Don’t get too high and don’t get too low

[Wingco]

When was the last time Hardie scored ? We rely on a breakaway & he is usually isolated up front , he needs more support , more players need to get in the box , mid field needs strengthening to give forwards more service .
We have gone back to the old squad , don,t we trust the new boys any more ,or are they not good enough ?

 

[NorwichGreen]

A good time to remember this I think, especially after last Friday and with the current league table looking OK.

Bad days at the office happen all the time in football, it’s rubbish but I find it astonishing player’s bottle being called into question.

Two more games to go, and you can guarantee they will be different to today and different to the Leicester game.

Absolutetly this! By all accounts we were appalling today, but we know the squad we have at the moment is bottom end of the championship. Why are people surprised? When was the last time we actually played a team off the park and deserved a win? Middlesborough away, which was a long time ago now. We just need to limp over the line. Most teams in the mix have improved massively since the January transfer window, whereas we have not, hence why we seem to have reverted back to the old guard. We just need to negotiate the last couple of games and keep our heads above the dotted line...THEN we can rebuild over summer, get a new manager through the door early and give them time to build a team worthy of the championship.
My word, if we hadn't beaten Leicester we would be in serious trouble. As it is, I have a feeling we won't need any more points (just as well!). But having said that, I fully expect Argyle to respond at Millwall with a good performance - we often bounce back after a VERY poor showing.
I for one am looking forward to this summer away from football as the last 2-3 years have been a roller coaster of emotions. Mind you, then we will have the whole England debacle again no doubt!!
Keep the faith.
We can still pull this off.

 

[Rush Goalie]

I just can't see where a goal is coming from, at the moment. We have absolutely nothing going forward. Two 0-0s is the best we can hope for in my view.

0-0 at The Den would do it. Take that now, cheers

 

[GreenEden]

If the opponent was not managed by the man who got us promoted the emotions maybe less heightened
Today showed the gulf in playing personnel
Finger pointing does not change the result & sometimes you have to say the opponent had more all over the pitch

I agree but how come every other opponent in the league have made these look average our star player needs to look in the mirror is he doing enough off the ball to make his own luck? Tbh a new manager looking in would see a total renovation job I'm not sure who is actually championship standard in that team

 

[demportdave]

Everyone keeps banging on about the budget because it's highly relevant.

So why don't we adopt tactics that are more pragmatic and in line with our budgetary limitations and the players we sign?

Every game, we set up with 3 forwards and only 2 in central midfield in the hope that we can outscore Championship clubs like we did in League 1 last season.

That would be all well and good if we had the budget to sign top quality Championship players to play such an open and expansive style, but we don't.

 

[Balham Green]

Everyone keeps banging on about the budget because it's highly relevant.

So why don't we adopt tactics that are more pragmatic and in line with our budgetary limitations and the players we sign?

Every game, we set up with 3 forwards and only 2 in central midfield in the hope that we can outscore Championship clubs like we did in League 1 last season.

That would be all well and good if we had the budget to sign top quality Championship players to play such an open and expansive style, but we don't.

Yep need to get hold of Midfield first. If we had approached today like Leicester game and sat back, kept it tight, played on the break we may have got something.

 

[MGM]

A good time to remember this I think, especially after last Friday and with the current league table looking OK.

Bad days at the office happen all the time in football, it’s rubbish but I find it astonishing player’s bottle being called into question.

Two more games to go, and you can guarantee they will be different to today and different to the Leicester game.

The question you have to ask yourself is the following.

When we got 7 points from the last 3 games did you see a great deal of effort, & commitment from our team. I would say yes, in bucketloads.

So why is it after a flipping defeat that mentality is then questioned just because we lost. Why is it people rather question this than say we might not have the quality in key areas.

Like you, l find it astonishing people talking about the players 'bottle'. Just because of a defeat. I saw people trying out there. I just didn't see a lot of quality, which let us down.

