One Game at a Time: Difficult Second Season
The Chim Chimmenys (A) October 1st
It’s the Plymouth branch of Samaritans I feel sorry for.
After a frantic local recruitment drive, which began on Monday August 12th, their HR department is frantically trying to persuade their new recruits that their pathway to future full employment lies in the Potteries area of the UK. It turns out that those Stoke fans chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” were more prescient than we realised. Just a week early.
As Autumnal vibes begin to descend, and to paraphrase Keats, “Seasons of misses and mellow pointlessness” descend upon the Staffordshire area, where the new manager bounce appears to have all the positive impact of the back wheel of a Keystone cop car as it overtakes the host vehicle, Argyle fans spent a pleasant actual weekend enjoying the TGIF effect of a third Sky Friday three-point haul on the bounce.
After a creditable but ultimately fruitless trip to the West Midlands, Argyle saw changes as Rami al Hajj was given his full debut, behind Hardie and alongside wide Whittaker, and, in place of the rested Cissoko, Obafemi.
Rooney had alluded previously to the fact he had a squad with more quality than he could field every game, but that we would need them all over the season. Here he chose to rest our most destructive forward player of the season so far, perhaps in anticipation of the fact that Obafemi would not be able to play any part against his parent club this Tuesday.
With two fleeting sub appearances to date, after a disrupted preseason, al Hajj had shown glimpses of his potential, but Friday was a chance for him to show his new home crowd whether he was going to be the new Messiah or just a very naughty boy.
After eight minutes we had our answer. A clipped ball into Hardie from Obafemi, laid back imperfectly but sharply. A quick adjustment of the feet and the ball was caressed into the roof of Luton guardian Kaminski’s net. Al Hajj was off and running, his only issue now being his relatively unfamiliar surroundings took him towards the away fans, before his beaming teammates corralled him towards more supportive gestures.
Luton, on the back of successive victories themselves, and with the lively but, fortunately for Argyle, wayward Adebayo, a name that still sends shivers down Argyle spines, were rattled and spent the majority of the half under the Argyle cosh. Kaminsky pulled off a blinder of a save to prevent al Hajj recording his first brace, and an equally important, if more fortuitous, reflex block from Joe 90 arriving late.
They were also disrupted by injury, with Chong being replaced by Brown at half time after a clash of heads, after Mengi by Anderson earlier in the half.
Argyle made changes of their own, with Galloway brought on for Mumba to stem the Luton right side and then Cissoko replacing Obafemi just before the hour as Forshaw replaced the tiring al Hajj.
Pushed on by the developing central defensive partnership of Gibson and Szuchs, who were impressive as Argyle conceded a mammoth number of corners for Alfie Doughty to practice his delivery, Szuchs recovered from a slip to prod a short pass to Gyabi on the edge of his own area. Gyabi loped half the length of the pitch before releasing to Cissoko, who settled for one step-over before crashing the ball past Kaminski for a picture book goal.
No time for settling though. Moses pounced on yet another Doughty cross, this time from open play to nutmeg Galloway with a firm shot which eluded Grimshaw at his near post. This was the sub of previous sub Anderson’s first Championship goal since he scored at, you guessed it, Home Park in 2010 to win the points for the Palace. Mind you in those days we were on the way to becoming a proper basket case.
Luton continued to go forward, but if Argyles general defensive play has been resolute, none epitomised their will to win more than Gibson. He went in search of a midfield loose ball, and two crunching tackles later he flipped the ball out to Cissoko. The Dutch wizard slalomed through two defenders and then, after his initial shot rebounded, tucked a composed finish into the corner of Kaminsky’s net. Game over.
Even after the weekend results, the net impact of which was to move Argyle three points closer to the top, as Albion and Sunderland both contrived away defeats, the closeness of such a compact table means that only Cardiff are starting to be cut adrift, with one point only from their initial seven fixtures.
Next up for Argyle is Burnley, one end of the Cotton Mill derby, with the other end, Blackburn Rovers coming to Home Park for the last game before the second international break. So that will be two teams that will be desperate to beat us and then be desperate for us to win. In what is becoming a run from hell, the teams are fourth and third respectively, which means our last five games will have been against the top four, plus a parachute side.
