Westcountry Footyblog

Massive Stoke tie for City

2008-04-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

The biggest game of the Championship this weekend sees Stoke City take on Bristol City and it by far both sides most important of the season so far. With Stoke ahead by just one point the result is crucial to both sides. But who will be victorious on the day?

Results in the Championship this season have been unpredictable all season and I do not expect this to change on Saturday. Both sides have not enjoyed the best of form in recent weeks with City only winning once in their last eight games and Stoke have failed to win at home for three games. Tony Pulis’s side did however win away against Coventry last weekend, which will be a huge confidence boost. City, on the other hand have lost their previous two away games and we are struggling to hit the back of the net. But surely our luck has got to change?

Stoke will present one of the sternest tests of the season as they will be desperate to claim second spot and a win against City would go a long way to achieving this. They also have two prolific players who can score goals in Fuller and Lawrence, and they will pose a big threat to our defence. But, although we may not be firing on all cylinders up front, we certainly know how to defend.

Despite them being ahead of us in the league, they are at home and pressure will hopefully be on them to produce a performance. As the away side I expect us to be solid in the first half and frustrate the home crowd. With Stoke anticipating their biggest home crowd of season with 20,000 plus expectant supporters, it is sure to a hostile atmosphere, but we should have 2,000 fans offering their support.

When City played host to Stoke back in October, we won 1-0, a Marvin Elliot stunner winning the game and I would gladly settle for another 1-0 this weekend. But whatever the result, nothing will be decided this weekend. The Championship has offered many surprise results this season and I am sure there will be a few more twists and turns before the final game of the season. It could be that neither side secures one of the automatic places and we may end up playing each other again in the play-offs. Hull, who currently stand between City and Stoke are in fantastic form and they will not give up their place without a fight. The only thing I can be certain of is that it will be great entertainment and with no football to watch in the summer, I don’t want it to end.

ANDY DAVIES

Scoring problems

2008-04-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a problem all season and at the moment we are paying for it. Scoring goals has been much harder this season than it was last year and after 43 games Bristol City have only scored 49 goals, compared to free-scoring West Brom who have managed 82 goals. I know they have had a bigger spending budget than us and have been an established Championship team much longer than we have, but it is a cause for concern. Even at the bottom of the league, already relegated Colchester have chalked up 58 goals, so where does the problem lie with our scoring exploits?

In the summer we spent £1million on Lee Trundle and in return he has netted just four goals, we recruited attacking wingers Ivan Sproule and Michael McIndoe who have scored six goals between them, and we also recruited Darren Byfield who is our top scorer with just eight goals. With these goal scoring ‘exploits’ it is hard to see how we have remained near the top for so long. I can only recall two players who have managed to exceed my expectations with their goal scoring records. Marvin Elliot, although he has only scored six times, he is a tough tackling midfielder and no one expected him to perform so well. The second player is Dele Adebola, who after arriving in January from Coventry after scoring five goals all season for them, has already netted five for us in 14 games.

After Saturday’s game against Wolves, it is hard to see where we are going to score the goals to try and win our final three games. Although the performance on Saturday was a big improvement on the Southampton game, we hardly looked like scoring against Mick McCarthy’s team. So where are we going wrong? I have said previously what a crucial player Lee Johnson is to the team and this has been proved in recent weeks. We seem to lack ideas in midfield and instead of passing the ball on the ground the players are resorting to playing a more direct style of football, which isn’t working.

Some fans have said we should have brought in more attacking options on loan but this hasn’t helped Charlton’s cause. A combination Gary hasn’t tried is Brooker and Trundle up front, which might work, or is that me being optimistic? With Brooker holding the ball up, he could perhaps bring Trundle into play more, something Trundle hasn’t had since he arrived as he has usually partnered Byfield in attack. Anyone think this could work?

Another option would be to play some youngsters like Tristan Plummer, whose energy and pace might bring a change in fortune. But this is unlikely to happen as we are at a crucial stage in the season and I don’t think Johnson will experiment with kids. If we fail to beat Stoke, the only option will be to play three up front. Playing Brooker, Adebola and Byfield together would cause Sheffield United and Preston some problems.

With just three games left I hope we can make the top two, and if we can start scoring there is no doubt we can win the next three matches. With the Championship being so competitive, possibly two wins and a draw can see us snatch second place. All we can do as fans is support the lads.

