One Game at a Time: You’re Only Here for the Pasties
Leeds, Leeds, Leeds FA Cup 4th round replay (H) February 6th
In a society based on speed and not wishing to wait for anything it is worth recalling the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, who was clearly an Argyle fan.
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
Never sweeter than at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, on, of course Green Football Weekend. Did Argyle ride their luck? A little, but no more so than other teams who escaped with the spoils against us. The footballing Gods who blessed Morgans left foot would have been smiling as he won the corner, so often the ship-wreck of Argyles goalbound voyages this season, and then, aided by NFL standard blocking by Argyles G-men, Gibson and Galloway, peeled away to meet Forshaws low cross, clipping it into the corner.
Playing the new style gameplan to perfection, Argyle harried and blocked. When the swans did break through, our ever-improving keeper Hazard did not flap. Three excellent saves kept us ahead. At the other end only some wayward finishing prevented the cushion from being made more comfortable.
After ninety-six minutes relief was granted by the referee’s final blast, and the Green Army was able to celebrate an away Championship win for the first time in over five thousand days. Let’s not leave it so long for the next one, shall we? As a depleted Swans army filed away the away end celebrated with their team, led by an excusably excited Ian Foster. The Welsh at least had the consolation of a twenty year plus winning record at home to Scotland in the Rugby to salve their hurt. Oh well. Maybe next year.
The win, cementing Argyles position as the top of the bottom, and leaving them seemingly five wins away from securing the valuable second season at their desired (for now) level added significance to the other games featuring those sides scrambling to escape the gaping maw of relegation, after the drama, or lack of it, of the transfer window.
Of the bottom three only QPR could look back and smile. A win at Blackburn means they kept pace with a resurgent Huddersfield, who crushed their rivals from Yorkshire with a four-goal blitzkrieg in the second half. The Wendies and Rotherham are now starting to look like they could be getting cut adrift. United lost to possession monsters Southampton and are now twelve points and goal difference adrift of safety. The Wendies are only four points closer to the lifeboat, having played a game more. Unless something changes dramatically for these two sides it looks an uphill (literally) struggle from here.
Rangers managed to cling to the Huddersfield coattails defeating Blackburn at home. Rovers seem like a club in turmoil and are for the second season running appearing to have failed to correctly complete the paperwork for a signing. Having agreed a fee for Orlando striker Duncan McGuire, as the player was mid Atlantic, and perhaps as a result of the possibility that the sale of Adam Wharton to Palace might not go through, the deal was scuppered. The player then pitched up ina Sheffield hotel, as fellow suitors Wednesday pretended their chairman was going to spend some money in the window. The Wharton deal went through, as did an unexpected side of Ennis to Stoke, and suddenly the deal was back, albeit now a loan with option to buy.
With manager John Dahl Thomason, as we know a stickler for excellence and harsh critic of clubs that cannot deliver it, found himself silenced for his pre match presser, McGuire failed to make the teamsheet for the visit of the R’s. Post defeat it them emerged that the transfer had not been completed due to inadequate paperwork and is currently being appealed by Rovers through the EFL.
Rumours abound regarding the Venky’s need for cash and unwillingness to spend. Some Rovers fans are speculating that the forms were deliberately left on top of the fax machine, and the club remain locked in discussions with the EFL. Having last January failed to complete the signing of two Forest players through a paperwork error, something at Ewood is “not top class”.
If he does finally gain permission to play, McGuires first game would be the relegation six pointer against the newly installed team in change of the BBC Great Pottery “Go-Down”. Fresh from breaking the hundred-day barrier since their last home win, Stoke held a rampant Leicester to a creditable five goals, whilst at the same time having almost the same amount of shots as Leicester scored goals. Niall Ennis got another good forty-five minutes under his belt and will doubtless be raring to go against his former club. I’d tell him to expect mass booing, always assuming of course that any of the Rovers fans recognise him.
With Birmingham and Millwall also suffering narrow one goal defeats Argyle fans can be forgiven for switching off temporarily for the unexpected replay of their fourth round FA Cup tie against Leeds Leeds, Leeds, currently getting close to the very epitomy of “can we play you every week?’
In a hectic February of seven games in twenty-eight days, at least selection becomes simpler when you have five players missing through being cup-tied, belonging to the opponents and being signed after the deadline for the first game in the case of Lino Sousa. Still the extra week will allow him to work our which way round the complex Argyle first team shirt works, after almost entering the game at Swansea with his shirt the wrong way round. Shades of Don Revie who once played a European tie with the wrong player names on the shirts to try and confuse his opponents.