Burnley are one of those sides against whom we have enjoyed temporary rivalries, usually bound up in a promotion or relegation scrap, which has then disappeared into nothingness as we occupy different strata of the pyramid.
Burnley themselves were formed in 1882, and, ironically given their adoption of the Wild Rover variant they use to disparage their great rivals Blackburn, originally were also Burnley Rovers, although that part of the name was dropped within a few days of their formation.
One of the founding members of the Football League, Burnley were briefly one of the proponents of professionalism and joined the breakaway and short-lived British Football Association, a largely Lancashire based organisation that was formed to put pressure on the Football Association to accept professional players. Ironically one of the few local sides not to join were Blackburn Rovers, which led to the members of the BFA refusing to allow their players to guest in Rovers friendly matches.
After a season at Calder Vale, the club alighted at Turf Moor, their home to this day (only Preston have played longer at a venue). Although they are famed for their claret and blue kit, an homage to Aston Villa, they used a number of kits until they alighted upon their current colours, enshrined in their nickname of Clarets. Whisper it quietly but up until 1910 their most consistent use of a shirt colour was the ten years that they wore a green shirt.
The clubs did not meet competitively until Argyle finally attained Division 2 status in the 1930’s and in truth Turf Moor has not been a happy hunting ground. Just about the most positive thing you could say about visiting it was you could get a Bene and hot, a drink created in the first world war by the East Lancashire regiment. The club sells about thirty bottles of Benedictine a game making it one of the largest sellers of the liqueur in the country.
Argyle have managed four wins at Turf Moor in the league and three of those came before the outbreak of World War 2. The other, a relegation scrap came in 1976/7, where despite a two nil win Argyle were relegated on the final day of the season.
What serious rivalries the clubs have had both came in the nineteen nineties. First of all, Shilton’s nearly men went into the two-legged play-off semi-final against the team that finished sixth on the back of an eight one victory at Hartlepool. Despite the harsh dismissal of Adrian Burrows, the greens took a hard-won nil-nil to the home leg, but a John Francis brace and a Warren Joyce goal were enough to bag Burnley the play off final game against Stockport County.
Despite going a goal down almost immediately at Wembley they prevailed two-one and were promoted.
Soon back in the third tier, Burnley then hosted Argyle for a final game of the season which was effectively winner stays up. In a tense atmosphere the clubs were tied one all until early in the second half when Burnley took the lead. A point would have been enough to save Argyle but despite valiant attempts, including a truly incredible Earl Jean miss, plus some keeping heroics from John Sheffield to keep the Clarets out Argyle could not force an equaliser. Some unsavoury taunting by the home fans meant that Turf Moor was for a while a ground that was low on the “hurry back” list.
The match that most Argyle fans gravitate towards when they think of Burnley, however, is the 1973 League Cup tie when Burnley were a topflight club. It was, as so often on that run, the most unexpected of results. Burnley unbeaten at home in almost a year, and featuring internationals such as Leighton James, Keith Newton and Martin Dobson. Argyle handed a debut to a young Colin Randell to take on James, in place of the returned Liverpool loanee John Webb whose short spell at Argyle was over.
Ray Hankin opened the scoring for Burnley, but a quick free kick by skipper Machin bamboozled the Burnley back line resulting in Colin Waldron putting through his own net. Argyle, by their manager Waiters own admission, better going forward than defending (sound familiar) played with a flair and style that belied their status. Three minutes from the end Welsh and Hague combined for the Yorkshire stopper to finish with aplomb. A famous victory which brought Argyle the temporary reprieve of being drawn to visit First Division giants of the day QPR in round four for inevitable defeat……
Since that relegation laden day in 1998 all our meetings barring a penalty shoot-out defeat in the League cup, have been at Championship level, and generally followed the home team wins, away team loses with the occasional draw. This will be our first league meeting since 2009, as Burnley, the second of five sides to have won all four levels of League titles spent one of their prolonged spells in the Premier League.
