One Game at a Time
Portsmouth (H) February 11th
As long old pokes go, let us be honest, we have had better ones.
The net outcome was a close defeat, albeit one that on balance was deserved, with two good sides, one playing close to their maximum, the other a little way below it, being decided by a terrific, if annoyingly early, strike.
Of greater significance for both sides were potentially damaging injuries. Mike Coopers season ending injury looked troubling to all parties at the time, and whilst we have an excellent understudy in Callum Burton, Cooper was an ever present for a reason.
Scarrâs injury may be less dramatic, plus with Bolton and Galloway both edging back towards full fitness, more coverable, and we have coped without him before. Time will tell how long for and how well we do again.
Wednesday, relishing their seasons climax when they finally managed to overhaul us (technically joint top), created a great atmosphere, but they too lost Famewo before the game, and scorer Paterson during it, possibly for a while, if he has done a hammy. New signing Flint was resolute in his defensive duties, but little Bazza Bannan limped off again, apparently with cramp, although thatâs what was said about Famewo pre match.
If there was controversy in the game, for me it was not the challenge on Cooper which was a foul but not one that would have been remarked upon had Coopers fall not been so catastrophic. Neither was it the introduction of a virtual VAR system by the match officials to correctly disallow the âsecondâ Wednesday goal. For those Owls who might chance upon this article, imagine that was at the other end, Cosgrove the striker of the ball and Hardie jumping over it in front of Dawson for an equaliser. Offside? Thought so.
No, for me the controversy lies firmly at the feet of the EFL. They have had ample time to get their ship in order. They must have seen the pronouncements on Owlstalk. Where oh where therefore was the League One Trophy? Surely, they must have been able to make sure that a post-match presentation could have taken place. After all the car parking stewards did their best to ensure availability of an open topped coach, by sending a supporterâs bus down a low bridge road before the game.
No doubt they will hide behind some feeble excuse that itâs the points after all forty-six games have taken place that count, but in the best Jeff Stelling voice, âCome ON EFL! Bow to the inevitable.â
So, whilst Argyle regroup, The Owls and Ipswich head North to play their double chasing FA Cup replays, for the right to play each other again in the next round (or not), as well as on this coming Saturday.
For Town it is an early shot at redemption after a dismal showing at Cambridge where putative Argyle target, Knibbs endeared himself to the Green Army by firing the Uâs ahead, and, had ex GA member, Agent Walton remembered the script, they could well have been two nil up from the penalty spot before half time.
A Ladapo second half equaliser was the best they could manage, and the ensuing melt down on TWTD shows a team starting to feel the pressure of the chasing pack, led by Derby, but with Bolton and Why Come both winning as well slowly but inexorably reeling them in.
It is a different sport, but Jack Nicklaus summed it up well.
âI'd rather be two strokes ahead going into the last day than two strokes behind. Having said that, it's probably easier to win coming from behind. There is no fear in chasing. There is fear in being chased.â
Once the FA Cup is resolved however temporarily for the Brobdingnagians, Argyleâs Lilliputians will take on another of the fallen giants that pepper the division in Pompous. Now bereft of the cackling jackals that were Dastardly and Muttley Cowley, currently reincarnating their media careers pending another tilt at lower league glory, Pompous head west for the Dockyard Derby with their new manager bounce seemingly behind them, after a defeat and a draw have followed consecutive wins.
New manager, the somewhat surprising choice of John âMickeyâ Mousinho, has joined from Oxford and is the latest incumbent aiming to fulfil the ambitions of the Pompous faithful and the Eisnerâs who have now owned the club for almost six years without any noticeable upward trajectory.
That they have spent money to improve the facilities is undeniable, but only as much as can be regarded as essential. They have managed to restore some of the old Leitch stands to former glory, bearing in mind that, as witnessed by their first cash receipts transaction for the club, when Pompous were founded the first productive thing to come from Fratton Park was a potato crop.
In what has been an injury hit season, the club has struggled to integrate their loanees, but have at least secured Paddy Lane from Fleetwood and Ryan Towler from Brizzle City on permanent deals. A tilt at the play-offs is not out of the question but will require a run that has so far eluded them since the early days of the season saw them leading the table.