Leeds, now closing in on the automatic promotion places after their win at Ashton Gate, following Ryan Lowe using up another of his eighteen lives at Preston, in a too close for comfort 3-2 home win, after leading three nil at the interval against Ipswich Unbeatables, have declared the game “Argyle’s cup final” in their manager Daniel Farke’s preview.
However offended we are, in reality, if you look at our history, the FA Cup is not our competition of choice. 1984 looms large in the rear-view mirror, when our only ever trip to a single game away from the premier cup final in the world took place at Villa Park. Ironically if results on Wednesday go the right way we could be back there again if we do defeat the Kingsmill Mighty White All Star XI.
The only other time we have made it past Round 5 it was once again, as in 1984, Watford who stopped us in our tracks, one nil. For once therefore let us hope that Southampton can bore them into submission for the right to lose to Jurgen Klopp’s finale season double side.
The rest of the hundred years plus of FA Cup toils, our trips to the fifth round have been few and far between and not especially glorious. In part that has been since at that time in the competition it tends to be the better sides that are left, so Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and the like are more likely to win in any case. Even in 1952/3 when Argyle, then, as now, a second-tier side, drew Division 3 North side Gateshead at home, Wembley dreams became an Ian “Winters of Discontent” when the Tyneside forward headed the only goal of a lacklustre game to take them through to a tie with Bolton. Just imagine, if Argyle had won then the Matthews Cup Final could have potentially been a completely different script.
If Argyle have no particular FA Cup pedigree, we do at least have a small grip on the Westcountries only FA Cup hero to date. Cornwall is not a hot bed of soccer, partly through it being a Rugby County and partly through its lack of a league side. It has produced a few league players though and none with a better FA Cup tale to tell than Mike Trebilcock.
Born in Gunnislake , the young forward scored twenty seven goals in just over seventy games for Argyle, and earned a move to Everton. There he was primarily a reserve but as Everton progressed to the FA Cup final of 1966, he found himself surprisingly preferred to England centre forward Fred Pickering for the final against Sheffield Wednesday. Everton trailed the Owls by two goals until the lively Trebilcock scored twice to pull the Toffees level. Derek Temple scored the late winner. Trebilcock only managed eleven appearances for Everton, and only one other goal before departing to Pompey and eventually to Australia. He was the first player of colour to score in an FA Cup final, and the pronunciation of his surname was carefully managed by the BBC to avoid the potential offence of his final syllable.
One wonders therefore what the BBC would have done for Jack Cock, another Cornishman, a prolific scorer in the pre Second World War years. One of three footballing brothers, he was capped twice for England, scoring in both games (the first on debut after less than thirty seconds) and finished his career with two hundred and thirty-four goals in just under four hundred matches. He later appeared in films and on the music hall stage before managing Millwall, his final club. Not bad for a man declared missing presumed dead during the First World War.
Two other players have links to Cornwall and Leeds United. One is of course Nigel Martyn, the young keeper apparently discovered by the Bristol Rovers tea lady when on holiday and signed under the noses of Argyle for the Gas. He later became the first million-pound goalkeeper when signing for Crystal Palace, and then signed for Leeds where he was very successful until leaving for Everton after the emergence of Paul Robinson.
The other Cornishman to play for Leeds United was….not Paul Madeley, but Jason Blunt, who played four times for Leeds in the nineties before heading off into non-League and then coaching, arriving back at Elland Road to work with several United managers.
Madeley did have a connection with Cornwall as he and his brothers owned a DIY chain that had a branch in Bodmin. The brothers eventually sold the chain to Do It All, for a then very tidy twenty-seven million pounds (or one and a half Morgan Whittakers). Madeley was the man who in effect created the concept of the utility player, playing in every shirt number for Leeds United from 2-12, but sadly never having to take over in goal.
Nicknamed the “Eleven Pauls” in their cup final song of 1972 Madeley also made 24 appearances for England as well as over five hundred appearances for United, his only league club. Passing in 2018, he only ever wanted to play for Leeds, and according to Jimmy Armfield, his then manager, once signed a blank piece of paper as a contract, telling the bemused manager that he could fill it in as he just wanted to play for Leeds.
I wonder if that would work for Morgan?
Leeds will make their epic voyage to the depths of the Westcountry, presumably with some of their multi-million-pound signing carefully cotton wool wrapped against the damage they could suffer.
Argyle will have a relatively full-strength side out, principally as that is all they will have available. The fifth round is potentially in sight. Who knows, we might even have a shot at going beyond that without having to play Watford again.
The BBC have arrived, but Neil has headed to Aberdeen, so goodness knows who will be forced to pretend they know anything about our squad for the cameras.