ANDY DAVIES

Black Wednesday

2008-04-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

I’m writing this and wishing I was somewhere else. Anywhere with a telly and selling alcohol, ideally. But it wasn’t to be, and like many football fans I have found myself a victim of the grand overlords of Sky TV. This Saturday just gone, April 12th, I had originally intended to attend Plymouth Argyle’s scheduled match at Sheffield Wednesday, our 43rd Championship fixture of the season and potentially (certainly at the time of organising the trip) decisive in our play-off push. I booked my train tickets from my home in Gloucestershire four weeks in advance to avoid the ridiculous cost of on-the-day public transport, and waited for match tickets to go on sale. Alas, it was at this point that Rupert Murdoch’s media machine – generally about as interested in covering Argyle as a vegan is in eating veal – whirred into seemingly aimless action and had the game moved to Monday night for live transmission to subscribers. At the same time when my return travel, already purchased, was due to occur.

Thus here I am, tapping away on my laptop while almost anything could be happening at Hillsbrough. The bleddy train even went through Sheffield on the way down, but with it being nearly 9pm I considered jumping off, watching the rest of the game and spending the night in the station to be a little pointless, especially given recent events.

I’ve been somewhat absent from this site for a couple of weeks, for two reasons. Firstly, my University course has been rather more hectic and difficult than usual, but, far more pertinently, Argyle have managed almost entirely extinguish our greatest ever hopes of reaching the top flight of English football. First there was the embarrassing 3-1 loss at struggling Coventry, with the Greens 3-0 down before the much-maligned Steve McLean grabbed an admittedly impressive consolation. This left us needing, realistically, four wins from our last five matches going into the home tie with Charlton. I travelled down full of hope and expectation and, despite a dire showing by both teams, Jermaine Easter’s second-half goal looked likely to be the difference between them. Then Luke McCormick had one of those spells where everything goes wrong, twice fumbling in his own six-yard box and giving visiting striker Leroy Lita a pair of tap-ins. Heartbreaking.

Since then the crushing, numbing disappointment of losing to two poor sides has got the better of me, and I’ve attempted to hide from football – frequenting the BBC Sport website less often, shunning Focus and MOTD, skipping the sports pages. Still, the ‘beauty’ of the Argyle White Membership I have is you get six home match vouchers to use throughout the season, and I’ve got one left. So I’ll be there for the Preston game on Saturday, when Argyle will in all likelihood have little to play for but pride, and possibly a highest-ever league finish in my lifetime. That, at least, should whet the appetite for another crack next season.

RICH PARTINGTON

Basso for England?

2008-04-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

When an unknown Brazilian keeper called Adriano Basso arrived at Ashton Gate from Conference side Woking in late 2005, many City fans questioned the signing. With Steve Phillips still between the posts, having seen off competition from endless loan signings, I thought the same ending was likely to happen in this case. How wrong I was.

Two and half seasons later and Basso has established himself as a first team regular and Phillips, who couldn’t handle the rejection, headed down the road to Rovers. After two fantastic seasons being our number one keeper, Basso now has aspirations of playing for England or his native Brazil. He now holds a British passport after being in the country for five years and at 32 years of age, he still has a realistic chance of fulfilling his dream. I certainly believe he has the ability to do this. In my opinion he is a far better goalkeeper than the likes of Paul Robinson, whose mistakes have cost England dear in the past. With David James still performing well but his age a concern for many, I think Basso is definitely a capable replacement.

Last week, Basso received the PFA Championship Player of the Month award for March, and it was a well deserved accolade as he saved two penalties over the course of the month, and made countless saves. It is a far cry from the player who arrived nearly three years ago who I thought was nowhere near as good as Phillips. For starters, his goal kicking was abysmal as he struggled to get the ball over the half way line, but I am glad to say this has since improved and it is only on rare occasions that one of his kicks will put hearts in mouths. I was also a bit wary of his shot stopping ability, which was one Phillips’s best assets. However the Brazilian has proven me wrong and I am glad he has.

After looking at Basso and Phillips, the ability and attitudes towards football could not be more different. It is clear Adriano understands football is a team game and on the odd occasion when he has lost his place to Chris Weale, he has accepted it. Phillips on the other hand will throw his toys out of the pram and blame every other player around him before he even contemplates whether he made a mistake. This was demonstrated in one of his last appearances in a City shirt when Phillips failed to save a free kick aimed straight at him, against Notts County in the FA Cup. County, who were a league below us, beat us 2-0 at home and Steve blamed the goal on the new ball which had been introduced specifically for the competition.