Last season’s relegation, witnessed by millions on their Mission to Burnley series on Sky, was a painful one, in part because of the public reveal of the riven squad which failed to bring them the survival they craved, but also because it then ended with the spectacle of the manager who oversaw that relegation being poached for a record figure of £10.5 million by one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Bayern Munich.
Alan Pace, the Mormon ( not a typo, I checked) chairman of the club whose investment group bought Burnley three seasons ago, chose Kompany’s replacement, the serial Championship winner Scott Parker. Parker, whose playing style is to grind out wins on the back of having a talented goalscorer to make sure you do get those wins (Solanke at Bournemouth and Mitrovic at Fulham) has unpacked his cardigan collection at Turf Moor only to discover that despite having a massive squad, he seems to lack any strikers that can deliver the goal return he needs to repeat his trick, and that almost a full eleven player team are long term injured.
Despite this, Parker, whose Thom Browne cardigan he wore for the Premier League campaign at Bournemouth was estimated to have cost him about £5 per minute after he was dismissed following a nine-nil humbling at Anfield (he managed 270 minutes in charge that season) was very close to first choice as Vincents replacement.After Bournemouth he then had a hugely unsuccessful spell in Belgium (two wins in twelve at Club Brugge) before eventually winding up at Burnley.
Of course, we know too well that past performance is not necessarily the whole story when it comes to coach selection. So far this season he has overseen wins at Luton and Leeds, as well as a narrow two one victory over Pompous at home. They drew with Blackburn, hammered Cardiff despite Cardiff having more chances and have only lost in the League by a single goal at Sunderland.
Having been formed at a cricket club, Burnley offer both pace (Jimmy Anderson) and spin (Alistair Campbell) as well as, allegedly, royal patronage in King Charles III. With William a Villain you can’t move for claret and blue ermine robes in Buck House.
Argyle will arrive, with a well-rested coach having had a weekend at home with Colleen and the boys, a tactical master class (please be from Ange not Ten Haag) at Old Trafford and a squad looking to have found their mojo.
Anyone fancy an upset?
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Chim Chimmenys (A) October 1st
It’s the Plymouth branch of Samaritans I feel sorry for.
After a frantic local recruitment drive, which began on Monday August 12th, their HR department is frantically trying to persuade their new recruits that their pathway to future full employment lies in the Potteries area of the UK. It turns out that those Stoke fans chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” were more prescient than we realised. Just a week early.
As Autumnal vibes begin to descend, and to paraphrase Keats, “Seasons of misses and mellow pointlessness” descend upon the Staffordshire area, where the new manager bounce appears to have all the positive impact of the back wheel of a Keystone cop car as it overtakes the host vehicle, Argyle fans spent a pleasant actual weekend enjoying the TGIF effect of a third Sky Friday three-point haul on the bounce.
After a creditable but ultimately fruitless trip to the West Midlands, Argyle saw changes as Rami al Hajj was given his full debut, behind Hardie and alongside wide Whittaker, and, in place of the rested Cissoko, Obafemi.
Rooney had alluded previously to the fact he had a squad with more quality than he could field every game, but that we would need them all over the season. Here he chose to rest our most destructive forward player of the season so far, perhaps in anticipation of the fact that Obafemi would not be able to play any part against his parent club this Tuesday.
With two fleeting sub appearances to date, after a disrupted preseason, al Hajj had shown glimpses of his potential, but Friday was a chance for him to show his new home crowd whether he was going to be the new Messiah or just a very naughty boy.
After eight minutes we had our answer. A clipped ball into Hardie from Obafemi, laid back imperfectly but sharply. A quick adjustment of the feet and the ball was caressed into the roof of Luton guardian Kaminski’s net. Al Hajj was off and running, his only issue now being his relatively unfamiliar surroundings took him towards the away fans, before his beaming teammates corralled him towards more supportive gestures.
Luton, on the back of successive victories themselves, and with the lively but, fortunately for Argyle, wayward Adebayo, a name that still sends shivers down Argyle spines, were rattled and spent the majority of the half under the Argyle cosh. Kaminsky pulled off a blinder of a save to prevent al Hajj recording his first brace, and an equally important, if more fortuitous, reflex block from Joe 90 arriving late.
