One Game at a Time: The Younger Games: May the Odds be ever in your Favour
Lincoln City (A) August 16th
After a dreadful pair of opening results, and with tumbleweed swirling through the photo-opportunity signing lounge at Home Park, levels of confidence were falling amongst the Green Army, to the extent that the crowd was reduced to just under eleven thousand, with a solid thousand of those being hardy R’s fans hoping to kick start their season after a none too impressive home draw against Preston and an injury list to rival our own.
In many ways however, meeting Rangers was almost the ideal fixture, given that, be it the stewardship of their DOF Christian Nourry, or the disdain for the Carabao Cup of new boss Stephan, the Rangers decision to field an almost entire youth team meant that if Argyle played to their potential, they had every chance of a first win of the season.
The average age of the Rangers starting XI was 19, and that included a thirty-one-year-old keeper, Nardi. Of the rest, the most experienced were Vale and Kolli, and of course we got to see “here is what you could have won” as Rumarn Burrell made his full Ranger’s debut.
Argyle too fielded a younger than usual side with Finn and Hatch the notable inclusions. No start for Baker as under fire keeper Ashby-Hammond continued in goal. Argyle at least has reinforcements on the bench although including two keepers was hardly a vote of confidence in the incumbent stopper. The Rangers bench looked like a school party that were still excited from their ride down on Thomas the Tank Engine. Short of wearing Paw Patrol jim-jams as a third strip they could not have appeared any younger. I am sure two of them were still doing their maths homework as the game kicked off.
We have all heard the mantra of follow the data. Well, the first half data told us that there was only one team in it, with absurdly high possession and pass completions, and a massive disparity of shots both on and off target.
The first half scoreboard told us that, just as at the weekend in Bolton, there was only one team in it, and it wasn’t Argyle. Of late, allow two shots against Argyle and you can expect a nil two scoreline, which was precisely what we had. The first came from a Burrell header, saved by Ashby-Hammond but then tapped in by the onrushing Bennie. Argyle at a crossroads keeper wise. Then as the clock ticked round to milk and cookies time in the Rangers nursery, Kolli was able to head home from about a foot to get his second goal in two visits to Home Park. Just in time, as his mum was already calling him in for bed. Project Argyle nil, Project Rangers two.
Sandwiched between the two goals was a great chance for Argyle, when Finn was tripped by Burrell to concede a penalty. Paterson struck it well and to the corner, but that most unlikely of combat scenarios, an advancing Frenchman, hopped off his line to save well. Equally infuriating was the decision by match referee John Busby to decide that if Rangers weren’t taking the game seriously then neither would he, and a second definite caution against Sutton was bottled, allowing Rangers to tuck him up in his cot for the second half.
Rangers also decided that a half was all they needed from Burrell, and the young forward, who looked a handful was replaced by another school leaver, bringing their average age even further south.
Argyle started the second half much as they ended the first, with the ball and with intent. Within ten minutes of the restart the game was all square. Finn’s corner was sprung back across his own goal by the poodle coiffed Kolli and Palsson grabbed a second assist of the season, when Wiredu, possibly offside, played the karma card over the first half refereeing failings and scored his first Argyle goal.
Next Benarous, who, if he wasn’t searched leaving Home Park that evening, has a kidnapped Rangers right back still trying to untangle his legs, in his pocket, fired a teasing cross that Nardi started to come for, then didn’t and then watched as Oseni showed good movement to crash the ball in for an equaliser.
Sensing the win, Argyle brought on some experience. Sensing they couldn’t care less, Rangers added a couple more youth prospects.
Argyle remained camped in their opponent’s half and eventually the pressure told. Watts crossed, Oseni ran in and despite the appeals of the statuesque milk monitors, sorry, central defenders, Owen had his first Argyle double. Hardy R’s to “hardy hars” in half an hour or so.
Argyle played out the remaining minutes, only to be rewarded (if that is the right sentiment) with a trip to Swansea in the next round. Rangers learned whatever they learned about their youth players (mainly that they are not as good as our one in Tegan Finn), and their fans got excited about Burrell, right until until they splashed out almost three million on Richard Kone from Wycombe later that night.
