One Game at a Time: Burn Out After Reading
Stevenage (H) March 17th
For those with very long memories, and more time on their hands than they would admit, the very first incarnation of OGAAT on Pasoti came in the Derek Adams League One side that sparked a nigh on impossible run from the foot of the table to the fringe of the play-offs in 2017/8. In the end the team simply ran out of energy, fit players, and, despite the Lameiras and Carey inspired mayhem of four nil wins over Southend at Home Park, it all came to naught in a sunny Gillingham. There they were inspired to a five two rout of the exhausted Greens, led by **** Andy Carroll tribute act Tom Eaves. He's at Northampton now, where our season potentially concludes in May. What goes round etc etc.
In those day OGAAT was more about looking at the fixture complexities with the occasional gag or bonne mot. I was always quite proud of christening Rueben our Portuguese Man OâScore. So much so I have levered it quite gratuitously in here. And it was much, much shorter.
One of the pivotal fixtures that fateful season was the away trip to Charlton Athletic. It was one of our shorter away games. We sold out the away end and could have sold many more had they been available. We were boisterous, excited, and one nil down in three minutes to a long-range strike from a wing back not known for his scoring prowess. Lewis Page at the Valley, Randell Williams, a former six-toe and Notlob Wanderer whose cross cum shot hit the perfect postage stamp âtop binâ to give Reading a deflating lead. What goes round etc etc.
Deja vu all over again? Well, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Also, practice makes perfect, and a corner routine drilled on the Harpers Park field and perfected in the planning on the home straight at Cheltenham racecourse in mid-week saw Alex Mitchell caress a perfect Curtis corner into the Reading net. All square and not yet seven minutes on the clock. Like Charlton of yore Argyle conceded a second, a poor corner induced goal where an unmarked Paudie Oâ Conner headed cum shouldered cum strongarmed the ball in after Ashley-Hammond flapped and missed.
With a mixed bag of results unfolding around us Argyle needed to regroup, and the second half was much better. Ashby-Hammond made a couple of decent saves and the assist machine that is Malachi Boateng was instrumental in making a fast break that broke down into a quickly recycled opportunity that ultimately fell at the feet of Caleb Watts to ram home a close-range equaliser.
Tom Cleverley refreshed the team with what was available, which to be fair, wasnât great depth, but Argyle finished the stronger side and a last-minute breakaway could have made for the perfect ending, but was squandered by Curtis, to the evident displeasure of Owen Dale.
All square, a point gained rather than two lost, and the bliss of a week away from coach seats for the squad once they made it back to Plymouth.
If a single point was scant reward for the effort put in in some eyes, it was veritable treasure in others. Whilst the club still comes to terms with the financial consequences of losing our Championship status, at the same time, we have the potential to have an unlikely shot at regaining it.
So as Argyle check their injured shipmates for signs of Blind Pewâs black spots, the debate continues to rage, fuelled by the eye watering losses incurred by Whycome, a club with average gates around a third of that of Argyle, about whether gaining the golden ticket (to mix literary metaphors) of a promotion to the Championship is worth the entrance cost.
Squire Trelawney, sorry Simon Hallett, has to balance how he crews the His-Sorinolia in the hunt for the missing treasure, and the next few fixtures will demonstrate the reality that crewing a vessel for this kind of voyage, is not that dissimilar to the privateers of old.
Exâs are very much going to mark the spot over the next few games. Starting with Stevenage, who statistically are our third favourite opponent at Home Park (four wins, one draw, albeit courtesy of a ninety-eighth minute Smalley penalty in our first ever meeting) will arrive with Houghton and potentially Earley amongst their numbers.
The next team to hove into view are Huddersfield, who contain Mumba and Hardie ( and a previously overlooked Mikkel Miller, hammies permitting), followed by a trip to Bradford who contain Sarcevic and Tyreik Wright, and then Bolton with Schuey at the ships wheel and Cissoko stinking out the bilges of the subs bench. Even Port Vale can arrive with Waine and Grey as a strike force (unless they are being saved for a Wembley showdown with Finn).
It is hard enough when you have a full crew, but given we have a fifty-fifty chance of signing Long John Silver as a free agent to improve our midfield mobility, and Ben Gunn as a spare keeper, just in case he is a distant forebear of Angus, I imagine there is a fair amount of trepidation of what next seasons finances will look like whichever division we are in.
