One Game at a Time
The Franchise (H) January 1st 2023
Happy New Year!
At least that is what all Argyle fans will be hoping for after ending 2022 on top of the world (well at least the League One section of it) after laying to rest one of the longest home hoodoos the team has endured with as emphatic a one nil home win as you could create, despite the usual last few minutes nerve shredding finale, which had the Argyle full house sweating more than Prince Andrew hunting for his Pizza Express receipts.
In an evening of ending extended streaks, we also saw a centre back score, and from a corner at that, as Dan Scarr put one of his former clubs to the sword. It was good to see also that in an age when so much of the game is driven by data analytics and sports science, the articulate and intelligent Why Come assistant Richard Dobson explained the defeat by suggesting he had jinxed it by asking Scarr not to score against them pre match.
In a significant role reversal, it was long term nemesis Ainsworth who had shuffled his pack so extensively one can only assume the pre-match huddle that delayed the matches kick off was less about Wanderers gamesmanship and more a quick name badge refresher.
The end of the game was somewhat marred by the injury sustained by Tjay de Barr which resulted in his collapse after the final whistle. Huge plaudits go to the medical team for their impressive and immediate response. As for the morons who decided this would be an appropriate time for some anti Wycombe chanting one can only hope they can be identified and excluded.
If nothing else these idiots don’t realise that all they do is hand the moral high ground and motivate the opposition supporters for our next meeting.
The final streak ending performance came, as noted by many, when the Whycombe forward turned ball boy of urgency for Cooper the Keeper after the statistically best shot stopper in the division suffered a momentary lapse of memory in terms of the process for restarting the game via the means of a goal kick.
That score line, combined with the late Ipswich equaliser at fading Pompous and the Wendies comfortable home win over Vale meant a slight extension of the gap at the top and a significant narrowing of the one between the pursuing pair, now separated by goals scored. Wednesdayites are now casting their runes and staring into teacups to determine when their talismanic midfield dynamo, Barry Bannan will be back from a second, seemingly more serious, hamstring injury in three games. They will certainly be hoping it is by the end iof the month when they face a run of fixtures where their return match against the Green Army is sandwiched between trips to form team Barnsley and closest rivals Ipswich. We wish the impish little dynamo a painstakingly slow recovery.
New Years Day fixtures await, but are somewhat overshadowed by the ominous creaking open of the transfer window. For once the most active analysis of the potential comings and goings from Home Park can be found in the fevered discussions taking place on the main Ipswich Town fans forum, where several threads are, in turn, discussing the potential losses of loanees Mumba and Whittaker, the arrival of a Kiwi brit striker, and the probable arrival of another Norwich player, this time permanently, following his loan spell at Stevenage being terminated.
The signing of Ben Maine from Wellington Phoenix, first attempted in the Summer, became apparent when the 19 year old was spotted in the Directors box on Thursday evening watching his new team mates to be. After the success of the Australian team at the World Cup, the A league is now a regular supplier of talent to European clubs and so the arrival of a current international striker is a strong statement of intent from the club and its owners. With the likely departure of Luke Jephcott to Swindon this looks like a like for like upgrade in positional/squad terms.
The potential arrival of the spectacularly named Saxon Earley, from Norwich via Schueys former club Stevenage, has all the hall marks of a well planned and executed coup, so fingers crossed the reveal of this move by Steve Evans does not create complications for its completion. The attacking left back neatly fits the profile of the kind of player we have been trying to recruit and solves the problem of the left sided defensive position given the injuries to Miller and Grant. What this means in the long term for Ryan Law, out on loan but out of favour at Gillingham is less clear. Still we have to admire our leaders sang froid in announcing he wanted to get his business done early.
The main excitement, however, is what the second half of the season holds for Morgan Whittaker. Depending on which unsubstantiated rumour you want to believe he is either staying, being recalled enlivening the Swans lack lustre attack, off to former club Derby who will pay his wages in full, or heading to promotion rivals Ipswich, in part to be paid for by an existing Swansea debt. No doubt much will be made of his inclusion or otherwise on the Sunday game against The Franchise.
Add to this a sub plot of whether striker Ryan Hardie has accepted, been offered or simply declined a new contract and so might be cashed in on this window to avoid losing him for free in the summer and the reality is the January window thread will be the busiest for the foreseeable future on Pasoti (and TWTD and OwlsTalk).
Into this maelstrom of hearsay and hysteria sail The Franchise. If you wanted an example of a club whose dependence on individuals and loans can be unpicked in a single transfer window, then this is the club. From five nil conquerors of last season’s Argyle squad, with a sought after a well-regarded young coach in his first senior role, espousing a possession based high pressing game in the current modern incarnation of the game, to a struggling relegation haunted team now regrouping after the appointment of a new well-regarded young coach in his first senior role.