Since that day, the two goalkeepers have seen their careers go in opposite directions and it is no surprise to me to see why. Basso’s attitude, along with that of the rest of the City squad, is fantastic and that is one of the main reasons we find ourselves in the position we are. The players will work for one another and are pleased to see another team mate do well, even if it means they have to sit on the bench and watch the game. It is a team spirit I hope will not be ruined if we managed to win promotion and see half of the squad replaced with new players. But I don’t think Gary Johnson would let that happen.

If City can reach the Premier League, surely Basso would stand a great chance of gaining his first international cap whether it is with England or Brazil? To me, there is no better goalkeeper in the Football League and we were very lucky to find him. So what do the rest of you City fans think, could Basso play for England?

ANDY DAVIES

Closing in on the Premiership. Bring Wilson back?

2008-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

It’s the old cliché, but a week is really a long time in football. Last week I wrote about how City’s chances of remaining in the top two looked under threat as we were without a win in five games and the teams around us were closing in, particularly Hull City, who have been in fantastic form in recent weeks. But seven days after our dismal performance and result against Cardiff, we now sit proudly again at the top of the league with just five games to go. But I suppose that’s what football is all about.

Going into the Norwich match on Saturday, we had only managed three goals from our last five games and I suspected if we were going to beat Glen Roeder’s team, we would have to keep a clean sheet. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop Darren Huckerby cancelling out Dele Adebola’s close range finish on 70 minutes and we looked almost certain to end the game having collected only one point. To be fair to Norwich, they had plenty of chances in the second half to win the game, and will count themselves unlucky not to score a second goal.

But what a finish we had. Steve Brooker, making his ‘home debut’ for a second time after a disastrous 14 months of persistent injuries, pops up in the box to head the ball into the net in the 93rd minute, and it could prove to be his most important goal in a City shirt.
After five games without a win Gary Johnson decided to reshuffle his starting eleven with regulars like Marvin Elliot and Ivan Sproule making way for Cole Skuse and Scott Murray, who have both waited patiently all season for their chance. Lee Trundle and Darren Byfield also found themselves out of the squad, having to watch the game from the stands. Gary, explaining his selection at the end of the game, said he felt after the Cardiff game that he had too many players in the squad who hadn’t been with him last season. If we had lost, his thinking would have come back to haunt him, but in the end it worked out well.

Elliot, although one of our players of the season, has looked tired in recent games and was in need of a rest. Similarly, Sproule hasn’t set us alight in recent matches and with Brian Wilson failing to fulfil the right wing role it was good to see Scott put on the shirt again. As Gary said, his starting eleven only contained two players who had not been part of the promotion season last year, with McIndoe and Adebola starting, although McIndoe has already played under Gary at Yeovil and knows what Johnson expects of him.

The inclusion of Skuse received a mixed reaction from myself – I was pleased Elliot was being rested, but am not the biggest fan of Skuse. But to be fair to him he played very well, getting better as the match wore on and made some important tackles. He also won the Man of the Match award, so I must be wrong about him!

Now things are looking very exciting with City at the top of the league with just five games to go, and we are on course to achieve something none of us dreamed of at the start of the season. Yet some people are never satisfied, as I found out on Saturday, with one so-called ‘supporter’ wishing we still had Danny Wilson as manager because we ‘played better football under him’. If that were the case, we would be still languishing in the third tier of English football. It’s funny how you only hear these ‘fans’ when they are moaning. Yet when a the team have a good shot or defend well, it likely to go unnoticed and when we score, they seem to act as if they have been encouraging the team all along. But I guess that’s football.

ANDY DAVIES

Dare to dream? But don't bother with predictions

2008-03-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

You can tell it’s that time of the season. I wasn’t able to attend Plymouth Argyle’s 1-1 draw with Watford on Saturday – Easter weekend holiday with family and other half – but even in the days before the game I could feel a creeping sense of fevered anticipation, significantly greater than for an average game.

Going into the tie Argyle were sixth, a point clear of the chasing pack, although those behind had games in hand. Following it, our lead is now only on goal difference from Ipswich, who have played a game fewer, and looking at the remaining fixtures I believe the likeliest outcome will be a straight fight between ourselves and the Tractor Boys for the final play-off spot.

