Being early in the season it's hard to know what to make of any of these games in advance. I have had a look around the fans boards and have to say that none of the Sarfamton boys are entirely confident about their own chances. I would much rather they lived up to my expectations of being overly confident against little opposition. That has been my experience in previous encounters when we have been in the same league. Maybe they have come down to earth a bit and are less overly confident in their own abilities. Anyway as said they aren't being billy big bollocks about theselves so just a win for us it is then rather than a drubing. Can we win this asks bob the builder...........of course we can. COYG
Their midfielder Romeo Lavia signed for Chelsea yesterday for a modest £52m, one day after Ward-Prowse departed for West Ham. Fellow midfielder Will Smallbone, who’d played a full and successful season on loan at Stoke last year, is out for 4 months with an ankle injury suffered last weekend. It’s easy to fear the spending power of the relegated EPL teams and Southampton have brought in good money for Lavia and Ward-Prowse but they still have to spend it well. We’ve been blessed with excellent recruitment in recent seasons but there are no guarantees- as we saw so clearly when we were last in the Championship.
Another Southampton player, striker Che Adams, crops up in transfer news following a bid from Everton: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66540624 Has it gone far enough to mean he won't play on Saturday?
Kind words from the Russell Martin, now of Southampton, once of Swansea, on Morgan Whittaker and Ryan Lowe. https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/martin-whittaker-plymouth-argyle-swansea-8686388 It's as we thought on Morgan Whittaker: he didn't want him back because he didn't fit into his plan at Swansea whereas he fitted perfectly into the Argyle side. "You weigh everything up at the time and what Steven demands from him is very different to what I would have at Swansea. It's never personal, I really like Morgan, a really good kid, a really nice young man, and has lots of talent. He just wasn't what we required at the time and he has gone out and found a really good fit for him." "He has done really well last season and he got his wish. He should have stayed there. He should have stayed there and finished the season, he didn't, so he has got his wish of going back there and I'm pleased for him."
The Whittaker thing is as we sort of suspected at the time. A manager who was quite happy not to have him, a player who was quite happy to stay where he was loaned but a Board who thought differently and then ballsed it up. The Southampton money tree in sales really does concentrate the mind on parachute payments and why they are given to failed clubs. They have sold players so far for a combined around £100m. They have cut their wage bill by a shed load. However, what the parachute money allows now is for them to hire more players on wages we and several others could only dream of. Given a choice for players wanted by Southampton and Plymouth, which one do you think the player would choose? £8k a week playing for us or £20k a week playing for them. Paying £20k for them is still half of what they were paying the previous lot. That is what parachute payments allow and it is simply not fair to the rest in the league. Almost every season the teams that come down are expected to bounce back again and often they do. I know it doesn't happen sometimes but it does often enough to point fingers at the payments given. It's not the relegated clubs fault and who can blame them for using the money that way but level playing field it isn't.
You guys have had an encouraging start to the season. Can see a few goals for both sides today. Good to see you doing so well. We are by far a finished product for the Championship where as you seem to have a settled team. Starting next week, enjoy the season.
It should be a good game, sold out as far as home fans are concerned. We’re all delighted with the way recruitment has gone - astonished in fact given the club are a run on a tight budget and has other commitments to both a new training facility and an academy with classrooms, pitches etc. One issue may be the pitch. It’s usually pristine right through the season and has won awards but a summer music concert delayed preparation and then we had a wet July. It’s too slow to suit our style. It’s had a fortnight off but there was more heavy rain overnight.
Greetings Plymouth, lots of admiration for you (despite attending your Wembley game with Bolton) think it'll be close, Jack (He's one of our own) Stephens to score the 94th winner. Good luck for the rest of the season.
Oh dear you picked a bad one there. Not our finest hour and quite inexplicable TBH given how we played the rest of the season!