We are up for the cup. And for once it isn’t the Devon Bowl.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leeds, Leeds, Leeds FA Cup 4th round replay (H) February 6th
In a society based on speed and not wishing to wait for anything it is worth recalling the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, who was clearly an Argyle fan.
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
Never sweeter than at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, on, of course Green Football Weekend. Did Argyle ride their luck? A little, but no more so than other teams who escaped with the spoils against us. The footballing Gods who blessed Morgans left foot would have been smiling as he won the corner, so often the ship-wreck of Argyles goalbound voyages this season, and then, aided by NFL standard blocking by Argyles G-men, Gibson and Galloway, peeled away to meet Forshaws low cross, clipping it into the corner.
Playing the new style gameplan to perfection, Argyle harried and blocked. When the swans did break through, our ever-improving keeper Hazard did not flap. Three excellent saves kept us ahead. At the other end only some wayward finishing prevented the cushion from being made more comfortable.
After ninety-six minutes relief was granted by the referee’s final blast, and the Green Army was able to celebrate an away Championship win for the first time in over five thousand days. Let’s not leave it so long for the next one, shall we? As a depleted Swans army filed away the away end celebrated with their team, led by an excusably excited Ian Foster. The Welsh at least had the consolation of a twenty year plus winning record at home to Scotland in the Rugby to salve their hurt. Oh well. Maybe next year.
The win, cementing Argyles position as the top of the bottom, and leaving them seemingly five wins away from securing the valuable second season at their desired (for now) level added significance to the other games featuring those sides scrambling to escape the gaping maw of relegation, after the drama, or lack of it, of the transfer window.
Of the bottom three only QPR could look back and smile. A win at Blackburn means they kept pace with a resurgent Huddersfield, who crushed their rivals from Yorkshire with a four-goal blitzkrieg in the second half. The Wendies and Rotherham are now starting to look like they could be getting cut adrift. United lost to possession monsters Southampton and are now twelve points and goal difference adrift of safety. The Wendies are only four points closer to the lifeboat, having played a game more. Unless something changes dramatically for these two sides it looks an uphill (literally) struggle from here.
Rangers managed to cling to the Huddersfield coattails defeating Blackburn at home. Rovers seem like a club in turmoil and are for the second season running appearing to have failed to correctly complete the paperwork for a signing. Having agreed a fee for Orlando striker Duncan McGuire, as the player was mid Atlantic, and perhaps as a result of the possibility that the sale of Adam Wharton to Palace might not go through, the deal was scuppered. The player then pitched up ina Sheffield hotel, as fellow suitors Wednesday pretended their chairman was going to spend some money in the window. The Wharton deal went through, as did an unexpected side of Ennis to Stoke, and suddenly the deal was back, albeit now a loan with option to buy.
With manager John Dahl Thomason, as we know a stickler for excellence and harsh critic of clubs that cannot deliver it, found himself silenced for his pre match presser, McGuire failed to make the teamsheet for the visit of the R’s. Post defeat it them emerged that the transfer had not been completed due to inadequate paperwork and is currently being appealed by Rovers through the EFL.
Rumours abound regarding the Venky’s need for cash and unwillingness to spend. Some Rovers fans are speculating that the forms were deliberately left on top of the fax machine, and the club remain locked in discussions with the EFL. Having last January failed to complete the signing of two Forest players through a paperwork error, something at Ewood is “not top class”.
If he does finally gain permission to play, McGuires first game would be the relegation six pointer against the newly installed team in change of the BBC Great Pottery “Go-Down”. Fresh from breaking the hundred-day barrier since their last home win, Stoke held a rampant Leicester to a creditable five goals, whilst at the same time having almost the same amount of shots as Leicester scored goals. Niall Ennis got another good forty-five minutes under his belt and will doubtless be raring to go against his former club. I’d tell him to expect mass booing, always assuming of course that any of the Rovers fans recognise him.
With Birmingham and Millwall also suffering narrow one goal defeats Argyle fans can be forgiven for switching off temporarily for the unexpected replay of their fourth round FA Cup tie against Leeds Leeds, Leeds, currently getting close to the very epitomy of “can we play you every week?’
In a hectic February of seven games in twenty-eight days, at least selection becomes simpler when you have five players missing through being cup-tied, belonging to the opponents and being signed after the deadline for the first game in the case of Lino Sousa. Still the extra week will allow him to work our which way round the complex Argyle first team shirt works, after almost entering the game at Swansea with his shirt the wrong way round. Shades of Don Revie who once played a European tie with the wrong player names on the shirts to try and confuse his opponents.