They were also disrupted by injury, with Chong being replaced by Brown at half time after a clash of heads, after Mengi by Anderson earlier in the half.
Argyle made changes of their own, with Galloway brought on for Mumba to stem the Luton right side and then Cissoko replacing Obafemi just before the hour as Forshaw replaced the tiring al Hajj.
Pushed on by the developing central defensive partnership of Gibson and Szuchs, who were impressive as Argyle conceded a mammoth number of corners for Alfie Doughty to practice his delivery, Szuchs recovered from a slip to prod a short pass to Gyabi on the edge of his own area. Gyabi loped half the length of the pitch before releasing to Cissoko, who settled for one step-over before crashing the ball past Kaminski for a picture book goal.
No time for settling though. Moses pounced on yet another Doughty cross, this time from open play to nutmeg Galloway with a firm shot which eluded Grimshaw at his near post. This was the sub of previous sub Anderson’s first Championship goal since he scored at, you guessed it, Home Park in 2010 to win the points for the Palace. Mind you in those days we were on the way to becoming a proper basket case.
Luton continued to go forward, but if Argyles general defensive play has been resolute, none epitomised their will to win more than Gibson. He went in search of a midfield loose ball, and two crunching tackles later he flipped the ball out to Cissoko. The Dutch wizard slalomed through two defenders and then, after his initial shot rebounded, tucked a composed finish into the corner of Kaminsky’s net. Game over.
Even after the weekend results, the net impact of which was to move Argyle three points closer to the top, as Albion and Sunderland both contrived away defeats, the closeness of such a compact table means that only Cardiff are starting to be cut adrift, with one point only from their initial seven fixtures.
Next up for Argyle is Burnley, one end of the Cotton Mill derby, with the other end, Blackburn Rovers coming to Home Park for the last game before the second international break. So that will be two teams that will be desperate to beat us and then be desperate for us to win. In what is becoming a run from hell, the teams are fourth and third respectively, which means our last five games will have been against the top four, plus a parachute side.
Burnley are one of those sides against whom we have enjoyed temporary rivalries, usually bound up in a promotion or relegation scrap, which has then disappeared into nothingness as we occupy different strata of the pyramid.
Burnley themselves were formed in 1882, and, ironically given their adoption of the Wild Rover variant they use to disparage their great rivals Blackburn, originally were also Burnley Rovers, although that part of the name was dropped within a few days of their formation.
One of the founding members of the Football League, Burnley were briefly one of the proponents of professionalism and joined the breakaway and short-lived British Football Association, a largely Lancashire based organisation that was formed to put pressure on the Football Association to accept professional players. Ironically one of the few local sides not to join were Blackburn Rovers, which led to the members of the BFA refusing to allow their players to guest in Rovers friendly matches.
After a season at Calder Vale, the club alighted at Turf Moor, their home to this day (only Preston have played longer at a venue). Although they are famed for their claret and blue kit, an homage to Aston Villa, they used a number of kits until they alighted upon their current colours, enshrined in their nickname of Clarets. Whisper it quietly but up until 1910 their most consistent use of a shirt colour was the ten years that they wore a green shirt.
The clubs did not meet competitively until Argyle finally attained Division 2 status in the 1930’s and in truth Turf Moor has not been a happy hunting ground. Just about the most positive thing you could say about visiting it was you could get a Bene and hot, a drink created in the first world war by the East Lancashire regiment. The club sells about thirty bottles of Benedictine a game making it one of the largest sellers of the liqueur in the country.
Argyle have managed four wins at Turf Moor in the league and three of those came before the outbreak of World War 2. The other, a relegation scrap came in 1976/7, where despite a two nil win Argyle were relegated on the final day of the season.
What serious rivalries the clubs have had both came in the nineteen nineties. First of all, Shilton’s nearly men went into the two-legged play-off semi-final against the team that finished sixth on the back of an eight one victory at Hartlepool. Despite the harsh dismissal of Adrian Burrows, the greens took a hard-won nil-nil to the home leg, but a John Francis brace and a Warren Joyce goal were enough to bag Burnley the play off final game against Stockport County.