Bullet points. First, potential excuses. The pitch. Yes, it’s not as we like it and cut-up a bit. However. Southampton aren’t exactly a hoof-it side so it cuts both ways. The ref. Yes he was awful. We played 9 minutes of extra time in the second half and 5 of those were probably due to him refusing allow free kicks to be taken quickly. Southampton certainty brought Premier League cheating to the table and some Dog and Duck tackling and we probably were net losers from that. Morgan Whittaker hit the post late on. Yes, but hitting the woodwork doesn’t count and Conor Hazard made one mind boggling save to keep it at 1-1. Most convincing is that, what with the change to routine brought in n by attending a 12:30 kick-off. I drank my breakfast coffee from an ordinary mug NOT my magic Argyle mug. Sorry. My worries are: A repeat of a comment from Huddersfield, we need to get the passing out from the back sorted out. Hazard is a great shot stopper and sound on crosses but isn’t so happy with the ball at his feet but: I’m not convinced by this 4:3;3 formation. With 3 at the back, it worked reasonably well, albeit mainly with Michael Cooper. Hazard though isn’t being given good choices and too often is getting the ball back after he’s played it out once. Also, Morgan Whittaker is playing more like a right winger than the No 10 role he had in the 3:4:2:1. He tried his best today and did OK but last season, merely OK from him was a poor day. I’m not convinced his new starting position suits him and we aren’t getting the ball to him in good situations enough. Ditto Finn Azaz. We do over elaborate at times. I’m looking at you in particular Bali Mumba but you aren’t the only one. An extra touch isn’t always the best option. If you get into the right position, cross the damn thing right away or take the shot. Another possible injury to Kaine Kesler-Hayden after a heavy tackle. He’s a REALLY good player. Did I mention that before? The painful truth: Southampton may have lost their best players in exchange for large amounts of cash they’ll struggle to spend in the current window but what they have left were a yard quicker than us on most occasions. The good news: We wont have to play Southampton every week. The crowd clapped the players off. We will need to keep that loyalty going.
I wouldn't argue too much with that notfistant. We played well in parts as did Southampton and yes they were a tad quicker than we were and their passing was better and slicker. But, I still thought we were good for at least a draw and to lose it at the end was a bit of a sickener. I thought the Ref was terrible today. He was so inconsistent a lot of the time. He booked Hardie for a dive rightly or wrongly I don't know. It was right in front of me and it would have been offside anyway if a penalty was the decision. It was also very quick and it was difficult to see if a touch happened or not. The booking though was not necessary. They had a couple of much more blatant dives than the Hardie one and the Ref didn't give anything let alone a booking. One of their's was even comical. Playing out from the dback is ok if you have the players and keeper to do it. We don't. It got to a point that I could hardly watch when it came to goal kicks. I don't understand why Schuey allowed them to persist with it. Bali Mumba by his standards had a mare today. Thought he was poor in most places. Whittaker was frustrated most of the time as the ball was not reaching him and being played down the other side. He was free a lot of the time but the ball never came. Overall it was an entertaining more to the impartial than the committed. Argyle can feel satisfied that they competed with mostly premier standard players despite Southampton's clear out. If they maintain this standard they will not struggle.
Generally agree sensible, a draw would have been fair but if either team deserved to win it, I felt we (Saints) edged it. Absolutely agree playing the ball out from the back, I understand the possession argument and it's OK for Man City etc but you need fit, confident players for it to be effective. I'm always willing a forward to nip in, steal the ball and tuck it in the net. Anyway good luck for the season.