If we do manage to somewhat miraculously claw our way into the play-offs and then out and up, we will have the issue of financially competing with clubs prepared to lose bonkers amounts of money in search of the lottery win of a season in the EPL. Of course, this season clubs we had beaten and/or found around us in the relegation battle are pressing for the jackpot, including the likes of Hull City, Millwall, Derby County and, albeit now plummeting like a stone, rather disconcertingly, Preston North End.
Our reality might be to aspire to be like QPR. No matter how well they start or finish a season, sixteenth is a benchmark finishing position for them. Checks Championship tableâŚthey are sixteenth. Or look at the benefits of having billionaire owners. Since Stoke came down to the Championship they have spent millions upon millions of Bet365 windfalls and never finished higher than fourteenth. This season, with new boss Mark Robbins they started off like a train. Checks table, and they are now fourteenth.
New money clubs like Wrexham and Birmingham City have started to grab at the coat tails of promotion, as have perennial strugglers Derby County. In order for that to happen the risk clubs, apart from our old sparring partners and earliest ever relegated side, the Wendies, doomed by their former ownersâ financial peccadilloes, and likely to be punished again in their new lower nesting ground of League One to the tune of fifteen points, must change. Wednesday could be joined by former recent Champions League participants Leicester City and, despite a jump start into life this weekend, the Baggies.
Even in League One, clubs are losing foolish amounts of money to try to gain a seat at a table where, to compete, they would have to lose multiples higher amounts. Even with a talented and successful owner who truly believes in running our club sustainably, you are only one or two bad choices away from having to tear the plans up and start again. Whycome, Reading and Huddersfield all are massively overspending. Even the fan run Six Toes have the begging bowl out. And we know they donât have money to burn. Stands yes, money no.
As a fan I want my club to win every game. As a realist I know thatâs a fantasy that will never come true. We have no idea whether the new football regulator will make a significant difference to how football is funded or administered. As we have always known, itâs a rigged game, designed to wring cash from the largest possible audience. So, FA Cup replays that can make or break a clubâs financial season at the lower levels. No thanks. Need a new international break to stage some meaningless friendlies. OK, letâs do it over the most lucrative game weekend for all the clubs lower down the pyramid. Sorry.
Ask the EPL for a fairer redistribution of the gameâs income. Why should they do that? They know weâll just waste it on unsustainable wages for better players. Because thatâs what they do in the EPL. Alan Sugar had it right when the Premier League came along, and he called it prune juice money. Pour it in at the top, and watch it squirt out of the bottom.
Unfortunately, with regard to how we fix it, itâs a bit like the joke about the man who wakes up in the middle of nowhere and asks a local farmer how to get to his hometown. The farmer looks at him and say, âwell I wouldnât be starting from hereâ.
No one wants to be the first to blink. Nor is there any patience for an answer. We have an owner who has set out his stall for sustainability. And a fan base that was on board with that right up until we stopped winning. Then cue the chants of âwhereâs the money gone?â
Luton run out of parachute payments this season. Leicester City are burdened with massive long term player contracts and potentially third tier football. A round one FA Cup game lads, whose up for that then? Cardiff loses over ÂŁ30 million in the last year and yet are behind Lincoln, who are closer to Argyle in what they spend.
Wednesday fans were happy enough to see their owner spend monumental fees when Chanseri arrived, but now he has gone and the new owners donât want to fund that past excess, they are up in arms that the rules should be applied to them as much as they have been to others in the past.
Why should they be punished because of the past ownerâs failings. It is âtheirâ club. Except it isnât any more. It was sold and is being sold again. To a bunch of venture capitalists who already own three European clubs. Who Wednesday fans are already suggesting will be able to âbend the rulesâ to make sure they have a competitive squad if EFL financial restrictions are in place.
And donât get me started on pointless fines for clubs whose turnover is massive and clubs who take years and years fighting multiple rule breaches with no punishment at all whilst (generally) racking up trophies. Yes, Iâm looking at you here, Pep.
Everyone wants a level playing field except the clubs for whom that is a disadvantage. Which is why I actually find it refreshing that Lincoln are trumping the League One spenders and Stevenage are leading the play-off hopefuls despite being a relative minnow spend wise.
Make no mistake though. If we can take enough points from the next four games to leave us in the race I will be hoping for a spectacular season finale.
