One Game at a Time: The Silencing of the Sheep
Rotherham United (A) February 28th
Where to start?
Given the previous two away wins, Argyle entered the “local” derby against our only European opposition this season in front of a sell-out crowd, to take on the runaway (at least they would be if Lincoln would just get back in their box) leaders of the Division.
Spoiler alert. That feeling we had after the game finished is “Gone by Wednesday”, currently the best-selling knock off fragrance in boot fairs all over Sheffield, with its undertones of corruption, failure and a hint of tuna.
Tolaj was back, playing alongside Pepple in a combination starting to be revered as well as rumoured to be heading en masse to Celtic Park. Wiredu and Boateng anchored the midfield, the unfortunate Dale missing out.
The game started, and indeed continued, as if Brian Barry Murphy and Tom Cleverley had agreed not to worry about normal coventions like defence. Cardiff tippy tapped forward, and Argyle pressed, with Wiredu sitting on the Cardiff defensive midfield lynchpin to try and stifle their momentum.
Argyle almost struck first, when Watts hit the only part of the goal containing any part of Keeper Trott in a kind of footballing Battleships moment. No matter. The inspired Edwards sprang forward and his pass to Pepple was elegantly turned into Tolaj’s path. The Swiss Prince, trailing rust as he moved forward arced a perfect left foot shot into the net. One nil.
Cardiff responded, hitting the post with Hazard making a superb reflex stop from Kellyman. Then, what madness is this?Hazard gathers and quickly releases Edwards to maraud up the right wing. On and on he ran, before clipping the pluperfect cross onto Pepple’s boot, unmarked in the box. Two nil. Bedlam.
Tanner then outmanoeuvred Harding, having a torrid time at left back to be fair, and Kellyman slid home the cross. Cardiff back in it in about a minute. But no, within another minute Pepple found himself on the end of a cross from the beleaguered Harding and the two-goal cushion was restored. The game was being played like a street basketball lunchtime fixture where both sides are worried they are going to called in by their mums.
Kellyman then scored a sublime goal. The nineteen million pound loanee from Chelsea was looking the most dangerous man on the pitch, and just before half time it took every inch of Hazards reach to tip over his long range shot.
Half time. Three two up with shades of past goal feasts looking like they would be surpassed.
If there has been on criticism of our fledgeling head coach, if you can be a fledgeling after having managed for a hundred games as he was doing here, it is that half time hiatuses are not always followed by a laser focussed Argyle. Here Tom Cleverley took charge. Sorinola reinforced the left side where Cardiff’s threat was most obvious in place of the errant Watt and the game settled down.
Then, in a moment that was to be defining Pepple took a ball down the left flank, beat the marking Osho, on a yellow that should have been a red for a cowardly and completely pre-meditated first half elbow on the Canadian. He clipped the ball towards strike partner Tolaj, and Callum Chambers, his tired body and mind failing him, shoved the number nine to the ground as he tried to control the cross. It was a stupid and obvious foul for a penalty (although unfortunately not the worst example we would experience this week), which Tolaj gratefully slammed high and handsome into Trotts goal.
This was already after Mitchell had had a goal chalked off for a marginal offside, but the fruitful source of goals of late from Argyle’s central defenders was not to be denied and Ross made it five with a crashing header from another pin point corner from Curtis.
All round the best Argyle performance of the season, against a side that were amongst the best we had played, and who despite this comprehensive defeat will almost certainly be promoted, likely as Champions.
Which makes what followed on Tuesday so perplexing.
As you know OGAAT tends to boycott the Vertu Cup, and will continue to do so for as long as the EFL allows U21 Premiership teams to leech the funds of whatever sucker they persuade to sponsor it when Vertu realise it isn’t worth the candle.
Therefore, Argyles third game against Luton was not on the menu, but even so Argyle made a dog’s dinner of losing to a team that was already defeated, reprieved and now, one game from Wembley. It feels like a pub quiz question in the making.