We’re in the Devonport/Lyndhurst corner: couldn’t get decent seats for 4 in the Lyndhurst. We were therefore looking right down the barrel of the Hardie incident. The keeper did not get a touch on the ball but it was so quick I can’t say for sure whether he touched Hardie. My gut-feel is that the ball was running wide too fast to get a shot on target and he went down but I couldn’t swear to it in court. The ref booked one of theirs for diving in the box in the first half to be fair although it was a much clearer offence. I was disappointed with Southampton’s ethics (a county north of the Thames etc) yesterday. There was too much diving all over the pitch, a lot of which was the sort that defies physics: allegedly tripped from behind but falls backwards etc. Too many blatant trips when an Argyle player had broken free too. There are certain players in the EPL whose careers are built on it (Richarlison being the worst in my book) but I’m surprised Southampton feel the need in this league. I do think the formation has something to do with the passing-out scares and it’s unfair to lump it all on Hazard. Previously, we had 3 CB’s to receive it and move it around between them. Now we’ve got just two and the full backs aren’t dropping back deep enough to participate. It’s far easier to put the press on two than three. Houghton dropping back to receive the ball is suicide. He’s facing his own goal not knowing what’s behind him. He can only pass square right or left so it’s a 50:50 chance it’ll get picked off. If we’re going to do it, the full backs need to start deeper to make it 4 options not 2. Then there’s the Whittaker Problem. He’s not a winger. He was brilliant as one of two Number 10’s but now he’s not playing that way. Do we look more secure at the back with a 4? Difficult to tell being a league higher. We do in a way because Mumba is now safely playing up front and we have the excellent Kesler-Hayden behind him. KH is Mumba and Joe Edwards’ love child: solid in defence and useful going forward: two for the price of one.
It’s just struck me that the simple solution is for Houghton to drop back before Hazard kicks out. We have 3 then and Houghton’s facing the play. He’s out of position but better that tan losing it on the edge of the penalty box!
I'm surprised that Julio Pleguezuelo isn't being used.....I thought that when he arrived he was going to be the foundation of the defence and we would build around him a network that would protect our keeper and then link up with our midfield... etc..etc. Even when we where under pressure in the second half he still sat on the bench ?
Pleggy's right is his preferred foot apparently, which puts him up against Dan Scarr in a back 4. Gibson's been excellent and Dan Scarr hasn't looked out of place so it'd be harsh to drop either of them. Pleggy is apparently very good with the ball, the stats suggest the best we have, but is not so strong in the air, where Scarr excels. I cant see Pleggy replacing Scarr because of the need to have someone strong in the air. Scarr's booking as early as the 10th minute did put him at risk and that could have justified a change. He'd make an excellent 3rd CB though, able to make short and long passes and even dribble a bit. One thing that's stood out is that we are better down the left with Mumba and Kesler-Hayden or Saxon Earley than the right with Whittaker and Edwards. Edwards struggled against Huddersfield although he was better yesterday. Pleggy can play RB but Joe Edwards is our captain and stalwart.
If ability was down to how much heart a player has then Edwards would start every week. For this league he is not quick enough even though he gives 110% every game. Club Captain or not I would still have a look at Pleggy there just to see if it is better. I know it's not the norm to criticise Mumba but I did think he was not quite up there yesterday. We have come to expect a lot from him so he is the hoister of his own petard. I wasn't really blaming all on Hazard for the debacle at the back with goal kicks either. He is doing what he is told to do so I am blaming Schuey this time for persisting with something that failed once too often. If you can't get your head around how to play if safely from the back in those situations then sorry but revert to plan Z and lump it. It was a heart stopper every 5 minutes yesterday. I also forgot the dive booking for them as well. I hate simulation and basically faking it on the pitch to stop play. It's funny that most of the green army hate Wycombe because they think it's the dark dark arts and they do it all the time or did under Ainsworth. However, you are right in that Southampton did it often yesterday and they were a prem club not so long ago. So were Wycombe playing above their station or is it just the plain normal in football now. I wouldn't get too carried away if I was a Southampton supporter. If they have to resort to that against a club who were 2 leagues below them last term then it doesn't really say much for them does it. Anyway it's done now and we move on to the next one.
Mumba had one of those days when he turned the full back inside out and then when the moment came, mucked up the pass. He also over-elaborates. Once he's away, cross the damn thing or shoot. Don't run around the field looking one more opponents to beat just because you can. Keep it simple and quick. I fear you are right about Joe Edwards. He's an absolute hero, definite Hall of Fame material (and my other half's favourite player, for non-football reasons) but he's a couple of mph short for the Championship I'm sad to say.