In the end Argyle retained their historic hoodoo over Rangers in this competition, of never scoring less than three goals and winning three out of three. Once again though, it came at a cost with Paterson limping off before the end of the game and unfit for an indeterminate period.
With no signs of any new blood arriving in time for the weekend, Argyle at least remove one of the geographic obstacles to signing a player by visiting Lincoln City, one of the furthest outposts we travel to this season.
The Imps are now effectively the closest rivals we have to the title “most success capped football City” as their highest ever League position is 5th in the second tier, narrowly behind our best ever second tier fourth place, achieved when fourth got you nothing. Mind you as Argyle also held the record for “when second got you nothing” with their six in a row pre-war antics, Lincoln still have a way to go in the hard luck stakes.
The other end of the Fosse Way, which begins in Isca Dumnoniorum*, Lincoln has a very old cathedral, which from 1311 to 1549 was the tallest building in the world, ahead of the Great Pyramid of Giza, until a turbulent storm caused the spire to collapse.
Lincoln with a population around a third of Plymouth, also has a military history, albeit the other two branches of the armed forces to the fore. The Dambusters 617 Squadron was based at Scampton in the county, and, in the days of World War One, William Tritton, who ran a company producing heavy agricultural machinery was asked to develop a large vehicle to move heavy artillery across the trenched landscape of the war zone. The vehicles developed were the forerunners of, and were developed into, the earliest battle tanks which made their wartime debut in 1917 at Cambrai.
As Argyle continue in their quest for a suitable number nine, Lincoln had their own Marriner, although this one was the violinist and conductor Neville, who founded the Academy of St Martins in the Field, which to date has provided numerous percussionists but not a single attacking midfielder.
The main connection linked by a number nine between Lincoln and Argyle are opposite ends of the “Taxi Tommy” story. Lincoln had paid Sheffield Wednesday a record fee of £33,000 for Tynan, but he lasted a mere nine games for the Imps before being sold for a loss to Newport County. In part this was due to the struggling finances at City. It subsequently transpired that Tynan had persuaded a local taxi firm that the club would reimburse them for taxi fares to take him back to Sheffield, despite the fact the club was paying him a weekly travel allowance for precisely that purpose.
Tynan was changed with deception and fined almost ÂŁ300 after pleading guilty. Having moved to Newport, he then carved his reputation, there and at Argyle, as one of the lower divisions best ever marksmen, before ironically ending up as a local cab driver.
The other well know number nine at Lincoln was journeyman cult figure Matt Rhead. Coming to the fore under the Cowley regime as Lincoln once again fought their way back up from non-league to League status, Rhead was a talismanic traditional no-nonsense centre forward. A former JCB worker, he espoused the values of the local tank building history and bulldozed his way to two promotions and a cup quarter final against Arsenal, scoring a handy 43 goals on the way for City.
In that cup run he managed to provoke Joey Barton in Lincoln’s shock win over Burnley into an embarrassing dive, in a forlorn attempt to get the forward dismissed. He then, perhaps unwisely engaged in trash-talking Arsenal after a poor defeat to Barcelona, (Arsenal not Lincoln), and the gunners ran out easy five nil winners.
Rhead is currently joint player manager for Kidsgrove Athletic, alongside ex Port Vale striker and oft rumoured Argyle target Tom Pope. Double swoop anyone?
Argyle, having seemingly got their season back on the rails, will head to the LNER Stadium hoping that they can maintain their forward momentum. It is a ground historically that Argyle avoid defeat at, (just about, fourteen times to ten and only four wins in that fourteen) although history has a way of tripping you up. Lincoln is also famous for its mute swans, which may have inspired the spectacular swan dives in the early career of then Forest loanee Brennan Johnson, which to be fair, didn’t even need a trip to initiate. Just some heavy breathing seemed to be enough.
Lincoln itself is divided into two distinct areas, known locally as uphill and downhill. The travelling fans will be hoping to avoid the uphill struggle that indicates it may be downhill from here and building on the triumph of experience over youth we saw in midweek.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Alright, Exeter.