For several weeks I have been resisting the self-conscious inanities of constructing a fantasy Championship future on the BBC Sport website’s Predictor. However, with Argyle’s ‘Played’ column now sporting a heroic big four-o, and reasoning that some quickfire stabs in the dark would not be an utterly ridiculous waste of time, I took the plunge.

And it reminded me of one of the reasons I stopped gambling on football – even though, on a basic level, your own team is the sporting area you are most knowledgeable about, it really is impossible to be entirely honest about their fortunes, whether occurred or anticipated. When you’ve invested so many years and pounds in something, the strong possibility of having your greatest ever success snatched away seems too horrible to acknowledge, yet expecting your dreams to be fulfilled seems like self-delusion.

Coupled with the dizzying unpredictability of this season’s Championship, guessing scorelines seems largely pointless.

But I did it anyway, and supposedly Argyle will win four of six remaining games, drawing the other two and finishing on 73 points, sixth on goal difference from Ipswich.

Looking at it now, this seems very optimistic. But the pivotal half-dozen, on paper at least, are hardly frightening. On Saturday we travel to Coventry, mired in a relegation battle which I think could be ultimately unsuccessful, and coming off the back of two goal-less bore draws with other strugglers. Our other games on the road – where an impressive eight wins have been racked up this season – are a televised trip to Paul Sturrock’s old club Sheffield Wednesday, on decent form but still in the bottom three and with manager Brian Laws on shaky ground, and the final day tussle with Wolverhampton Wanderers. This is surely the trickiest one left, and nightmares of an Ebanks-Blake winner to send his new club into the top six at our expense are already surfacing amongst the Green Army.

At home we have Charlton, winless in five and seemingly fading from view, and Lancashire sides Preston and Blackpool. The historic clubs of Finney and Matthews have pulled themselves away from worries of demotion through good form, but are better on their own patches and will not fancy the long trips south, especially considering their safety should be pretty much assured by then.

But for now, perhaps it’s better to glory in Jermaine Easter’s crushing finish to give Argyle the lead on Saturday. Not only did the Welsh international bury his one-on-one hoodoo against Hornets keeper Richard Lee, but he kept the Pilgrims in the play-off hunt. And what a weekend to do it - a headline writer's soggy slumber.

It was also great to see a decent crowd at Home Park at last - more than 17,500, and hopefully this will be repeated for the remaining home fixtures.

The injury to and sending off of Peter Halmosi, still by far our most important player, was a blow. But at least the Hungarian might have got all his bad luck for the season out of the way in one game, and missing the Magyars' midweek friendly with Slovenia (which Kristian Timar should feature in) could provide him with a well-earnt rest. If Halmosi's back for the Charlton home game on April 5, expect a re-energised magician tearing through the Addicks' defence.

The Coventry match really is a must-win, even with Peter – we can’t keep relying on our rivals slipping up, as has been the case in the last few weeks. As the 2007-8 season reaches its conclusion, the pressure on sides at top and bottom will become greatest, and it will be character as much as technique which breeds success. Argyle under Luggy have rarely been short of character.

RICH PARTINGTON

Jones' joking irks Johnson

2008-03-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Six games to go and Bristol City are without a win in five, slowly surrendering their tight lead near the top of the table. Ok, so things can quickly change in the Championship as we have all seen, and in two weeks time we could have put two wins together and strengthened our position.

But at the moment I am getting slightly nervous. We all know no one expected City to be challenging for a place in the Premier League, but now that we have found ourselves in this position we want to stay there. After two straight defeats, are we cracking up under the pressure?

For Gary Johnson and his team, I do not think there is any pressure put on them from the fans as we are as surprised as anyone else at their success, but with the increased media attention as the season draws to a close, perhaps this is affecting the players. Looking back on these five games, it was frustrating to see us lose at home to Plymouth, but we have managed to draw against Watford and Leicester away when Ian Holloway’s team clearly had more chances than enough chances to win. We also rescued a point against Charlton away, which is no easy game as West Brom found out on Good Friday. But losing to Cardiff on Saturday was disappointing and frustrating as we have now seen our position further weakened with Hull City now in with a shout of automatic promotion.

Unfortunately, the referee and his officials wanted to become part of the show with the linesman ruling out a goal for Steve Brooker. Then Keith Stroud awarded Cardiff a penalty, and finally Gary Johnson was sent to the stands for attempting to get the ball back in play quickly while the fourth official and Dave Jones were having a joke. The offside decision was touch and go and had it been the home side, I suspect the goal may have stood. The penalty award was probably correct if even Steven PcPhail did go down rather easily, but Johnson being sent to the stands was ludicrous. He clearly tried to get the ball back to his team while the fourth official was having a laugh, and according to Johnson the referee sent him off without even to talking to his colleague.