Do people even realise how we are going to get the points we need to survive? Hard work, effort & commitment. That's how we got the majority of our 48 points so far. We played some decent football but those are the 3 core attributes that we are relying on to survive.

 

[castlegreen]

The key players look knackered to me, they have played too many minutes due to lack of depth. Feel for the staff because it seems they don’t have players they trust to come in and start

 

[mutley marvel]

Tired bodies
Tired minds
Squad limitations & squad depth has caught up with us
Some players are running on fumes - this league does not allow any player in any team to have an off day

 

[Balham Green]

Tired bodies
Tired minds
Squad limitations & squad depth has caught up with us
Some players are running on fumes - this league does not allow any player in any team to have an off day

They haven't played for 8 days! Too many excuses

 

[Frank Butcher]

They haven't played for 8 days! Too many excuses

Completely agree. The problem is simply quality, not tiredness.

The interim management switched back to the old guard in a search for passion and team ethos. That was great and even after today a return of 2-1-1 is still very good. BUT, it’s hard to sustain in this league. We should be grateful for the bounce but our core problems were laid bare today.

After losing Forshaw, we reverted to type. Houghton is a steady player but he barely looks forward. His introduction alongside Randell left us far too deep. Even at 2-0 we were playing with a back six really. Not sure if that was out of fear, a hangover from Foster, or just that we we were so inferior in midfield.

The result is a 20 yard gap between the lone striker and supporting 2/3 and a further 20 yards to the central midfielders. You might get lucky with a breakaway goal but no team is going to overturn a 2 goal deficit playing like that.

I think we’ve done enough to stay up with a point maybe in the last 2 games, but by God has the new guy got one helluva job on his hands - especially if the positive football brand is demanded.

We need strikers, midfielders (holding and creative) and mobile defenders - all on a (relatively) nothing budget. The only place I see as being probably OK with cover is goalkeeper.

These players can’t be accused of not trying - but for many it’s a level too far.

 

[Mike E]

Not sure why it should be but over the years Argyle have been awful in away crunch games like today where a lot is at stake as well as sometimes a bit of needle and there's a big Argyle following present at the game. I was thinking of the Luton game when Argyle won the league in 2002 but were massacred 2-0 ,the QPR game when a 3-0 drubbing was dished out in 2003-you can go way back in time to Reading and Wigan in 1985/86,Blackburn in 1975 or more recently to Sheffield Wednesday last year. The only exceptions i can think of were Portsmouth in 1986 and maybe Ipswich last year, few and far between though. Different players but same outcomes, very puzzling as to why it should be.

You forget to add Wembley last year to that list. 40 thousand fans and the team don’t turn up. We still had an alright season as it turned out.

 

[Marco Polo]

Without me checking, it feels like every team that beats Leicester suffers a defeat in the following game.

 

[oldage]

The question you have to ask yourself is the following.

When we got 7 points from the last 3 games did you see a great deal of effort, & commitment from our team. I would say yes, in bucketloads.

So why is it after a flipping defeat that mentality is then questioned just because we lost. Why is it people rather question this than say we might not have the quality in key areas.

Like you, l find it astonishing people talking about the players 'bottle'. Just because of a defeat. I saw people trying out there. I just didn't see a lot of quality, which let us down.

Do people even realise how we are going to get the points we need to survive? Hard work, effort & commitment. That's how we got the majority of our 48 points so far. We played some decent football but those are the 3 core attributes that we are relying on to survive.

I normally agree with your comments but some fans are ,quite rightly IMO, questioning the mentality of the team as a whole in certain games . This was not a one off and has happened over the past few seasons. You can excuse one or two for having an off game and some not being of sufficient quality but it is strange when all the players fail to turn up
in important games.

 

[Greenarmy1234]

0-0 at The Den would do it. Take that now, cheers

Would it? People keep saying we only need a point. If wednesday win today, and either they or huds win their last 2, their 6 (hyperthetical) points would leapfrog the 5 points we would have with an extra point.