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Brief Synopsis

Kevin Gollop

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Sep 24, 2003
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Nothing again in the Lower Mayflower. Straight in after a cursory glance. Saying that I haven’t got a man bag. Just Argyle top with a pair of golf shorts. No room for an AK47!
I was wearing shorts and t-shirt and had no bag but was still searched on entry to the Lyndhurst. Had to empty pockets onto a table and then be searched at close quarters by a maskless steward. Bizarre during normal times and truly baffling in the current situation
 
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davie nine

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The squad is now taking shape but still lacks pace and composure.
Impressed with Wilson and Scarr.
I would like to see Randell and Houghton in the team. These 2 together should improve our composure in midfield.
If we are to play 3 atb then I would like to see Gillesphey as the 3rd cb and Galloway as the lwb as he seems to have a bit of pace.
Mayor could have a ‘floating’ and more advanced role with Hardie and Ennis ahead of him.
Hardie has the pace but really does need to work on his composure.
May be a bit unfair on Grant as he will certainly be pressing for a starting position.
 
Aug 15, 2015
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you’ve got to remember we’ve just played 2 excellent teams, your average league 1 team won’t be as good so we’ll certainly have more of the ball and have more attacks in League 1 I’m sure.
Yes, I was aware of that and was going to mention that in my post. But, I think the point still stands.

Even last season we talked about Jephcott's barren patch and Hardie drying up compared to the season before. When you watch the game though, you realise that they don't get many chances. Jephcott would score goals when players with pace like Hardie and Ennis broke (think Charlton & Portsmouth away) and beat a man, to then pull the ball back. That or, someone planting a cross onto his head or Jephcott reacting to a midfielder's shot coming back off of the keeper etc. Or, I'm thinking Fleetwood away when Nouble delivered a cross right to Jephcott who volleyed home. None of this stuff is happening much (if at all?), albeit we have played two games against higher opposition. I guess what I'm trying to allude to is that, we need another creative player in the mix there as Mayor is not providing any of this.

It's very much carrying off from last season in League 1, where we only scored 53 in 46, an average of 1.15 a game. If you take away the 4 goals at home to Lincoln and the 4 at home to Swindon, it's 45 goals in 44 games. George Cooper clearly isn't going to be ready just yet, which is a shame as he would bring something different to the table and be more direct in terms of hitting some of those crosses for our forwards as well as pinging some shots off. But otherwise, I feel the forwards don't really get as much as they should do. Who is going to create the goals? Conor Grant every time?
 
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Adam

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Interesting to read that Houghton is already splitting opinions.

I did say in the overview that’s he’s going to be the most exciting and the frustrating player for us this season. He’s got the talent.

I really do hope he finds consistency early in the season because I think he can be a key player this season.
 

IJN

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Nov 29, 2012
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I was wearing shorts and t-shirt and had no bag but was still searched on entry to the Lyndhurst. Had to empty pockets onto a table and then be searched at close quarters by a maskless steward. Bizarre during normal times and truly baffling in the current situation
That should be taken up with the CEO mate. Definitely not on. Stewards should be wearing masks surely?

As for the table top security, bizarre!
 

Emu

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Interesting to read that Houghton is already splitting opinions.

I did say in the overview that’s he’s going to be the most exciting and the frustrating player for us this season. He’s got the talent.

I really do hope he finds consistency early in the season because I think he can be a key player this season.
I thought all in all Houghton had a decent game. Definitely a step up from the players we saw in that position last season.
 
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Argylegames

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Last night I thought Mayor, Hardie, and particularly Jephcott were off the pace. On at least two occasions Jephcott was too slow of either thought or action when he had the chance to score. I thought Gillesphey did a better job than Galloway but in general the defence that started last night was so much better than last season.
 
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It seems no George Cooper no great opportunities for the strikers, work out the timing of Jephcotts goal collapse last season.
 

IJN

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Last night I thought Mayor, Hardie, and particularly Jephcott were off the pace. On at least two occasions Jephcott was too slow of either thought or action when he had the chance to score. I thought Gillesphey did a better job than Galloway but in general the defence that started last night was so much better than last season.
I thought Luke had a really good game from a work point of view. He played well for the team.

