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Brief Synopsis

PL2 3DQ

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🏆 Callum Wright 23/24
Jade Berrow 23/24
✨Pasoti Donor✨
🌟Sparksy Mural🌟
Oct 31, 2010
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Argyle 1 - 2 Swansea.
Hardie 47.
Attn: 3,391.

A very enjoyable evening and soooooo good to be back at Home Park. Great mutual appreciation between players and fans throughout the game, particularly during the warm up and after the match.

There were very tight airport-style security checks to get into the Lyndhurst - empty all contents of your pockets onto a table outside the turnstiles and then a security wand around your body which is fair enough but will cause long queues in a crowd of 10,000+ at league games.

In the blistering heat we started well, Edwards put in a superb cross for Ennis but he headed down from 6 yards and the ball bounced over. It was a glaring miss.
Hardie also missed two good chances, his pace and strong running unsettled the Swansea defence.
Scarr had a free header that missed the target.

We pressed very high which is a new tactic, Hardie and Ennis pushed right up against the Swansea defenders and Mayor and Grant pressed up right behind them and it worked a few times and we won the ball started an attack. The problem is when Swansea did beat the press with a ball through the middle they were suddenly running through the space at Randell and the back 3.

As the half wore on our good start faded and Swansea controlled the game, taking the lead with a long range shot after Mayor lost possession and adding a second soon after.

The second half was a lot better. We didn't press and leave gaps, Hardie and Ennis dropped deeper and we had bodies in midfield. The high press might be better used against League One teams.

Hardie grabbed his deserved goal when he placed a close range shot past the Swansea keeper after a low cross from Grant.

Law at left wing-back was having a storming second half after an indifferent first period.
He ignored Mayor on the over lap several times and on one such occasion he cut inside and sent a right footed curling shot crashing against the post. That would have been a fantastic goal!

The new slim line Jephcott had a shot well saved following a flowing move.

We played some good football at times, triangles - pass and move.
It helps having the security of three men instead of boys as the back three. It allows the team to attack with confidence.

A raft of substitutions unsettled the game and I guess both teams were happy with the work out.

We didn't get hammered by a team who were fighting to get into the Premier League last season. At one stage late in the first half it looked like it could have been 4 or 5 Swansea goals but Lowe's change in tactics for the second half helped us in midfield.

Randell was good on the ball, he sure can pick a pass but his lack of physical presence might hinder him in the hurly burly of League One.

Law was impressive in the second half, we do lack left wing-backs so he's likely to start against Rotherham.

Scarr is the second coming of Sonny Bradley, the vocal leader at the back we really needed last season. Wilson, Scarr and Galloway were communicating with each other constantly.
Still no Bolton.
Cooper played the whole game so I'd expect Burton to play 90 minutes against Middlesbrough.

It's only a friendly and not too much can be read into it but like a lot of teams last season Swansea exploited the space behind our wing-backs which pulls our left and right centre-backs out of position. It's just the natural downside of our formation.

A nice minute's applause before the game in honour of Paul Mariner and Peter Hall.

The mask wearing was respectful and the majority removed their masks once sat down.

Our kit would look so much better with white shorts.

Swansea fans spent most of the game mocking England losing in Euro 2020!
 
Last edited:
Mar 15, 2007
5,191
3,276
Plymouth
Enjoyed that mostly. Thought there were good performances, but also some clear signs we are still getting used to new combinations. I thought defensively we looked a lot more assured, barring a 10 minute spell in the first half where we looked a bit ragged. Law's work rate matched Edwards on the opposite flank, but I do think he was too enthusiastic at times and left space behind. Clear issues between him and Galloway in respect of who was responsible for that left channel. Again though, there are bound to be teething issues at this stage. Given what we had heard about Scarr & Wilson in terms of their ball-playing ability, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought both were solid on the ball and moved it fairly well. A few too many hoofs into the channel for my liking, but that was clearly a tactical decision.

The main negative for me tonight was the midfield in that first half. Mayor did what Mayor does, lots of driving, mazy runs but after impressing for 20 minutes he faded and was never really involved beyond that. Conor Grant was largely a passenger in the first half, but did improve in the second. I think he is better as a LWB. Randall started really brightly, but lost control (as did the whole midfield) as Swansea upped the tempo. I thought he looked a bit out of his depth towards the end of the half. However, after the break he was superb. Has a good eye for a pass, looks to pass forward and has a good positional awareness. I feel really positive about his prospects this year. We improved massively in this area after Panutche Camara came on. He really is great. A real livewire, bags of energy and his final ball tonight was much improved.

Up front Hardie worked very hard and his pace caused problems. Ennis went missing for large periods, but when involved really showed his quality. Second half he improved a lot. Jephcott looks fitter, but his first touch let him down when the chance came his way.

I still think we pump it long into the channels too often and we need to work on playing through the middle better. Overall though a really pleasing performance for this stage of pre-season against good opposition. Was delighted to actually see us improve in the second half! Forgot what that felt like!!
 

Cobi Budge

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Apr 8, 2011
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Tonight just reaffirmed why I love watching Panutche. Raw and not technically perfect but constantly positive, full of energy, always looking to break lines. His introduction also brought Randell to life and that's when we started to take control in the middle.
 