Even ignoring the fact that it means we don’t get a first bite at a Wembley trip for those that want to go, it just was chaotic. The squad travelled, but on the afternoon of the game Tolaj announced he was unable to play. We subsequently learned that he was carrying a muscle tear in his previously injured leg and will now miss a month of football having literally just returned. Bad enough to lose one talisman, especially when there is no obvious replacement travelling and too late to do anything about it.
Then Wiredu pulls up lame in the warm-up, and again, with the dearth of centre mids available to the team, we are suddenly starting the game with an unbalanced side.
Three game weeks are hard, especially when three of the last four games have been away, and the style of play of the side depends on hard running and pressing and lots of it. Argyle played like a side without energy, and fell behind to a goal from a cross that someone out of Hazard, Harding or Sorinola should have dealt with. Even despite this, and with Pepple toiling against his alma mater, Argyle stole an equaliser. This was gifted to them by the Luton keeper, in the now traditional modern style, with a pointless clearance/pass falling at the feet of Tegan Finn who stroked the ball calmly into an empty net from twenty-five yards.
And yet. Remember that tired challenge from Chambers? Cue an even worse attempt by Ross, plummeting the grateful old warhorse Wells to the ground when he still had it all to do
One unstoppable penalty later and we were spared the agony of the hope of the shoot-out.
Much has been made of the injury situation at Argyle. There have been suggestions all is not well with the medical team and its performance, the amount and type of injuries received in training, as well as why we had no spare players on the sidelines ready to step in in case of pre match injury problems.
It is not a unique perspective.
We travel to the old yo-yo club of league One and the Championship, Rotherham for the Casualty derby. When last we met in the Championship at Home Park two of our players, Hardie and Bundu, left on stretchers for hospital trips, whilst one of theirs was red carded. For two yellows, the second for deliberate handball!
Matt Hamshaw, the under pressure boss of the Millers has his own injury crisis, with up to ten first team squad members ruled out, and recent free agent pick up Duncan Whatmore being managed for minutes as he regains fitness after almost a year without a club.
The former coach under Paul Warne is therefore subject to the “curse of Argyle” as previously experienced by multiple managers, where a poor match against a team from so far away becomes the straw that breaks the Chairmans support. Most notably this has previously engulfed such luminaries and Nigel Worthington and Liam Rosenior (twice).
A club, like Argyle, attempting to be sustainable, and constrained by a local Chairmans inability to compete with parachute payments, Rotherham were, for several season, a role model for the Argyle board, in that they would operate on the fringe between too good for League One, but unable to spend enough to challenge in the Championship. Each relegation would bring the vultures circling around their star performers, not helped by the likes of Sheffield Wednesday picking their corpse for their leading scorer Michael Smith amongst others.
Other clubs have the same problem. QPR, having beaten surprise promotion challengers Hull at the MCM found themselves with almost an entire team out before they played Southampton. Already trailing to goals by Azaz (£10 million) and Scienza (£8 Million), Rangers turned to a bench of Academy graduates to try and improve their team. The Southampton manager Tonda Eckert brought on Shea Charles (£10m), Samuel Edozie (£6m), Ross Stewart (£8m), Tom Fellows (£8m) and Cameron Archer (£15m) any one of whom cost more than Rangers leading signing, “ ’Andsome” Ronnie Edwards, a four million pound Saints cast off, and any one of whom would have been the best player in the Rangers squad. By some distance.
So as our play-off hopes hang by a thread, and the chance of a World Cup group match featuring Bim and Tolaj on opposite sides fades into the distance, try and remember, it’s a rigged game.
In the end we have a squad that managed, largely without Tolaj, to win comfortably at Blackpool and Orient. We have player’s coming back. We have a coach who has shown he can adapt to circumstances. I mean he took his time but he has shown it recently. We have wiped out the horrendous goal difference deficit in the process.
We have the best away record in the division. And we won the last time we were here when we had the worst one.