Mark Jacksons appointment, following the decision to part company with Liam Manning means that Argyle face the divisions newest manager immediately after facing the longest serving one. In a relatively stable division for managerial upheaval, certainly compared to the Championship, Jackson is only the fifth new appointment in League One this season. After Dean Holden arrived at Charlton, Gary Caldwell at the sixtoes, Warne at the Rams and Dino Maamria’s internal promotion at Burton are the others. By comparison six of twenty Premier league bosses have changed since the beginning of the season, eight in League two (including two at scattergun Crawley Town) and a ridiculous fourteen in the Championship. And that’s before Watford’s hire and fire mayhem really kicks into gear this season.
Jackson’s pedigree as a coach has seen him progress through the age groups at Leeds United and being credited by Jesse Marsch (himself apparently on borrowed time) as having saved United from relegation last season with his input. The reaction from Leeds fans was hugely disappointed not just that he had gone but where he had gone to. They also seemed equally frustrated not only that Jackson had gone (taking a Leeds first team data analyst with him), but also that Marsch had stayed. To date two wins have been counterbalanced by a disappointing defeat at Posh, and so it is early to see what the impact will be.
Certainly, Jackson has a few injuries to deal with and it is expected that he may well return to his former club for loans to bolster his playing options. That said that will come too early to impact his trip to Home Park and so he will be working with what he has inherited.
The one thing we can be certain of is he won’t be signing Morgan Whittaker. If you do hear any rumours to that effect, then just remember that the phrase Cock and Bull story came from the two high street pubs in the next-door village of Stony Stratford. And if the substantially fewer fans that make the journey down, compared to last season, look well-oiled this New Years Day, don’t forget the UK HQ of WD40 is in the Concrete Capital of Bucks.
So having knocked out KFC Wimbledon from the Pizza Cup, it is time to try to extend the lead at the top and heap the pressure on our rivals by doubling up on MKDonalds FC.
COYG!
BREAKING NEWS: TWTD forum hits meltdown about Morgan Whittaker joining Forest after misreading the Radio Times cast list of The Last King of Scotland. Imagine what they will be like when they see he also starred in Green Dragon.
The Franchise (H) January 1st 2023
Happy New Year!
At least that is what all Argyle fans will be hoping for after ending 2022 on top of the world (well at least the League One section of it) after laying to rest one of the longest home hoodoos the team has endured with as emphatic a one nil home win as you could create, despite the usual last few minutes nerve shredding finale, which had the Argyle full house sweating more than Prince Andrew hunting for his Pizza Express receipts.
In an evening of ending extended streaks, we also saw a centre back score, and from a corner at that, as Dan Scarr put one of his former clubs to the sword. It was good to see also that in an age when so much of the game is driven by data analytics and sports science, the articulate and intelligent Why Come assistant Richard Dobson explained the defeat by suggesting he had jinxed it by asking Scarr not to score against them pre match.
In a significant role reversal, it was long term nemesis Ainsworth who had shuffled his pack so extensively one can only assume the pre-match huddle that delayed the matches kick off was less about Wanderers gamesmanship and more a quick name badge refresher.
The end of the game was somewhat marred by the injury sustained by Tjay de Barr which resulted in his collapse after the final whistle. Huge plaudits go to the medical team for their impressive and immediate response. As for the morons who decided this would be an appropriate time for some anti Wycombe chanting one can only hope they can be identified and excluded.
If nothing else these idiots don’t realise that all they do is hand the moral high ground and motivate the opposition supporters for our next meeting.
The final streak ending performance came, as noted by many, when the Whycombe forward turned ball boy of urgency for Cooper the Keeper after the statistically best shot stopper in the division suffered a momentary lapse of memory in terms of the process for restarting the game via the means of a goal kick.
That score line, combined with the late Ipswich equaliser at fading Pompous and the Wendies comfortable home win over Vale meant a slight extension of the gap at the top and a significant narrowing of the one between the pursuing pair, now separated by goals scored. Wednesdayites are now casting their runes and staring into teacups to determine when their talismanic midfield dynamo, Barry Bannan will be back from a second, seemingly more serious, hamstring injury in three games. They will certainly be hoping it is by the end iof the month when they face a run of fixtures where their return match against the Green Army is sandwiched between trips to form team Barnsley and closest rivals Ipswich. We wish the impish little dynamo a painstakingly slow recovery.