Leeds, now closing in on the automatic promotion places after their win at Ashton Gate, following Ryan Lowe using up another of his eighteen lives at Preston, in a too close for comfort 3-2 home win, after leading three nil at the interval against Ipswich Unbeatables, have declared the game “Argyle’s cup final” in their manager Daniel Farke’s preview.
However offended we are, in reality, if you look at our history, the FA Cup is not our competition of choice. 1984 looms large in the rear-view mirror, when our only ever trip to a single game away from the premier cup final in the world took place at Villa Park. Ironically if results on Wednesday go the right way we could be back there again if we do defeat the Kingsmill Mighty White All Star XI.
The only other time we have made it past Round 5 it was once again, as in 1984, Watford who stopped us in our tracks, one nil. For once therefore let us hope that Southampton can bore them into submission for the right to lose to Jurgen Klopp’s finale season double side.
The rest of the hundred years plus of FA Cup toils, our trips to the fifth round have been few and far between and not especially glorious. In part that has been since at that time in the competition it tends to be the better sides that are left, so Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and the like are more likely to win in any case. Even in 1952/3 when Argyle, then, as now, a second-tier side, drew Division 3 North side Gateshead at home, Wembley dreams became an Ian “Winters of Discontent” when the Tyneside forward headed the only goal of a lacklustre game to take them through to a tie with Bolton. Just imagine, if Argyle had won then the Matthews Cup Final could have potentially been a completely different script.
If Argyle have no particular FA Cup pedigree, we do at least have a small grip on the Westcountries only FA Cup hero to date. Cornwall is not a hot bed of soccer, partly through it being a Rugby County and partly through its lack of a league side. It has produced a few league players though and none with a better FA Cup tale to tell than Mike Trebilcock.
Born in Gunnislake , the young forward scored twenty seven goals in just over seventy games for Argyle, and earned a move to Everton. There he was primarily a reserve but as Everton progressed to the FA Cup final of 1966, he found himself surprisingly preferred to England centre forward Fred Pickering for the final against Sheffield Wednesday. Everton trailed the Owls by two goals until the lively Trebilcock scored twice to pull the Toffees level. Derek Temple scored the late winner. Trebilcock only managed eleven appearances for Everton, and only one other goal before departing to Pompey and eventually to Australia. He was the first player of colour to score in an FA Cup final, and the pronunciation of his surname was carefully managed by the BBC to avoid the potential offence of his final syllable.
One wonders therefore what the BBC would have done for Jack Cock, another Cornishman, a prolific scorer in the pre Second World War years. One of three footballing brothers, he was capped twice for England, scoring in both games (the first on debut after less than thirty seconds) and finished his career with two hundred and thirty-four goals in just under four hundred matches. He later appeared in films and on the music hall stage before managing Millwall, his final club. Not bad for a man declared missing presumed dead during the First World War.
Two other players have links to Cornwall and Leeds United. One is of course Nigel Martyn, the young keeper apparently discovered by the Bristol Rovers tea lady when on holiday and signed under the noses of Argyle for the Gas. He later became the first million-pound goalkeeper when signing for Crystal Palace, and then signed for Leeds where he was very successful until leaving for Everton after the emergence of Paul Robinson.
The other Cornishman to play for Leeds United was….not Paul Madeley, but Jason Blunt, who played four times for Leeds in the nineties before heading off into non-League and then coaching, arriving back at Elland Road to work with several United managers.
Madeley did have a connection with Cornwall as he and his brothers owned a DIY chain that had a branch in Bodmin. The brothers eventually sold the chain to Do It All, for a then very tidy twenty-seven million pounds (or one and a half Morgan Whittakers). Madeley was the man who in effect created the concept of the utility player, playing in every shirt number for Leeds United from 2-12, but sadly never having to take over in goal.
Nicknamed the “Eleven Pauls” in their cup final song of 1972 Madeley also made 24 appearances for England as well as over five hundred appearances for United, his only league club. Passing in 2018, he only ever wanted to play for Leeds, and according to Jimmy Armfield, his then manager, once signed a blank piece of paper as a contract, telling the bemused manager that he could fill it in as he just wanted to play for Leeds.
I wonder if that would work for Morgan?
Leeds will make their epic voyage to the depths of the Westcountry, presumably with some of their multi-million-pound signing carefully cotton wool wrapped against the damage they could suffer.
Argyle will have a relatively full-strength side out, principally as that is all they will have available. The fifth round is potentially in sight. Who knows, we might even have a shot at going beyond that without having to play Watford again.
The BBC have arrived, but Neil has headed to Aberdeen, so goodness knows who will be forced to pretend they know anything about our squad for the cameras.
We are up for the cup. And for once it isn’t the Devon Bowl.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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