In the meantime, hoist the mainsail and set course for Treasure Island, sorry WembleyâŚâŚ
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stevenage (H) March 17th
For those with very long memories, and more time on their hands than they would admit, the very first incarnation of OGAAT on Pasoti came in the Derek Adams League One side that sparked a nigh on impossible run from the foot of the table to the fringe of the play-offs in 2017/8. In the end the team simply ran out of energy, fit players, and, despite the Lameiras and Carey inspired mayhem of four nil wins over Southend at Home Park, it all came to naught in a sunny Gillingham. There they were inspired to a five two rout of the exhausted Greens, led by **** Andy Carroll tribute act Tom Eaves. He's at Northampton now, where our season potentially concludes in May. What goes round etc etc.
In those day OGAAT was more about looking at the fixture complexities with the occasional gag or bonne mot. I was always quite proud of christening Rueben our Portuguese Man OâScore. So much so I have levered it quite gratuitously in here. And it was much, much shorter.
One of the pivotal fixtures that fateful season was the away trip to Charlton Athletic. It was one of our shorter away games. We sold out the away end and could have sold many more had they been available. We were boisterous, excited, and one nil down in three minutes to a long-range strike from a wing back not known for his scoring prowess. Lewis Page at the Valley, Randell Williams, a former six-toe and Notlob Wanderer whose cross cum shot hit the perfect postage stamp âtop binâ to give Reading a deflating lead. What goes round etc etc.
Deja vu all over again? Well, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Also, practice makes perfect, and a corner routine drilled on the Harpers Park field and perfected in the planning on the home straight at Cheltenham racecourse in mid-week saw Alex Mitchell caress a perfect Curtis corner into the Reading net. All square and not yet seven minutes on the clock. Like Charlton of yore Argyle conceded a second, a poor corner induced goal where an unmarked Paudie Oâ Conner headed cum shouldered cum strongarmed the ball in after Ashley-Hammond flapped and missed.
With a mixed bag of results unfolding around us Argyle needed to regroup, and the second half was much better. Ashby-Hammond made a couple of decent saves and the assist machine that is Malachi Boateng was instrumental in making a fast break that broke down into a quickly recycled opportunity that ultimately fell at the feet of Caleb Watts to ram home a close-range equaliser.
Tom Cleverley refreshed the team with what was available, which to be fair, wasnât great depth, but Argyle finished the stronger side and a last-minute breakaway could have made for the perfect ending, but was squandered by Curtis, to the evident displeasure of Owen Dale.
All square, a point gained rather than two lost, and the bliss of a week away from coach seats for the squad once they made it back to Plymouth.
If a single point was scant reward for the effort put in in some eyes, it was veritable treasure in others. Whilst the club still comes to terms with the financial consequences of losing our Championship status, at the same time, we have the potential to have an unlikely shot at regaining it.
So as Argyle check their injured shipmates for signs of Blind Pewâs black spots, the debate continues to rage, fuelled by the eye watering losses incurred by Whycome, a club with average gates around a third of that of Argyle, about whether gaining the golden ticket (to mix literary metaphors) of a promotion to the Championship is worth the entrance cost.
Squire Trelawney, sorry Simon Hallett, has to balance how he crews the His-Sorinolia in the hunt for the missing treasure, and the next few fixtures will demonstrate the reality that crewing a vessel for this kind of voyage, is not that dissimilar to the privateers of old.
Exâs are very much going to mark the spot over the next few games. Starting with Stevenage, who statistically are our third favourite opponent at Home Park (four wins, one draw, albeit courtesy of a ninety-eighth minute Smalley penalty in our first ever meeting) will arrive with Houghton and potentially Earley amongst their numbers.
The next team to hove into view are Huddersfield, who contain Mumba and Hardie ( and a previously overlooked Mikkel Miller, hammies permitting), followed by a trip to Bradford who contain Sarcevic and Tyreik Wright, and then Bolton with Schuey at the ships wheel and Cissoko stinking out the bilges of the subs bench. Even Port Vale can arrive with Waine and Grey as a strike force (unless they are being saved for a Wembley showdown with Finn).
It is hard enough when you have a full crew, but given we have a fifty-fifty chance of signing Long John Silver as a free agent to improve our midfield mobility, and Ben Gunn as a spare keeper, just in case he is a distant forebear of Angus, I imagine there is a fair amount of trepidation of what next seasons finances will look like whichever division we are in.