If we had to have a bad game, have it in the poncy cup that no-one watches very much.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rotherham United (A) February 28th
Where to start?
Given the previous two away wins, Argyle entered the “local” derby against our only European opposition this season in front of a sell-out crowd, to take on the runaway (at least they would be if Lincoln would just get back in their box) leaders of the Division.
Spoiler alert. That feeling we had after the game finished is “Gone by Wednesday”, currently the best-selling knock off fragrance in boot fairs all over Sheffield, with its undertones of corruption, failure and a hint of tuna.
Tolaj was back, playing alongside Pepple in a combination starting to be revered as well as rumoured to be heading en masse to Celtic Park. Wiredu and Boateng anchored the midfield, the unfortunate Dale missing out.
The game started, and indeed continued, as if Brian Barry Murphy and Tom Cleverley had agreed not to worry about normal coventions like defence. Cardiff tippy tapped forward, and Argyle pressed, with Wiredu sitting on the Cardiff defensive midfield lynchpin to try and stifle their momentum.
Argyle almost struck first, when Watts hit the only part of the goal containing any part of Keeper Trott in a kind of footballing Battleships moment. No matter. The inspired Edwards sprang forward and his pass to Pepple was elegantly turned into Tolaj’s path. The Swiss Prince, trailing rust as he moved forward arced a perfect left foot shot into the net. One nil.
Cardiff responded, hitting the post with Hazard making a superb reflex stop from Kellyman. Then, what madness is this?Hazard gathers and quickly releases Edwards to maraud up the right wing. On and on he ran, before clipping the pluperfect cross onto Pepple’s boot, unmarked in the box. Two nil. Bedlam.
Tanner then outmanoeuvred Harding, having a torrid time at left back to be fair, and Kellyman slid home the cross. Cardiff back in it in about a minute. But no, within another minute Pepple found himself on the end of a cross from the beleaguered Harding and the two-goal cushion was restored. The game was being played like a street basketball lunchtime fixture where both sides are worried they are going to called in by their mums.
Kellyman then scored a sublime goal. The nineteen million pound loanee from Chelsea was looking the most dangerous man on the pitch, and just before half time it took every inch of Hazards reach to tip over his long range shot.
Half time. Three two up with shades of past goal feasts looking like they would be surpassed.
If there has been on criticism of our fledgeling head coach, if you can be a fledgeling after having managed for a hundred games as he was doing here, it is that half time hiatuses are not always followed by a laser focussed Argyle. Here Tom Cleverley took charge. Sorinola reinforced the left side where Cardiff’s threat was most obvious in place of the errant Watt and the game settled down.
Then, in a moment that was to be defining Pepple took a ball down the left flank, beat the marking Osho, on a yellow that should have been a red for a cowardly and completely pre-meditated first half elbow on the Canadian. He clipped the ball towards strike partner Tolaj, and Callum Chambers, his tired body and mind failing him, shoved the number nine to the ground as he tried to control the cross. It was a stupid and obvious foul for a penalty (although unfortunately not the worst example we would experience this week), which Tolaj gratefully slammed high and handsome into Trotts goal.
This was already after Mitchell had had a goal chalked off for a marginal offside, but the fruitful source of goals of late from Argyle’s central defenders was not to be denied and Ross made it five with a crashing header from another pin point corner from Curtis.
All round the best Argyle performance of the season, against a side that were amongst the best we had played, and who despite this comprehensive defeat will almost certainly be promoted, likely as Champions.
Which makes what followed on Tuesday so perplexing.
As you know OGAAT tends to boycott the Vertu Cup, and will continue to do so for as long as the EFL allows U21 Premiership teams to leech the funds of whatever sucker they persuade to sponsor it when Vertu realise it isn’t worth the candle.
Therefore, Argyles third game against Luton was not on the menu, but even so Argyle made a dog’s dinner of losing to a team that was already defeated, reprieved and now, one game from Wembley. It feels like a pub quiz question in the making.
