One Game at a Time: You’re Only Here for the Fist Pumps
Preston North End (H) March 16th
In a bizarre sense of déjà vu, Argyle play former boss Ryan Lowe’s Preston North End in the run up to another international break, just as we did in September. Then, as now, we entertained the shiny suited one on the back of a fine performance against their near neighbours the Rovers. It would not have been a travesty based on the performance at Ewood last week if Argyle were once again heading into the match on the back of the three-goal performance. Indeed, it is only 200 up Ryan Hardie who will ever truly know why that isn’t the case.
It is fair to say that the performance at Blackburn probably mattered more than the result in the eyes of the fans. Discontent over the perceived loss of the style and impact of the early season performances, and the “we’ll score one more than you, never say die attitude” needed to be put aside. The return of Cooper the Keeper gave confidence to the defence and the inclusion of the Moose gave a spirit of optimism. The opening goal of the duel of the top scorers falling to Szmodics, and early at that could have deflated the side, but after that the tide was distinctly one way. Such was the dominance of Argyle that, one awful miss aside, Rovers barely laid a glove on Argyle for the rest of the match. Had Sammy decided to complete his Bridgerton Charm School secret santa, he could have done worse than book one lesson for the second half. As it was his sole significant contribution was to not get in the way of the Argyle equaliser, finished close in and eventually by the other member of the top gun duellists, Whitts.
In truth Argyle will be disappointed not to have taken all three points, but the return of a semblance of the threat and style that previously enthralled us at least encouraged the faithful that Pulis-ball had not returned like some sad Stoke inflicted punishment on Home Park.
Stoke inflicted was in fact what Preston and their badge laden leader suffered when, in the first of his two consecutive games with exes, Lowe took on his erstwhile number two, in a game where despite winning two one, City could realistically admit that they knew very little about any of the three goals. The first was an own goal, the equaliser a free header, and their winner effectively rebounded in off the unknowing McNally with insufficient time for Preston to get a second equaliser.
It is now that time of the season where other games figure almost as large in the fans psyche as the ones played by your own team. Podcasts have in depth analysis on who will rise and who will fall, clubs fansites feature reviews of games that even by next season will have fallen so far down the memory tree as to barely exist and everyone has an opinion as to which sides are nailed on to escape and which sides are doomed to slide.
The absurdity of these predictions, and I read one this week which basically offered that Argyle look doomed whilst a side we are one game away from overtaking look safe, means that whilst I read them all (of course we do) I try not to read too much into so called expertise and analysis that can be turned on its head in an instant.
Preston are a good example of this. Effectively, despite their home defeat by Stoke, are realistically in with a very outside chance of the play-offs. Just as they were last season. For a club with a middling budget this could only be seen as a decent showing. Add to that their next five fixtures starting today are against teams in the relegation shake-up, they should in theory be looking at a strong run before taking on their more complex games against promotion rivals Norwich City Southampton, West Brom and Leicester. Their game in hand effectively therefore is QPR away, which depending on results will take place against a team that is either safe, doomed or battling for every point.
And yet when the teams come out and the managers do the pre-match handshake, Lowe is probably going to get a better reception from the Argyle fans than the North Enders. And he probably isn’t going to get a great one from the Argyle fans.
Lowe’s departure from Argyle was, in hindsight, the best thing he could have done for Argyle. The fact that his then number two decided to make the step up and decline the offer to join his long-term managerial partner heading back North (something that is often overlooked when the two are compared, and Lowe is given brownie points for not raiding his former club) resulted in a season of exhilarating football and a Championship season that few Argyle fans expected.
Initially his acceptance by the Preston fans saw him oversee a huge rebuild of the squad at the end of the opening season. They finished fair and square mid table, in twelfth, but that fails to take into account the fact that, having missed the play-offs by six points, that was due to the fact they finished the season with a terrible run of one draw and four defeats in their last five games.
By this time there were rumblings of discontent from the fans over the style of the fare being served up, with only forty-five goals scored all season. Criticisms of failing to make changes to alter the flow of the game, familiar to Argyle fans, as well as his press style, and to a lesser degree, his apparent desire to forge a career in punditry alongside his managerial aspirations meant that the Lowe in or our thread on the Preston forum was one of the busier ones.
North End stuck with their man, and together with the Hemmings family, who somewhat thanklessly bankroll the club to the tune of around twelve million pounds a season, and their famed Football advisor, the Riddler, Lowe was handed a decent kitty to continue to build a side that could challenge for the play-offs, including a four-million-pound striker. They were however, outbid and out manoeuvred in their attempt to bring back Tom Cannon, the young Everton forward who eventually ended up at Leicester.
