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The Greatest Pilgrims
- Thread starter davie nine
- Start date
Mickey Evans...No2...unbelievable....strike rate of less than 19% per match.....even our ice-cream selling New Zealander has a better strike rate than Evans......a striker = goals scored... not just a linkman....Evans had other good assets....but scoring goals was not his strong point.
Agree, these polls are pretty pointless when a player as limited in ability as Evans can push Mariner and Rafferty down the list. Anybody who was there or who knows their Argyle history knows that Paul Mariner was not only the best striker Argyle have had, but quite probably the best player. His playing career after Argyle only substantiates the claim. In no way was Evans, a player I admired a lot, a better striker than either Mariner or Rafferty - the best strike partnership the club ever had. Itâs a damning indictment of the clubs ownership back then, that they didnât do more to keep them together, as they may well have ended up in the top flight if they had. Remember, Argyle had much bigger support then, with some big crowds in the old Div2.
Mariner was pretty much an Argyle product having been plucked from non league obscurity and turned into the best striker in Div 2. England international a year later. No other Argyle player comes close.
My top 3 strikers 1. Mariner by a mile. 2. Tynan. 3. Rafferty :scarf:
Mariner was pretty much an Argyle product having been plucked from non league obscurity and turned into the best striker in Div 2. England international a year later. No other Argyle player comes close.
My top 3 strikers 1. Mariner by a mile. 2. Tynan. 3. Rafferty :scarf:
Who was the better player? Mariner, without a doubt. Who contributed more to the Argyle cause? Evans, equally as emphatically.
Mariner may have gone on to play at the very highest level, but he didn't do that wearing green. Evans, on the other hand, helped take us into the playoffs twice (once successfully), before generating a six-figure sum when we sold him to Southampton. He then came back and played a significant role in winning us a further two promotions. I think people forget just how important he was to Sturrock's side - he practically carried them on his back and kept on doing it even when we returned to the second tier. He wasn't prolific but that wasn't his job.
Not to mention that he was Plymouth born and bred!
The fact that he's finished as high as second just shows that he's still held in high regard by many Argyle fans and rightfully so in my opinion.
Mariner may have gone on to play at the very highest level, but he didn't do that wearing green. Evans, on the other hand, helped take us into the playoffs twice (once successfully), before generating a six-figure sum when we sold him to Southampton. He then came back and played a significant role in winning us a further two promotions. I think people forget just how important he was to Sturrock's side - he practically carried them on his back and kept on doing it even when we returned to the second tier. He wasn't prolific but that wasn't his job.
Not to mention that he was Plymouth born and bred!
The fact that he's finished as high as second just shows that he's still held in high regard by many Argyle fans and rightfully so in my opinion.
I also think that Evans before Mariner and Rafferty is a travesty. Evans is a much underrated player who contributed in spades to our cause but no way is he greater than Mariner and Rafferty
All this depends on how long people have been supporting Argyle !
There were apparently great teams in the 1930s and 1950s which I never saw play. Nor did I see the teams of the 1970s featuring Mariner etc. And how good was the likes of Fred Craig from the 1920s? - I won't ever know.
As someone who has been watching since the 1980s players who really stood out would include the following... Tynan, Dalton, Castle, McCall, Morrison, Marker, Poole, Mark Smith, Mark Stuart, Nalis, Norris, Marshall, Friio. Maybe Carey. As a target man, Evans was the best I saw. The best loan must be Scott Sinclair who was electric.
Its also worth remembering that the best Argyle teams have played at 2nd tier (Championship) level so its hard to make comparisons with the current team at 4th tier level.
I think its fair to say that professional standards and physical fitness have improved over the years. You couldn't go out and have a few pints after training like Tynan did. But on the other hand, these players were the best of their era and would have probably played just as well in the modern era of football.
There were apparently great teams in the 1930s and 1950s which I never saw play. Nor did I see the teams of the 1970s featuring Mariner etc. And how good was the likes of Fred Craig from the 1920s? - I won't ever know.
As someone who has been watching since the 1980s players who really stood out would include the following... Tynan, Dalton, Castle, McCall, Morrison, Marker, Poole, Mark Smith, Mark Stuart, Nalis, Norris, Marshall, Friio. Maybe Carey. As a target man, Evans was the best I saw. The best loan must be Scott Sinclair who was electric.
Its also worth remembering that the best Argyle teams have played at 2nd tier (Championship) level so its hard to make comparisons with the current team at 4th tier level.
I think its fair to say that professional standards and physical fitness have improved over the years. You couldn't go out and have a few pints after training like Tynan did. But on the other hand, these players were the best of their era and would have probably played just as well in the modern era of football.
Youâre probably right but how many people would have seen Sammy Black play? Probably none. And probably very few ever saw Tadman or Carter. Yet lots of people obviously voted for them. Makes you wonder.
There is a name that rarely gets mention but who was not only unquestionably one of the best full backs we ever had but in all probability in the EFL in his time and that is Tony Book. Captained Man City and had a fantastic career with them. An amazing player who arrived late on in the professional game.
In my opinion, having watched Argyle for 65 years, JOHNNY WILLIAMS was the overall Greatest Pilgrim.
448 games, 55 goals, many from distance.
A true Argyle Legend.
448 games, 55 goals, many from distance.
A true Argyle Legend.
As others have noted, these lists are somewhat flawed. This list of strikers is an example. Two of our three leading post-war scorers, Maurice Tadman and Wilf Carter, are missing from the list. They are also two of only 6 to score more than 100 goals for the club. Both scored a lot of their goals in tier 2. Carter is the only man ever to score 5 in a single first team game and Tadman twice scored four in a single game. Whether or not people saw them play (and I only saw Carter), the figures don't lie.PL2 3DQ":11qoouks said:
Sorry, I've completely missed all of this. I assume this is just post-war? Because Jack Leslie is obviously in the top 3 at the very least.