Despite going a goal down almost immediately at Wembley they prevailed two-one and were promoted.
Soon back in the third tier, Burnley then hosted Argyle for a final game of the season which was effectively winner stays up. In a tense atmosphere the clubs were tied one all until early in the second half when Burnley took the lead. A point would have been enough to save Argyle but despite valiant attempts, including a truly incredible Earl Jean miss, plus some keeping heroics from John Sheffield to keep the Clarets out Argyle could not force an equaliser. Some unsavoury taunting by the home fans meant that Turf Moor was for a while a ground that was low on the “hurry back” list.
The match that most Argyle fans gravitate towards when they think of Burnley, however, is the 1973 League Cup tie when Burnley were a topflight club. It was, as so often on that run, the most unexpected of results. Burnley unbeaten at home in almost a year, and featuring internationals such as Leighton James, Keith Newton and Martin Dobson. Argyle handed a debut to a young Colin Randell to take on James, in place of the returned Liverpool loanee John Webb whose short spell at Argyle was over.
Ray Hankin opened the scoring for Burnley, but a quick free kick by skipper Machin bamboozled the Burnley back line resulting in Colin Waldron putting through his own net. Argyle, by their manager Waiters own admission, better going forward than defending (sound familiar) played with a flair and style that belied their status. Three minutes from the end Welsh and Hague combined for the Yorkshire stopper to finish with aplomb. A famous victory which brought Argyle the temporary reprieve of being drawn to visit First Division giants of the day QPR in round four for inevitable defeat……
Since that relegation laden day in 1998 all our meetings barring a penalty shoot-out defeat in the League cup, have been at Championship level, and generally followed the home team wins, away team loses with the occasional draw. This will be our first league meeting since 2009, as Burnley, the second of five sides to have won all four levels of League titles spent one of their prolonged spells in the Premier League.
Last season’s relegation, witnessed by millions on their Mission to Burnley series on Sky, was a painful one, in part because of the public reveal of the riven squad which failed to bring them the survival they craved, but also because it then ended with the spectacle of the manager who oversaw that relegation being poached for a record figure of £10.5 million by one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Bayern Munich.
Alan Pace, the Mormon ( not a typo, I checked) chairman of the club whose investment group bought Burnley three seasons ago, chose Kompany’s replacement, the serial Championship winner Scott Parker. Parker, whose playing style is to grind out wins on the back of having a talented goalscorer to make sure you do get those wins (Solanke at Bournemouth and Mitrovic at Fulham) has unpacked his cardigan collection at Turf Moor only to discover that despite having a massive squad, he seems to lack any strikers that can deliver the goal return he needs to repeat his trick, and that almost a full eleven player team are long term injured.
Despite this, Parker, whose Thom Browne cardigan he wore for the Premier League campaign at Bournemouth was estimated to have cost him about £5 per minute after he was dismissed following a nine-nil humbling at Anfield (he managed 270 minutes in charge that season) was very close to first choice as Vincents replacement.After Bournemouth he then had a hugely unsuccessful spell in Belgium (two wins in twelve at Club Brugge) before eventually winding up at Burnley.
Of course, we know too well that past performance is not necessarily the whole story when it comes to coach selection. So far this season he has overseen wins at Luton and Leeds, as well as a narrow two one victory over Pompous at home. They drew with Blackburn, hammered Cardiff despite Cardiff having more chances and have only lost in the League by a single goal at Sunderland.
Having been formed at a cricket club, Burnley offer both pace (Jimmy Anderson) and spin (Alistair Campbell) as well as, allegedly, royal patronage in King Charles III. With William a Villain you can’t move for claret and blue ermine robes in Buck House.
Argyle will arrive, with a well-rested coach having had a weekend at home with Colleen and the boys, a tactical master class (please be from Ange not Ten Haag) at Old Trafford and a squad looking to have found their mojo.
Anyone fancy an upset?
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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