At least they have the chance to influence the proceedings as they have after Saturday, all the main contenders to play barring Ipswich, including the Wendies and Bolton at Fratton. Not that getting into the play-offs will fill their fans with hope as they have yet to win a play-off semi-final match in eight attempts, with such heart breaks as an Ian Ormondroyd offside goal to sit alongside that Hartley moment. Not that we want to remember that campaign too long given its depressing Wembley finale.
Saturdays sell out (again) will be a chance to move things in a positive direction once again. Whilst last week brought a plethora of misfortune, sometimes the merest of coincidences can impact a game, a season or even a career.
Vincent Pericard , who played for both Pompey and Argyle , found out as much to his cost when he casually texted his Italian language tutor and asked her for a drink with two of his French teammates, in the early days of his Juventus career. Unfortunately for him the lady in question was at that time âinvolved withâ deputy Chairman of Juve, Roberto Bettega. He summoned the three players to his office and within days all three left on loan, never to play for Juve again.
Pericard was loaned to Pompey, and after reaching the Premier League under Harry Redknapp drifted down through the leagues. His spell at Argyle was notable for a hat-trick, something that has been achieved all too rarely until Ruben Reid's two efforts (shame on me for overlooking him in the first draft) and then Ryan Hardies effort at Crewe, and a training ground speeding ticket which, as it would have led to a ban, tempted him into pretending he was not at the wheel, ended up with him spending several months in prison for perverting the course of justice. Pericard was back as a Stoke player by then and was even recalled to Strangeways when his parole ankle tag broke and he failed to get it repaired in time.
Small wonder his mental state suffered, and he retired before his thirtieth birthday, now working as a success manager for BT of all people. He is also a patron of UK Deaf Football.
And so, in Callum we trust. The man has never conceded a League goal for Argyle when all is said and done. The nay-sayers and those who see patterns where none exist and think that a random injury means inevitable doom should perhaps listen to another of Jack Nicklaus quotes.
âI couldn't control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me. The only person I could prepare for events was me. And if I didn't play well, I didn't play well, and I wasn't going to compete.â
This is still in our hands. We have a squad for a reason. We have had players missing and still we are joint top. It has been a hellish week but as Winston Churchill said:
âIf you are going through hell, keep going!â
COYG!!!
Portsmouth (H) February 11th
As long old pokes go, let us be honest, we have had better ones.
The net outcome was a close defeat, albeit one that on balance was deserved, with two good sides, one playing close to their maximum, the other a little way below it, being decided by a terrific, if annoyingly early, strike.
Of greater significance for both sides were potentially damaging injuries. Mike Coopers season ending injury looked troubling to all parties at the time, and whilst we have an excellent understudy in Callum Burton, Cooper was an ever present for a reason.
Scarrâs injury may be less dramatic, plus with Bolton and Galloway both edging back towards full fitness, more coverable, and we have coped without him before. Time will tell how long for and how well we do again.
Wednesday, relishing their seasons climax when they finally managed to overhaul us (technically joint top), created a great atmosphere, but they too lost Famewo before the game, and scorer Paterson during it, possibly for a while, if he has done a hammy. New signing Flint was resolute in his defensive duties, but little Bazza Bannan limped off again, apparently with cramp, although thatâs what was said about Famewo pre match.
If there was controversy in the game, for me it was not the challenge on Cooper which was a foul but not one that would have been remarked upon had Coopers fall not been so catastrophic. Neither was it the introduction of a virtual VAR system by the match officials to correctly disallow the âsecondâ Wednesday goal. For those Owls who might chance upon this article, imagine that was at the other end, Cosgrove the striker of the ball and Hardie jumping over it in front of Dawson for an equaliser. Offside? Thought so.
No, for me the controversy lies firmly at the feet of the EFL. They have had ample time to get their ship in order. They must have seen the pronouncements on Owlstalk. Where oh where therefore was the League One Trophy? Surely, they must have been able to make sure that a post-match presentation could have taken place. After all the car parking stewards did their best to ensure availability of an open topped coach, by sending a supporterâs bus down a low bridge road before the game.
No doubt they will hide behind some feeble excuse that itâs the points after all forty-six games have taken place that count, but in the best Jeff Stelling voice, âCome ON EFL! Bow to the inevitable.â
So, whilst Argyle regroup, The Owls and Ipswich head North to play their double chasing FA Cup replays, for the right to play each other again in the next round (or not), as well as on this coming Saturday.
