom Muslic had resulted in a complete change in the way we play. We’ve gone from a “play out from the back and lots of possession” team to a “big lads at the back, play it long and run after it” outfit. I’ve put that as brutally as possible and personally, as long as we don’t get relegated, I don’t care how we do it, as long as it’s legal. We can then sort things out with new money in the summer transfer window. It may be that we got a bit of a bounce initially but opposing teams now realise how we play and are combatting it accordingly. It was noticeable last night that the Sky commentators were quoting stats for the season as a whole which have no relevance whatsoever as we simply aren’t the same team that started it. They haven’t got the message but other coaches may have. Muslic’s after-match comments suggest he didn’t feel the team didn’t what he asked them to do. That implies it may be a temporary glitch. Certainly a number of previously strong performers (Maxi, Puchacz) had poor games. Let’s hope it’s a glitch.
Muslic after the game: Win was very well deserved by Hull, a big big setback and very disappointed. Certain players were left out of the Manchester City game so as to be available for Hull and others were subbed off at 60 minutes for the same reason. Super sorry for the travelling Greens to see us not fighting, and he has a real problem with that. If we pick up the fight from minute 1 to the last, we can do this, if not it looks like tonight. Strong words.
It is hard to get your head around it.....Hull had the worst home record in the league....coming into the match with only two wins and seven draws in their eighteen matches at home. Argyle have the distinction of being winless away and only scored 6 away goals.....so you could say it was Hull's best chance of a win.....but you could also say it was Argyle's best chance of an away win.....but to end up with no shots on target is quite an achievement...with only eleven games left Argyle could win all their home games and still get relegated......we have so missed out on a solid goal scoring striker for awhile now. PS....Whittaker I notice plays regularly...but I don't think he has scored yet ?
Disappointed but not surprised. We have been desperately unlucky with injuries this season and we do not have the strength in depth to cope with it. Don't even mention luck being against us. Hardie begins to shine and is injured. Typical. All we can do is carry on trying but it is going to be hard.
We oughtn’t to judge current results with those under Foster and Rooney. We now have a charismatic manager with a clear idea of how he wants to play, albeit going back to a more physical style. He aspires to better and so should we. I can’t deny Hull were the better side on the night but both goals were unlucky with the second an absolute disgrace on the part of the officials. What we need is some sort of a camera system that allows contentious decisions to be reviewed in some sort of control room. No … Wait…..