Lincoln City (A) August 16th
After a dreadful pair of opening results, and with tumbleweed swirling through the photo-opportunity signing lounge at Home Park, levels of confidence were falling amongst the Green Army, to the extent that the crowd was reduced to just under eleven thousand, with a solid thousand of those being hardy R’s fans hoping to kick start their season after a none too impressive home draw against Preston and an injury list to rival our own.
In many ways however, meeting Rangers was almost the ideal fixture, given that, be it the stewardship of their DOF Christian Nourry, or the disdain for the Carabao Cup of new boss Stephan, the Rangers decision to field an almost entire youth team meant that if Argyle played to their potential, they had every chance of a first win of the season.
The average age of the Rangers starting XI was 19, and that included a thirty-one-year-old keeper, Nardi. Of the rest, the most experienced were Vale and Kolli, and of course we got to see “here is what you could have won” as Rumarn Burrell made his full Ranger’s debut.
Argyle too fielded a younger than usual side with Finn and Hatch the notable inclusions. No start for Baker as under fire keeper Ashby-Hammond continued in goal. Argyle at least has reinforcements on the bench although including two keepers was hardly a vote of confidence in the incumbent stopper. The Rangers bench looked like a school party that were still excited from their ride down on Thomas the Tank Engine. Short of wearing Paw Patrol jim-jams as a third strip they could not have appeared any younger. I am sure two of them were still doing their maths homework as the game kicked off.
We have all heard the mantra of follow the data. Well, the first half data told us that there was only one team in it, with absurdly high possession and pass completions, and a massive disparity of shots both on and off target.
The first half scoreboard told us that, just as at the weekend in Bolton, there was only one team in it, and it wasn’t Argyle. Of late, allow two shots against Argyle and you can expect a nil two scoreline, which was precisely what we had. The first came from a Burrell header, saved by Ashby-Hammond but then tapped in by the onrushing Bennie. Argyle at a crossroads keeper wise. Then as the clock ticked round to milk and cookies time in the Rangers nursery, Kolli was able to head home from about a foot to get his second goal in two visits to Home Park. Just in time, as his mum was already calling him in for bed. Project Argyle nil, Project Rangers two.
Sandwiched between the two goals was a great chance for Argyle, when Finn was tripped by Burrell to concede a penalty. Paterson struck it well and to the corner, but that most unlikely of combat scenarios, an advancing Frenchman, hopped off his line to save well. Equally infuriating was the decision by match referee John Busby to decide that if Rangers weren’t taking the game seriously then neither would he, and a second definite caution against Sutton was bottled, allowing Rangers to tuck him up in his cot for the second half.
Rangers also decided that a half was all they needed from Burrell, and the young forward, who looked a handful was replaced by another school leaver, bringing their average age even further south.
Argyle started the second half much as they ended the first, with the ball and with intent. Within ten minutes of the restart the game was all square. Finn’s corner was sprung back across his own goal by the poodle coiffed Kolli and Palsson grabbed a second assist of the season, when Wiredu, possibly offside, played the karma card over the first half refereeing failings and scored his first Argyle goal.
Next Benarous, who, if he wasn’t searched leaving Home Park that evening, has a kidnapped Rangers right back still trying to untangle his legs, in his pocket, fired a teasing cross that Nardi started to come for, then didn’t and then watched as Oseni showed good movement to crash the ball in for an equaliser.
Sensing the win, Argyle brought on some experience. Sensing they couldn’t care less, Rangers added a couple more youth prospects.
Argyle remained camped in their opponent’s half and eventually the pressure told. Watts crossed, Oseni ran in and despite the appeals of the statuesque milk monitors, sorry, central defenders, Owen had his first Argyle double. Hardy R’s to “hardy hars” in half an hour or so.
Argyle played out the remaining minutes, only to be rewarded (if that is the right sentiment) with a trip to Swansea in the next round. Rangers learned whatever they learned about their youth players (mainly that they are not as good as our one in Tegan Finn), and their fans got excited about Burrell, right until until they splashed out almost three million on Richard Kone from Wycombe later that night.