He was slow on the uptake on one chance he had but had a great crack at a curler from distance which I thought showed what a natural striker he is.

Agree about DM but Hardie didn’t really have enough time to impress.
 
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PL2 3DQ

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It's a myth that Cooper's absence from December coincided with Jephcott's lack of goals last season because after Cooper was injured Jephcott scored another 8 goals.
I think Jephcott just burned out after February in what was his first full season.
 
Jul 28, 2020
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Congratulations to those involved. I really enjoyed watching the game on Argyle TV, last night. A good product and great alternative, for those who are unable to get to the game. Free access to pre- season games was good marketing.

I think we have a useful squad for league 1- but 4 good players short of a play- off challenge at the moment, in my opinion. We’re probably looking at a 14th or 15th place finish at this time, I’d say.

The defence looks excellent, in my opinion. How ironic, with the team imploding the way it did for the last 1/3rd of the previous season- but I really think the defence may now be the team’s key strength area.

Having said that I do think we’re going to need better linkage between defence and midfield- in order to accommodate the flair that we’re currently lacking ( in order to support Danny Mayor) in our midfield. In due course that’s going to mean recruiting in players with the versatility to be comfortable in defence and midfield.

Ennis has been excellent, but I’d love us to get a big mobile target man- to keep the defenders busy. That would allow Niall the licence to play right across the front line. He could do a lot of damage for us in that role, I feel.
Some sloppiness from Houghton, Camara and Mayor with their passing last night- which put us in trouble at times. But why these friendlies are useful- as learning exercises.

I’m not convinced yet that Randall and Law will thrive in the hurly burley of league 1 action. There’s plenty to come from these two- but Lowe may face a dilemma in the future. Would it be better to came them on the bench, or continue their development with further loan spells ?

Michael Cooper continues to impress- and I’m quite sure that he’s now on the radar of clubs in the championship ( and much higher). There could be a difficult decision later this season, for Ryan Lowe, if a sizeable bid comes in, from one of the big-boys.

There are certainly some dilemmas ahead for Lowe and Hallett. We’re really not that far off, I feel. Is it fanciful to say we might be as few as 8 good players from being competitive, in the championship ? I’m not sure.

Sourcing the players needed for the club to continue its upward trajectory is going to be a very difficult challenge. Dan Scarr are the types that Argyle could be targeting.



The wages in the championship and above have gone so crazy- that this is an issue in itself. If we’re going to target young players that’s another challenge- inspire of the success of recruiting Ennis and Connor Grant it’s ever so easy to end up with players that are not going to be good enough, as we’ve seen in recent seasons.

I would think it might be better to source players with potential and some experience under their belts, from league 2 and the non- league circuit- and then to develop these players in our team.
 
May 17, 2012
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Has there been any explanation from the club regarding this over the top security?

In my 54 years of supporting Argyle we've never had this before.

Is it just the Lyndhurst or are people in the Devonport & Mayflower being treated similarly?

What about the prawn sandwich brigade?

Treating law abiding citizens like criminals won't win any friends.
Stewards working at a ground have no legal or statutory power to search any person without that person‘s express consent. I assume that PAFC have made it a condition of entry , and that if you refuse you can be denied entry. IF that is the case, PAFC have a duty to make this clear to supporters - this behaviour and approach belies all the ‘fan friendly’ rhetoric that we hear from the club.
 
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May 17, 2012
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Well it was a treat to be back at HP.

We do look solid at the back. However, we have to be honest. After conceding 80 league goals we were always going to be more impressed.

We scored direct from a corner. That surely has to be a positive.

I do believe we can link the ball up better from defence to Houghton. And from here build a better foundation to start from. I also believe after watching Ennis tonight we have a brilliant, back to play, forward in Ennis. At times he is absolutely outstanding.