For Town it is an early shot at redemption after a dismal showing at Cambridge where putative Argyle target, Knibbs endeared himself to the Green Army by firing the Uâs ahead, and, had ex GA member, Agent Walton remembered the script, they could well have been two nil up from the penalty spot before half time.
A Ladapo second half equaliser was the best they could manage, and the ensuing melt down on TWTD shows a team starting to feel the pressure of the chasing pack, led by Derby, but with Bolton and Why Come both winning as well slowly but inexorably reeling them in.
It is a different sport, but Jack Nicklaus summed it up well.
âI'd rather be two strokes ahead going into the last day than two strokes behind. Having said that, it's probably easier to win coming from behind. There is no fear in chasing. There is fear in being chased.â
Once the FA Cup is resolved however temporarily for the Brobdingnagians, Argyleâs Lilliputians will take on another of the fallen giants that pepper the division in Pompous. Now bereft of the cackling jackals that were Dastardly and Muttley Cowley, currently reincarnating their media careers pending another tilt at lower league glory, Pompous head west for the Dockyard Derby with their new manager bounce seemingly behind them, after a defeat and a draw have followed consecutive wins.
New manager, the somewhat surprising choice of John âMickeyâ Mousinho, has joined from Oxford and is the latest incumbent aiming to fulfil the ambitions of the Pompous faithful and the Eisnerâs who have now owned the club for almost six years without any noticeable upward trajectory.
That they have spent money to improve the facilities is undeniable, but only as much as can be regarded as essential. They have managed to restore some of the old Leitch stands to former glory, bearing in mind that, as witnessed by their first cash receipts transaction for the club, when Pompous were founded the first productive thing to come from Fratton Park was a potato crop.
In what has been an injury hit season, the club has struggled to integrate their loanees, but have at least secured Paddy Lane from Fleetwood and Ryan Towler from Brizzle City on permanent deals. A tilt at the play-offs is not out of the question but will require a run that has so far eluded them since the early days of the season saw them leading the table.
At least they have the chance to influence the proceedings as they have after Saturday, all the main contenders to play barring Ipswich, including the Wendies and Bolton at Fratton. Not that getting into the play-offs will fill their fans with hope as they have yet to win a play-off semi-final match in eight attempts, with such heart breaks as an Ian Ormondroyd offside goal to sit alongside that Hartley moment. Not that we want to remember that campaign too long given its depressing Wembley finale.
Saturdays sell out (again) will be a chance to move things in a positive direction once again. Whilst last week brought a plethora of misfortune, sometimes the merest of coincidences can impact a game, a season or even a career.
Vincent Pericard , who played for both Pompey and Argyle , found out as much to his cost when he casually texted his Italian language tutor and asked her for a drink with two of his French teammates, in the early days of his Juventus career. Unfortunately for him the lady in question was at that time âinvolved withâ deputy Chairman of Juve, Roberto Bettega. He summoned the three players to his office and within days all three left on loan, never to play for Juve again.
Pericard was loaned to Pompey, and after reaching the Premier League under Harry Redknapp drifted down through the leagues. His spell at Argyle was notable for a hat-trick, something that has been achieved all too rarely until Ruben Reid's two efforts (shame on me for overlooking him in the first draft) and then Ryan Hardies effort at Crewe, and a training ground speeding ticket which, as it would have led to a ban, tempted him into pretending he was not at the wheel, ended up with him spending several months in prison for perverting the course of justice. Pericard was back as a Stoke player by then and was even recalled to Strangeways when his parole ankle tag broke and he failed to get it repaired in time.
Small wonder his mental state suffered, and he retired before his thirtieth birthday, now working as a success manager for BT of all people. He is also a patron of UK Deaf Football.
And so, in Callum we trust. The man has never conceded a League goal for Argyle when all is said and done. The nay-sayers and those who see patterns where none exist and think that a random injury means inevitable doom should perhaps listen to another of Jack Nicklaus quotes.
âI couldn't control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me. The only person I could prepare for events was me. And if I didn't play well, I didn't play well, and I wasn't going to compete.â
This is still in our hands. We have a squad for a reason. We have had players missing and still we are joint top. It has been a hellish week but as Winston Churchill said:
âIf you are going through hell, keep going!â
COYG!!!
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