Winter News

Certainly winter outside....so winter it is then.

Wet and windy night....had to pick up things around the garden....including garden chairs.

 

Horrendous traffic in Plymouth this morning: drains not clearing the water and so lanes blocked in Peverell, Hartley, Crownhill….

 

At this moment 13.22hrs on Tuesday...it is semi-dark.....windy ...with rain sheeting down and hammering into the windows on the west side of our bungalow.....guttering totally inadequate to deal with the rain....so it's poring straight over it

 

Winter hasn’t started well. Finn Azaz is out for 10 to 12 weeks. Danny Murphy and Mikel Miller are still 4 to 6 weeks away. Norwich have noted Mumba’s performances & have a recall clause.

 

Watched free of charge the funeral of Gordon Sparks today on Argyle TV.....I was just trawling around and came across it before it had started.....quite a send off for a green legend and it was obvious how well he was liked by those who spoke.....a fitting send off.... well organized by all concerned.

 

Watched the first half of the Hereford v Portsmouth Cup game last night.....that was enough....poor game...low quality.....I know that Portsmouth have injuries and had two loanees unable to play...because their clubs said no last night....but if that is the quality of the 5th placed Div One team....them maybe we're not doing too badly.

 

Watched on and off the Torquay game this afternoon.....(Okay Argyle got dumped out yesterday not sour grapes).....but accept for the last few minutes of excitement.....this game was devoid of anything that resembled football....just recreation ground hoof ball....no interest to the neutral spectator at all.

 

I've been quite disappointed with the quality of the top 10 teams I've seen: Barnsley, Bolton (both live), Sheffield Wednesday (TV), all against Argyle. Without exception, they are more about strength than skill.

The exception is Ipswich: that was a great game with both sides playing good stuff.

 

I just read they are fixing the guttering at Argyle which was apparently leaking somewhere. With what's going on outside my house at the minute I will be surprised if the roof stays on at Home Park tonight. God it's bleddy windy and when the rain comes down it's bleedin horrible. My house is surrounded by trees although they aren't exactly up against my boundary. The noise caused when it's blowing a gale is enough to make your nerves shudder. Glad I'm not going out or having to.

 

Interesting how times change and individuals have their own styles and methods.

Today, player recruitment at the best clubs is done scientifically, based on detailed data collection made possible by huge advances in computer processing power. Just see the fine detail of analysis made available to the public by the likes of Sky Sports, although I sometimes wonder about its interpretation. Recently, one team was praised for having the best record for fighting back from being a goal or more down. That's another way of saying they concede first too often, isn't it?

On the other hand, this is how Ian Holloway does it.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/ian-holloway-signed-plymouth-argyle-7796426

 

YOU'VE HEARD IT HERE FIRST.

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a " MISTAKE".

Blatter, 86, was president of world football's governing body when Qatar was awarded the tournament in 2010.

"It is too small a country, Football and the World Cup are too big for it," he told Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger.

BBC News... 08/11.2022.

 

You see that's why he rose to be FIFA President. Nobody else spotted that did they?

 

I assume he's only mentioning it now....because his 2010 brown envelope has all been spent.

 

Blimey things looking bleak for Conor Grant.....he has a torn thigh muscle....which will probably need surgery....and will be out for up to four months.

Dan Scarr seems to have only a strain...but is still 4 to 6 weeks away from fitness.

Finn Azaz is out for awhile as well.

Bolton...Gillesphey and Mayor are not yet ready to play....how much longer.....not sure if Houghton will be available this weekend

Mickel Miller who hasn't made a competitive start yet for Argyle is a week away from contact challenges in training....lets hope that goes well.....we need players coming back not being side lined.....enough is enough.....we need our luck to change.

 

Some good news....we're being told that Macaulay Gillesphey will be on the bench for Saturday's away game at Lincoln.

And also that Friday Dec 2nd has been pencilled in as a possible return date for Danny Mayor that is the Port Vale match.

 

Stephen Schumacher is named League 1 Manager of the Month for the second month in a row. He hopes the squad can be strengthened - or deepened - in the next transfer window as injuries build up.

 

Said Schuey was a shoe in for the prize on the Exeter thread earlier this month. With his results compared to the rest he couldn't fail. Maybe the unlucky bit of receiving it has gone from failing in the very next result to getting more injuries you don't want. Hopefully that isn't true because we can't afford any more.

 

I just bought tickets for the Morecambe game: 10 minutes after they went on sale to Flexi ticket holders and a whole month before the game.

There aren't a lot left even now: some in the Devonport End Block 1, Family Area Block 6, Lyndhurst Block 9 and Zoo Corner Block 17. They don't go on general sale for another week yet.

The Kawasaki Barn Park End doesn't seem to have been released. I can't imagine Morecambe will sell many so there will be a couple of blocks free there eventually.

 

By the time that game is played there will be live football stavation having set in. This has to be the weirdest season yet for interuptions and long gaps in fixtures at home.

 

We needn't bother too much anyway as it's clearly all over bar the shouting:

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/data-experts-make-plymouth-argyle-7832478

With a growing injury list, I can't help feeling that "past performance is no guarantee of future results" disclaimer is very relevant here.