If we do manage to somewhat miraculously claw our way into the play-offs and then out and up, we will have the issue of financially competing with clubs prepared to lose bonkers amounts of money in search of the lottery win of a season in the EPL. Of course, this season clubs we had beaten and/or found around us in the relegation battle are pressing for the jackpot, including the likes of Hull City, Millwall, Derby County and, albeit now plummeting like a stone, rather disconcertingly, Preston North End.
Our reality might be to aspire to be like QPR. No matter how well they start or finish a season, sixteenth is a benchmark finishing position for them. Checks Championship tableâŚthey are sixteenth. Or look at the benefits of having billionaire owners. Since Stoke came down to the Championship they have spent millions upon millions of Bet365 windfalls and never finished higher than fourteenth. This season, with new boss Mark Robbins they started off like a train. Checks table, and they are now fourteenth.
New money clubs like Wrexham and Birmingham City have started to grab at the coat tails of promotion, as have perennial strugglers Derby County. In order for that to happen the risk clubs, apart from our old sparring partners and earliest ever relegated side, the Wendies, doomed by their former ownersâ financial peccadilloes, and likely to be punished again in their new lower nesting ground of League One to the tune of fifteen points, must change. Wednesday could be joined by former recent Champions League participants Leicester City and, despite a jump start into life this weekend, the Baggies.
Even in League One, clubs are losing foolish amounts of money to try to gain a seat at a table where, to compete, they would have to lose multiples higher amounts. Even with a talented and successful owner who truly believes in running our club sustainably, you are only one or two bad choices away from having to tear the plans up and start again. Whycome, Reading and Huddersfield all are massively overspending. Even the fan run Six Toes have the begging bowl out. And we know they donât have money to burn. Stands yes, money no.
As a fan I want my club to win every game. As a realist I know thatâs a fantasy that will never come true. We have no idea whether the new football regulator will make a significant difference to how football is funded or administered. As we have always known, itâs a rigged game, designed to wring cash from the largest possible audience. So, FA Cup replays that can make or break a clubâs financial season at the lower levels. No thanks. Need a new international break to stage some meaningless friendlies. OK, letâs do it over the most lucrative game weekend for all the clubs lower down the pyramid. Sorry.
Ask the EPL for a fairer redistribution of the gameâs income. Why should they do that? They know weâll just waste it on unsustainable wages for better players. Because thatâs what they do in the EPL. Alan Sugar had it right when the Premier League came along, and he called it prune juice money. Pour it in at the top, and watch it squirt out of the bottom.
Unfortunately, with regard to how we fix it, itâs a bit like the joke about the man who wakes up in the middle of nowhere and asks a local farmer how to get to his hometown. The farmer looks at him and say, âwell I wouldnât be starting from hereâ.
No one wants to be the first to blink. Nor is there any patience for an answer. We have an owner who has set out his stall for sustainability. And a fan base that was on board with that right up until we stopped winning. Then cue the chants of âwhereâs the money gone?â
Luton run out of parachute payments this season. Leicester City are burdened with massive long term player contracts and potentially third tier football. A round one FA Cup game lads, whose up for that then? Cardiff loses over ÂŁ30 million in the last year and yet are behind Lincoln, who are closer to Argyle in what they spend.
Wednesday fans were happy enough to see their owner spend monumental fees when Chanseri arrived, but now he has gone and the new owners donât want to fund that past excess, they are up in arms that the rules should be applied to them as much as they have been to others in the past.
Why should they be punished because of the past ownerâs failings. It is âtheirâ club. Except it isnât any more. It was sold and is being sold again. To a bunch of venture capitalists who already own three European clubs. Who Wednesday fans are already suggesting will be able to âbend the rulesâ to make sure they have a competitive squad if EFL financial restrictions are in place.
And donât get me started on pointless fines for clubs whose turnover is massive and clubs who take years and years fighting multiple rule breaches with no punishment at all whilst (generally) racking up trophies. Yes, Iâm looking at you here, Pep.
Everyone wants a level playing field except the clubs for whom that is a disadvantage. Which is why I actually find it refreshing that Lincoln are trumping the League One spenders and Stevenage are leading the play-off hopefuls despite being a relative minnow spend wise.
Make no mistake though. If we can take enough points from the next four games to leave us in the race I will be hoping for a spectacular season finale.
In the meantime, hoist the mainsail and set course for Treasure Island, sorry WembleyâŚâŚ
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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