Cobi Budge

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Apr 8, 2011
13,427
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Plymouth
I don't think we should downplay the fact that had we just been a little sharper in the final third tonight we'd have comfortably beaten a very good Championship side. I've seen a few people saying "we did enough to get a draw" - I thought we did enough to win by 3 or 4.
 
Jan 16, 2010
12,975
1,682
plymouth
superb entertainment and what a relief to be back at our club.very impressed with our tactics tonight.ryan hardie man of the match.i predict automatic promotion.
:)
 

davie nine

R.I.P
Jan 23, 2015
7,785
347
77
Plympton
Randell.
A very tidy performance all game, in my opinion. Excellent passing accuracy including going forward.
He is much stronger than 2 years ago and I don’t agree that he is lightweight.
Good balance, quick and composed.
We have a top midfielder in the making and he’s ‘one of our own’.
 
Aug 15, 2015
962
162
Lots of positives. Surprised by how good Dan Scarr was alongside an equally dependable looking player in Wilson. Saying that, they weren't really tested. Yet, I thought Scarr looked excellent. Absolute monster in the air and a composure when in possession, which I didn't expect based on comments from Walsall fans. As per a previous comment I've seen on here, he's like a right footed Sonny Bradley.

Edwards was fantastic in creating several chances early on. Galloway is clearly a decent player although he still looks like he's trying to work out his role and get used to the team. Hopefully we sign him up.

Loved seeing Randell & Law. First time I've seen Law and I haven't seen enough yet because in patches I was wandering if he was ready for this standard, but his second half performance was terrific. He's very skillful and very quick to start a move from out wide. Certainly, he looks very crafty and clever going forward. I'm intrigued to see how he fares defensively as I thought on a couple of occasions he got drawn to the ball and left his man out wide in acres of space. Looked a tad naive/raw. Randell an upgrade on Fornah in that he moves the ball forward. Clearly, this was not an instruction by Lowe to Fornah as per what some on here said before (to keep the ball ticking side to side). Randell is a proper footballer.

Mayor was Mayor, flattered to deceive and lost possession for the goal. I want to say the same about Hardie when it comes to sharpness in front of goal, but he did score a goal (one he couldn't miss).

Looking at that side I feel that we need a player who will run at the opposition, a Ruben Lamieras or an Ousmane Dembele type player. A dribbler, someone off the cuff who will beat a man and shoot or cross. He might just be a substitute, but I think we need that magic card. A bright young Prem loanee maybe? I also think we need an older head uptop to gives us a 4th option uptop & perhaps someone who is a target man. Glenn Murray would have been perfect. Potentially another midfield player? Although Houghton is still to come in and Randell is clearly ready to be a back-up. Otherwise, that team is better than last season for me. Lacking some squad depth which is most definitely a worry however.
 
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Jun 16, 2021
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Randall is a decent prospect and back up but I fear for the lad unless he bulks up which I guess he could as he is probabky still growing. Seasoned pros in lge 1 will brush him aside and boss the game IMHO.
Tonights game was a friendly where he got time and space and TBH I think Swansea never got onto 2nd gear even.
Throw him into the lions den of a competitive lge 1 game and thats when he will be exposed.
Early days but for me he still needs time to develop and needs to be managed carefully.
I would of preferred he benefitted from another loan at Torquay again this season.
Jephcott got off ti a great start last season and was hailed as a wonder kid and look how bad his performances dropped off which still seems to be the case again now.
Don't want to knock are kids but we have to be realistic with our expectations and not build them up for the inevitable fall that follows
 
Sep 22, 2020
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350
looked much better at the back.

we improved when jephcott and camara came on.

Hardie so frustrating as despite his speed and effort he is poor in front of goal. Yes he scored but he had several chances which were powder puff efforts
 

Cobi Budge

Auction Winner 👨‍⚖️
Apr 8, 2011
13,427
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Plymouth
Randall is a decent prospect and back up but I fear for the lad unless he bulks up which I guess he could as he is probabky still growing. Seasoned pros in lge 1 will brush him aside and boss the game IMHO.
Tonights game was a friendly where he got time and space and TBH I think Swansea never got onto 2nd gear even.
Throw him into the lions den of a competitive lge 1 game and thats when he will be exposed.
Early days but for me he still needs time to develop and needs to be managed carefully.
I would of preferred he benefitted from another loan at Torquay again this season.
Jephcott got off ti a great start last season and was hailed as a wonder kid and look how bad his performances dropped off which still seems to be the case again now.
Don't want to knock are kids but we have to be realistic with our expectations and not build them up for the inevitable fall that follows

I think it's slightly harsh on us to say that Swansea didn't get into 2nd gear. We created a lot of clear cut opportunities, not getting into second gear to me would suggest they were comfortable, they definitely weren't.
 
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Darren Stoneman

Guest
The thing with PSF is that you don’t get a true reflection of the team or players, it is about fitness and trying new things and for me it is about entertainment and I was entertained, the players looked fit and the back three all seemed good with the ball, great to see youngsters on at the end, a real boost for their morale and development

the only downside for me was the appalling coffee in the mayflower, how can we get this so wrong £2.50 for some instant Kenco and small pots of white water, this was the worst coffee I have ever tasted ! Would it be too much to ask for a milk dispenser with UHT milk akin to what you see in IKEA so at least you can make the coffee palatable ! I am happy to pay £2.50 but not for a pale imitation. (I must be getting old!)