They started the season well, the win over Argyle cementing their unexpected assault on the automatic places, until, at the end of September a three-game run of defeats by Albion, Leicester and Ipswich, conceding eleven goals in the process meant the wheels began to come off. As the pressure mounted and results dwindles, including a run of four wins in nineteen fixtures, criticism from the sidelines rose, leading to a spiky exchange where Lowe effectively told fans that unless they had coaching badges they should simply get on with supporting and leave the clever coaching stuff to the experts.
That went down about as well as you would expect it to with the North Enders, and, if fans sites are to be believed, Lowe has been in the last chance saloon at least twice this season and may not survive a third visit.
He has not been helped, despite a creditable away win at rivals Coventry, albeit in the midst of their FA Cup run, by sketchy form and defeat by his so-called prodigy, where the City boss doubled up on danger man Miller, effectively negating their main goal threat.
His first return to Argyle will probably pass with relatively little bile and fury. Argyle fans tend not to react in an overboard manner to ex bosses, and Paul Sturrock and Derek Adams have both returned and received decent receptions. Plus, we have moved on and our ire is doubtless reserved for our trip to the Potteries, so any annoyance with Lowe currently is probably more his sides capitulations to relegation rivals. It is fair to say that Rupert Lowe, the Saint chairman who stole Sturrock only to discard him, probably is the more reviled of his namesakes, with the “swing Lowe, Swing Rupert Lowe, swing him from the Tamar Bridge” which was sung heartily by home and away fans alike was a more fervent dislike. And that was before he became a Reform Party candidate.
So, Preston and Lowe are simply another chance to earn one of the three wins we need to ensure we continue our journey to sustainability at this level. Hopefully we won’t be fooled by the master class of coaching that gained Preston their first minute opener in the away game, and perhaps spot the fact that having almost all their players in a small part of one wing of the pitch might be to free space on the other one.
Hardie has a last pre-international break audition for Scotland, and on his two hundredth appearance for the club since being signed By Lowe, will want to leave an indelible impression. Morgs is back in the goals and the Moose has been loosed. Elsewhere, rivals have tough games and so three points would be a huge step towards safety.
Fozzy has shown he can set up a team to play bright attacking football. Our away form has been relatively speaking transformed under him, but we would love our home form to return to earlier times.
What better opponent than Lowe to take to the cleaners.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Preston North End (H) March 16th
In a bizarre sense of déjà vu, Argyle play former boss Ryan Lowe’s Preston North End in the run up to another international break, just as we did in September. Then, as now, we entertained the shiny suited one on the back of a fine performance against their near neighbours the Rovers. It would not have been a travesty based on the performance at Ewood last week if Argyle were once again heading into the match on the back of the three-goal performance. Indeed, it is only 200 up Ryan Hardie who will ever truly know why that isn’t the case.
It is fair to say that the performance at Blackburn probably mattered more than the result in the eyes of the fans. Discontent over the perceived loss of the style and impact of the early season performances, and the “we’ll score one more than you, never say die attitude” needed to be put aside. The return of Cooper the Keeper gave confidence to the defence and the inclusion of the Moose gave a spirit of optimism. The opening goal of the duel of the top scorers falling to Szmodics, and early at that could have deflated the side, but after that the tide was distinctly one way. Such was the dominance of Argyle that, one awful miss aside, Rovers barely laid a glove on Argyle for the rest of the match. Had Sammy decided to complete his Bridgerton Charm School secret santa, he could have done worse than book one lesson for the second half. As it was his sole significant contribution was to not get in the way of the Argyle equaliser, finished close in and eventually by the other member of the top gun duellists, Whitts.
In truth Argyle will be disappointed not to have taken all three points, but the return of a semblance of the threat and style that previously enthralled us at least encouraged the faithful that Pulis-ball had not returned like some sad Stoke inflicted punishment on Home Park.
Stoke inflicted was in fact what Preston and their badge laden leader suffered when, in the first of his two consecutive games with exes, Lowe took on his erstwhile number two, in a game where despite winning two one, City could realistically admit that they knew very little about any of the three goals. The first was an own goal, the equaliser a free header, and their winner effectively rebounded in off the unknowing McNally with insufficient time for Preston to get a second equaliser.
It is now that time of the season where other games figure almost as large in the fans psyche as the ones played by your own team. Podcasts have in depth analysis on who will rise and who will fall, clubs fansites feature reviews of games that even by next season will have fallen so far down the memory tree as to barely exist and everyone has an opinion as to which sides are nailed on to escape and which sides are doomed to slide.