In the end Argyle retained their historic hoodoo over Rangers in this competition, of never scoring less than three goals and winning three out of three. Once again though, it came at a cost with Paterson limping off before the end of the game and unfit for an indeterminate period.
With no signs of any new blood arriving in time for the weekend, Argyle at least remove one of the geographic obstacles to signing a player by visiting Lincoln City, one of the furthest outposts we travel to this season.
The Imps are now effectively the closest rivals we have to the title “most success capped football City” as their highest ever League position is 5th in the second tier, narrowly behind our best ever second tier fourth place, achieved when fourth got you nothing. Mind you as Argyle also held the record for “when second got you nothing” with their six in a row pre-war antics, Lincoln still have a way to go in the hard luck stakes.
The other end of the Fosse Way, which begins in Isca Dumnoniorum*, Lincoln has a very old cathedral, which from 1311 to 1549 was the tallest building in the world, ahead of the Great Pyramid of Giza, until a turbulent storm caused the spire to collapse.
Lincoln with a population around a third of Plymouth, also has a military history, albeit the other two branches of the armed forces to the fore. The Dambusters 617 Squadron was based at Scampton in the county, and, in the days of World War One, William Tritton, who ran a company producing heavy agricultural machinery was asked to develop a large vehicle to move heavy artillery across the trenched landscape of the war zone. The vehicles developed were the forerunners of, and were developed into, the earliest battle tanks which made their wartime debut in 1917 at Cambrai.
As Argyle continue in their quest for a suitable number nine, Lincoln had their own Marriner, although this one was the violinist and conductor Neville, who founded the Academy of St Martins in the Field, which to date has provided numerous percussionists but not a single attacking midfielder.
The main connection linked by a number nine between Lincoln and Argyle are opposite ends of the “Taxi Tommy” story. Lincoln had paid Sheffield Wednesday a record fee of £33,000 for Tynan, but he lasted a mere nine games for the Imps before being sold for a loss to Newport County. In part this was due to the struggling finances at City. It subsequently transpired that Tynan had persuaded a local taxi firm that the club would reimburse them for taxi fares to take him back to Sheffield, despite the fact the club was paying him a weekly travel allowance for precisely that purpose.
Tynan was changed with deception and fined almost ÂŁ300 after pleading guilty. Having moved to Newport, he then carved his reputation, there and at Argyle, as one of the lower divisions best ever marksmen, before ironically ending up as a local cab driver.
The other well know number nine at Lincoln was journeyman cult figure Matt Rhead. Coming to the fore under the Cowley regime as Lincoln once again fought their way back up from non-league to League status, Rhead was a talismanic traditional no-nonsense centre forward. A former JCB worker, he espoused the values of the local tank building history and bulldozed his way to two promotions and a cup quarter final against Arsenal, scoring a handy 43 goals on the way for City.
In that cup run he managed to provoke Joey Barton in Lincoln’s shock win over Burnley into an embarrassing dive, in a forlorn attempt to get the forward dismissed. He then, perhaps unwisely engaged in trash-talking Arsenal after a poor defeat to Barcelona, (Arsenal not Lincoln), and the gunners ran out easy five nil winners.
Rhead is currently joint player manager for Kidsgrove Athletic, alongside ex Port Vale striker and oft rumoured Argyle target Tom Pope. Double swoop anyone?
Argyle, having seemingly got their season back on the rails, will head to the LNER Stadium hoping that they can maintain their forward momentum. It is a ground historically that Argyle avoid defeat at, (just about, fourteen times to ten and only four wins in that fourteen) although history has a way of tripping you up. Lincoln is also famous for its mute swans, which may have inspired the spectacular swan dives in the early career of then Forest loanee Brennan Johnson, which to be fair, didn’t even need a trip to initiate. Just some heavy breathing seemed to be enough.
Lincoln itself is divided into two distinct areas, known locally as uphill and downhill. The travelling fans will be hoping to avoid the uphill struggle that indicates it may be downhill from here and building on the triumph of experience over youth we saw in midweek.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Alright, Exeter.