I couldn’t get a handle on what it is though we are missing, until tonight. In the final third we are ponderous and slow. Countless times in the first half Grant gets down the touchline into space. Stops. Goes backwards. You see a Middlesbrough wide player knock the ball forward and be direct. Why? Because they have pace to exploit the gaps. Their first goal is made by a player who uses his pace to get to the byline and crosses it back. The reason people love Mayor is that even though his end product is not good he can exploit the space out wide. Our wing backs simply aren’t quick enough to exploit the space on the wing. Countless times we get to a good position and waste it. So many times instead of trying to get to the byline it gets recycled across the pitch 25-30 yards out.

The other issue is composure. We get to the penalty box and we simply don’t have that player to make the right decision, at the right time on the edge of the area. It’s all nice and solid but when it gets to the business end there you watch the different Argyle players simply not sure what to do. By the time we make a decision the opposition are too well organised.

If people tell me it’s a PSF, then fine. Or that’s it a new team, then fine. However, it’s the same central midfield, the same forwards and the same wing backs as last season. If people want to tell me it’s championship opposition then that’s fine too. Maybe lm being way too harsh.

However, it’s the same issues in terms of attacking play as last season. For me we simply can‘t hurt teams enough from wide positions with this personnel, playing this system.

The other thing that was noticeable was the defence trying to play it into the midfield and Middlesbrough, creating their best chances time after time in that second half, picking off some really badly chosen passes. Where have we seen this before?

I just felt we are seeing a better organised defence playing pretty football but with a lack of penetration. I really can’t recall the Middlesbrough keeper doing anything but for our goal from the corner.

Just a little thing about the mask wearing. It’s seemed so few people wearing masks. Plymouth Covid-19 rate is rising. You can’t really complain if we have another lockdown come the autumn which I suspect we might. Yet people’s mindset seems to be its all behind us.
“However, it’s the same central midfield, the same forwards and the same wing backs as last season. If people want to tell me it’s championship opposition then that’s fine too. Maybe lm being way too harsh.”
Agree with this - this looked like a carbon copy of the approach from last season but with more solid defenders. We still lack a commanding midfield and have no width for our forwards who get no service during the game at all. Mayor remains a wasted talent and Ennis must think he’s in training for the 400m the amount of fruitless runs he makes that noone sees. Maybe the next couple of signings will plug these persistent gaps but for me it’s about structure not just personnel. Here’s hoping ….
 
May 17, 2012
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It's brilliant to hear people's accounts of being back in the stadium, and watching online you could feel there was a bit of an atmosphere there.

But I thought the football was unbelievably tedious, and being brutally honest, not untypical of how we often play under the current manager. Pretty much no chances created, nobody taking players on, attacking at snail's pace with hardly any players committed forward. We put the occasional slick passing move together, but always in our own half and it always ends up with someone checking backwards because they don't have runners in front of them.

I quite like Lowe and the results over the past couple of years have been ok. I just find the pretence that he plays entertaining, attacking football extremely weird. I think it's going to be similarly slow and cautious this season (though with better defenders it will hopefully yield better results)
Agree - bizarre we have a song for the manager but not for our players 🤪
 

FourMarkGreen

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May 25, 2016
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Stewards working at a ground have no legal or statutory power to search any person without that person‘s express consent. I assume that PAFC have made it a condition of entry , and that if you refuse you can be denied entry. IF that is the case, PAFC have a duty to make this clear to supporters - this behaviour and approach belies all the ‘fan friendly’ rhetoric that we hear from the club.
I wasn't at either the Swansea or Boro games so can't comment first hand. But when Argyle seem to be getting most things right in the area of openness, communication etc, this seems to be an own goal just staring the club in the face. It will p*ss supporters off for no good reason if it continues and put some people off coming.

I've been supporting Argyle since 1974 and if I was asked to undergo a search without notice or good reason, in front of others, by a maskless steward, I would refuse. Even worse, male stewards searching female supporters. We are paying customers, don't forget.

If there's been a change of policy in an area that directly impacting supporters, let us know and explain why. If it's just security training for stewards using the small crowds of two psfs, just let us know. Silence from the club leading to speculation like this on social media is not on.