The absurdity of these predictions, and I read one this week which basically offered that Argyle look doomed whilst a side we are one game away from overtaking look safe, means that whilst I read them all (of course we do) I try not to read too much into so called expertise and analysis that can be turned on its head in an instant.
Preston are a good example of this. Effectively, despite their home defeat by Stoke, are realistically in with a very outside chance of the play-offs. Just as they were last season. For a club with a middling budget this could only be seen as a decent showing. Add to that their next five fixtures starting today are against teams in the relegation shake-up, they should in theory be looking at a strong run before taking on their more complex games against promotion rivals Norwich City Southampton, West Brom and Leicester. Their game in hand effectively therefore is QPR away, which depending on results will take place against a team that is either safe, doomed or battling for every point.
And yet when the teams come out and the managers do the pre-match handshake, Lowe is probably going to get a better reception from the Argyle fans than the North Enders. And he probably isn’t going to get a great one from the Argyle fans.
Lowe’s departure from Argyle was, in hindsight, the best thing he could have done for Argyle. The fact that his then number two decided to make the step up and decline the offer to join his long-term managerial partner heading back North (something that is often overlooked when the two are compared, and Lowe is given brownie points for not raiding his former club) resulted in a season of exhilarating football and a Championship season that few Argyle fans expected.
Initially his acceptance by the Preston fans saw him oversee a huge rebuild of the squad at the end of the opening season. They finished fair and square mid table, in twelfth, but that fails to take into account the fact that, having missed the play-offs by six points, that was due to the fact they finished the season with a terrible run of one draw and four defeats in their last five games.
By this time there were rumblings of discontent from the fans over the style of the fare being served up, with only forty-five goals scored all season. Criticisms of failing to make changes to alter the flow of the game, familiar to Argyle fans, as well as his press style, and to a lesser degree, his apparent desire to forge a career in punditry alongside his managerial aspirations meant that the Lowe in or our thread on the Preston forum was one of the busier ones.
North End stuck with their man, and together with the Hemmings family, who somewhat thanklessly bankroll the club to the tune of around twelve million pounds a season, and their famed Football advisor, the Riddler, Lowe was handed a decent kitty to continue to build a side that could challenge for the play-offs, including a four-million-pound striker. They were however, outbid and out manoeuvred in their attempt to bring back Tom Cannon, the young Everton forward who eventually ended up at Leicester.
They started the season well, the win over Argyle cementing their unexpected assault on the automatic places, until, at the end of September a three-game run of defeats by Albion, Leicester and Ipswich, conceding eleven goals in the process meant the wheels began to come off. As the pressure mounted and results dwindles, including a run of four wins in nineteen fixtures, criticism from the sidelines rose, leading to a spiky exchange where Lowe effectively told fans that unless they had coaching badges they should simply get on with supporting and leave the clever coaching stuff to the experts.
That went down about as well as you would expect it to with the North Enders, and, if fans sites are to be believed, Lowe has been in the last chance saloon at least twice this season and may not survive a third visit.
He has not been helped, despite a creditable away win at rivals Coventry, albeit in the midst of their FA Cup run, by sketchy form and defeat by his so-called prodigy, where the City boss doubled up on danger man Miller, effectively negating their main goal threat.
His first return to Argyle will probably pass with relatively little bile and fury. Argyle fans tend not to react in an overboard manner to ex bosses, and Paul Sturrock and Derek Adams have both returned and received decent receptions. Plus, we have moved on and our ire is doubtless reserved for our trip to the Potteries, so any annoyance with Lowe currently is probably more his sides capitulations to relegation rivals. It is fair to say that Rupert Lowe, the Saint chairman who stole Sturrock only to discard him, probably is the more reviled of his namesakes, with the “swing Lowe, Swing Rupert Lowe, swing him from the Tamar Bridge” which was sung heartily by home and away fans alike was a more fervent dislike. And that was before he became a Reform Party candidate.
So, Preston and Lowe are simply another chance to earn one of the three wins we need to ensure we continue our journey to sustainability at this level. Hopefully we won’t be fooled by the master class of coaching that gained Preston their first minute opener in the away game, and perhaps spot the fact that having almost all their players in a small part of one wing of the pitch might be to free space on the other one.
Hardie has a last pre-international break audition for Scotland, and on his two hundredth appearance for the club since being signed By Lowe, will want to leave an indelible impression. Morgs is back in the goals and the Moose has been loosed. Elsewhere, rivals have tough games and so three points would be a huge step towards safety.
Fozzy has shown he can set up a team to play bright attacking football. Our away form has been relatively speaking transformed under him, but we would love our home form to return to earlier times.
What better opponent than Lowe to take to the cleaners.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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