the_corkscrew":86aqx878 said:
Knibbsworth":86aqx878 said:
I suppose a few fans do wonder that with an average attendance of 10,500, higher than the League One champions Wigan, we can't even afford a decent back up striker to Ryan Taylor. We can't afford to fend off interest for Diagouraga from Fleetwood Town. That summer after summer, good players leave Argyle citing their derisory contract offers.
Your point about paying money for Edwards is laughable. It was a negligible sum and a drop in the ocean compared to the money received for Curtis Nelson, Conor Hourihane (plus sell on clause), playing Liverpool away in front of 50,000 fans and then at home in front of 18,000. Your point about giving Carey a pay rise is daft too. Carey exploded into League Two and showed he was one if not two divisions below his standard, and you really expected him to carry on playing for Argyle on basic League Two wages, or to let our best player go when we could clearly afford more?
I don't dislike Brent to the extent of wanting him out, but DA's managerial talent masks the short comings of how the club is run. The budget Adams was given wasn't even good enough to get into the League Two playoffs, and he nearly won the division with 87 points. The budget Adams was given this season was apparently 16th in League One, which was apt for the relegation battle we found ourselves in. Yet Adams only missed the playoffs due to a squad threadbare of quality. From the way the club is run financially, we deserve to be no different to Cambridge United or Mansfield Town, stuck in League Two usually falling short of the playoffs - it is only the wily old fox in charge that separates us from that fate.
You say Brent kept his nerve on sacking Adams, but I'm quite certain that needing to pay him out of his four year contract was the smelling salts that kept Brent from making that decision. I say that as a poster firmly behind Derek Adams at every stage this season.
If Adams gets poached by a bigger club, some fans might see that our club isn't quite as solid as the league table suggests. It is only a lack of funding that stopped Brent's microstand and giant ice arena and cineplex being built, despite the majority of fans being completely disappointed with it. And thank goodness for that, because the interests of Akkeron were clearly driving that agenda roughshod over the well being of the club and the views of the supporters.
Utter tosh from start to end.
Utter tosh implies I was lying or wrong on every point.
That would mean that:
a) We had a good enough alternative striker to Ryan Taylor this season, and the team's momentum wasn't
completely disrupted by his absence. Not sure the form table supports your view, or the fact we ended the season with an out of position winger in the number 9 role.
b) The our contract offer to Diagouraga was as good as Fleetwood Town's offer.
c) That the money we paid for Ryan Edwards is anywhere near what we received for Curtis Nelson (£280,000), Ben Purrington (£400,000), Jake Jervis (£200,000), the Conor Hourihane sell on clause (£300,000). The only money we have paid other than the tribunal fee for Edwards was £15,000 for Nathan Blissett (not utter tosh!).
d) Graham Carey wasn't an exceptional talent at League Two level and didn't deserve a pay rise. I think the contract offers from Sheffield United and Middlesbrough suggest he was in demand.
e) That DA's four year contract had nothing to do with Argyle not sacking him. Brent sacked Carl Fletcher near Christmas when Argyle were struggling, what's the difference except the four year deal and the financial commitment required?
f) That Argyle wouldn't struggle to stay in the division without Derek Adams and his prudent football management. I genuinely pray we don't have to find out in the coming years.