New Years Day fixtures await, but are somewhat overshadowed by the ominous creaking open of the transfer window. For once the most active analysis of the potential comings and goings from Home Park can be found in the fevered discussions taking place on the main Ipswich Town fans forum, where several threads are, in turn, discussing the potential losses of loanees Mumba and Whittaker, the arrival of a Kiwi brit striker, and the probable arrival of another Norwich player, this time permanently, following his loan spell at Stevenage being terminated.
The signing of Ben Maine from Wellington Phoenix, first attempted in the Summer, became apparent when the 19 year old was spotted in the Directors box on Thursday evening watching his new team mates to be. After the success of the Australian team at the World Cup, the A league is now a regular supplier of talent to European clubs and so the arrival of a current international striker is a strong statement of intent from the club and its owners. With the likely departure of Luke Jephcott to Swindon this looks like a like for like upgrade in positional/squad terms.
The potential arrival of the spectacularly named Saxon Earley, from Norwich via Schueys former club Stevenage, has all the hall marks of a well planned and executed coup, so fingers crossed the reveal of this move by Steve Evans does not create complications for its completion. The attacking left back neatly fits the profile of the kind of player we have been trying to recruit and solves the problem of the left sided defensive position given the injuries to Miller and Grant. What this means in the long term for Ryan Law, out on loan but out of favour at Gillingham is less clear. Still we have to admire our leaders sang froid in announcing he wanted to get his business done early.
The main excitement, however, is what the second half of the season holds for Morgan Whittaker. Depending on which unsubstantiated rumour you want to believe he is either staying, being recalled enlivening the Swans lack lustre attack, off to former club Derby who will pay his wages in full, or heading to promotion rivals Ipswich, in part to be paid for by an existing Swansea debt. No doubt much will be made of his inclusion or otherwise on the Sunday game against The Franchise.
Add to this a sub plot of whether striker Ryan Hardie has accepted, been offered or simply declined a new contract and so might be cashed in on this window to avoid losing him for free in the summer and the reality is the January window thread will be the busiest for the foreseeable future on Pasoti (and TWTD and OwlsTalk).
Into this maelstrom of hearsay and hysteria sail The Franchise. If you wanted an example of a club whose dependence on individuals and loans can be unpicked in a single transfer window, then this is the club. From five nil conquerors of last season’s Argyle squad, with a sought after a well-regarded young coach in his first senior role, espousing a possession based high pressing game in the current modern incarnation of the game, to a struggling relegation haunted team now regrouping after the appointment of a new well-regarded young coach in his first senior role.
Mark Jacksons appointment, following the decision to part company with Liam Manning means that Argyle face the divisions newest manager immediately after facing the longest serving one. In a relatively stable division for managerial upheaval, certainly compared to the Championship, Jackson is only the fifth new appointment in League One this season. After Dean Holden arrived at Charlton, Gary Caldwell at the sixtoes, Warne at the Rams and Dino Maamria’s internal promotion at Burton are the others. By comparison six of twenty Premier league bosses have changed since the beginning of the season, eight in League two (including two at scattergun Crawley Town) and a ridiculous fourteen in the Championship. And that’s before Watford’s hire and fire mayhem really kicks into gear this season.
Jackson’s pedigree as a coach has seen him progress through the age groups at Leeds United and being credited by Jesse Marsch (himself apparently on borrowed time) as having saved United from relegation last season with his input. The reaction from Leeds fans was hugely disappointed not just that he had gone but where he had gone to. They also seemed equally frustrated not only that Jackson had gone (taking a Leeds first team data analyst with him), but also that Marsch had stayed. To date two wins have been counterbalanced by a disappointing defeat at Posh, and so it is early to see what the impact will be.
Certainly, Jackson has a few injuries to deal with and it is expected that he may well return to his former club for loans to bolster his playing options. That said that will come too early to impact his trip to Home Park and so he will be working with what he has inherited.
The one thing we can be certain of is he won’t be signing Morgan Whittaker. If you do hear any rumours to that effect, then just remember that the phrase Cock and Bull story came from the two high street pubs in the next-door village of Stony Stratford. And if the substantially fewer fans that make the journey down, compared to last season, look well-oiled this New Years Day, don’t forget the UK HQ of WD40 is in the Concrete Capital of Bucks.
So having knocked out KFC Wimbledon from the Pizza Cup, it is time to try to extend the lead at the top and heap the pressure on our rivals by doubling up on MKDonalds FC.
COYG!
BREAKING NEWS: TWTD forum hits meltdown about Morgan Whittaker joining Forest after misreading the Radio Times cast list of The Last King of Scotland. Imagine what they will be like when they see he also starred in Green Dragon.