Even ignoring the fact that it means we don’t get a first bite at a Wembley trip for those that want to go, it just was chaotic. The squad travelled, but on the afternoon of the game Tolaj announced he was unable to play. We subsequently learned that he was carrying a muscle tear in his previously injured leg and will now miss a month of football having literally just returned. Bad enough to lose one talisman, especially when there is no obvious replacement travelling and too late to do anything about it.
Then Wiredu pulls up lame in the warm-up, and again, with the dearth of centre mids available to the team, we are suddenly starting the game with an unbalanced side.
Three game weeks are hard, especially when three of the last four games have been away, and the style of play of the side depends on hard running and pressing and lots of it. Argyle played like a side without energy, and fell behind to a goal from a cross that someone out of Hazard, Harding or Sorinola should have dealt with. Even despite this, and with Pepple toiling against his alma mater, Argyle stole an equaliser. This was gifted to them by the Luton keeper, in the now traditional modern style, with a pointless clearance/pass falling at the feet of Tegan Finn who stroked the ball calmly into an empty net from twenty-five yards.
And yet. Remember that tired challenge from Chambers? Cue an even worse attempt by Ross, plummeting the grateful old warhorse Wells to the ground when he still had it all to do
One unstoppable penalty later and we were spared the agony of the hope of the shoot-out.
Much has been made of the injury situation at Argyle. There have been suggestions all is not well with the medical team and its performance, the amount and type of injuries received in training, as well as why we had no spare players on the sidelines ready to step in in case of pre match injury problems.
It is not a unique perspective.
We travel to the old yo-yo club of league One and the Championship, Rotherham for the Casualty derby. When last we met in the Championship at Home Park two of our players, Hardie and Bundu, left on stretchers for hospital trips, whilst one of theirs was red carded. For two yellows, the second for deliberate handball!
Matt Hamshaw, the under pressure boss of the Millers has his own injury crisis, with up to ten first team squad members ruled out, and recent free agent pick up Duncan Whatmore being managed for minutes as he regains fitness after almost a year without a club.
The former coach under Paul Warne is therefore subject to the “curse of Argyle” as previously experienced by multiple managers, where a poor match against a team from so far away becomes the straw that breaks the Chairmans support. Most notably this has previously engulfed such luminaries and Nigel Worthington and Liam Rosenior (twice).
A club, like Argyle, attempting to be sustainable, and constrained by a local Chairmans inability to compete with parachute payments, Rotherham were, for several season, a role model for the Argyle board, in that they would operate on the fringe between too good for League One, but unable to spend enough to challenge in the Championship. Each relegation would bring the vultures circling around their star performers, not helped by the likes of Sheffield Wednesday picking their corpse for their leading scorer Michael Smith amongst others.
Other clubs have the same problem. QPR, having beaten surprise promotion challengers Hull at the MCM found themselves with almost an entire team out before they played Southampton. Already trailing to goals by Azaz (£10 million) and Scienza (£8 Million), Rangers turned to a bench of Academy graduates to try and improve their team. The Southampton manager Tonda Eckert brought on Shea Charles (£10m), Samuel Edozie (£6m), Ross Stewart (£8m), Tom Fellows (£8m) and Cameron Archer (£15m) any one of whom cost more than Rangers leading signing, “ ’Andsome” Ronnie Edwards, a four million pound Saints cast off, and any one of whom would have been the best player in the Rangers squad. By some distance.
So as our play-off hopes hang by a thread, and the chance of a World Cup group match featuring Bim and Tolaj on opposite sides fades into the distance, try and remember, it’s a rigged game.
In the end we have a squad that managed, largely without Tolaj, to win comfortably at Blackpool and Orient. We have player’s coming back. We have a coach who has shown he can adapt to circumstances. I mean he took his time but he has shown it recently. We have wiped out the horrendous goal difference deficit in the process.
We have the best away record in the division. And we won the last time we were here when we had the worst one.
If we had to have a bad game, have it in the poncy cup that no-one watches very much.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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