They say bad things come in threes and that was the case in this game. It remains to be seen whether these decisions could have an impact on the outcome of our season. Following these two defeats, it makes next week’s game against Norwich a ‘must win’. We cannot afford another slip up and we could see ourselves fall out of the play-offs let alone the automatic places. I still believe two more wins will secure a play off finish and at least four wins will be needed for a top two finish.

There were however some positives to take from the game against Cardiff. We managed to score more than one goal in a game, even if one of them was disallowed, and we saw the long awaited return of Steve Brooker. It had been 11 months since he last put on a City shirt but he is now back to full fitness and could be the key to unlocking the door to the Premiership. ‘Brooks’ to me is probably one of our best strikers and I hope he is awarded a full return ‘debut’ against Norwich. He is hungry to prove himself in the Championship, he is fully fit, and he is full of confidence after netting five goals in six games on loan at Cheltenham. I would play him alongside Adebola which would give us added strength up front and take a bit of responsibility off Dele. Not only is Brooker strong in the air, he also has a great shot on him and I cannot wait to see him play this weekend.

Let’s just hope the referee and his officials for Saturday go unnoticed, like all good officials should.

ANDY DAVIES

The Motson of Nailsworth hill

2008-03-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

At 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning, I was in a state of panic. I had an assessment for my Broadcast Journalism degree due in three hours time – to present a piece of commentary on a sporting event (football for me of course), and, after a disastrous button incident at the Cheltenham-Bristol Rovers derby the night before, a commentary was yet to be recorded.

So it was down to the student advisor’s office to beg for an extension. She explained that the best she could offer was 48 hours, unless there were mitigating circumstances, e.g. if my gerbil had died or if I was gravely ill. However I wasn’t, so I had two days to save myself. I like to see myself as someone who can get his way out of anything, and again, the Gods were on my side.

A quick look at the fixture list showed that Forest Green were playing York City at home that evening. Perfect. A game of football would be good for me. Forest Green didn’t give me a straight answer regarding use of the press box, so armed with a minidisk recorder (which the technician assured me wouldn’t run out of batteries, as the old brick of a portadisk did), and having booked a taxi to the station after the game so I wouldn’t be stuck in Nailsworth overnight, I set off on the long trek to the New Lawn.

Anyone who’s visited the New Lawn will know that the ground is at the top of a hill. A very tall hill. The sort that’s so tall, you feel as though you’re physically climbing it, rather than walking it. On Saturday games, the bus will take you up this hill and right outside the ground. On midweek games, it won’t. This was slightly handy though as I needed to pop into Tesco to get a pen to make notes with.

My main worry was using the recording device without being spotted. Football grounds are instantly suspicious of recording devices, presumably in case you’re a spy, or recording a scandal-inducing radio show. Fortunately these minidisks are small, so to the fans I probably just looked like an arrogant teenager listening to his ipod. With the microphone tucked into my coat pocket, and having found a space as isolated as possible, I began my commentary.
I wasn’t helped by the fact that police had joined the stewards today – presumably the York fans have a bit of a repuatation. Every time a policeman walked past I held my breath…

The game itself was rather scrappy. York began with a 5-3-2 formation, from what I could decipher, with a player up front, Richard Brodie who’d signed from Newcastle Benfield at the start of the season. Who says you can’t make the step up! Forest Green’s tactic meanwhile was for goalkeeper Ryan Robinson to launch the ball towards Rigoglioso, who would then head on for Fleetwood to chase.

Sixteen minutes in Forest Green gave away a free kick about 25 yards out, just to the right of the ‘D’, as I described it in my commentary. York’s Nicky Wroe stepped up, and fired the ball into the bottom right hand corner, just past the diving Robinson. The keeper’s day got worse 40 minutes in, as he spilled Simon Rusk’s shot into the path of York left back Mark Robinson, who gleefully slotted the ball home.

Forest Green improved slightly in the second half, and deserved their goal back, Rigoglioso firing low into the corner after the York defence failed to clear the ball. Rovers then had a penalty turned down, which got me rather excited "The fans are furious. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS!" I shouted, trying not to be too biased. Then a few minutes later Fleetwood put the ball in the net, but the referee judged that he was offside.

Ultimately York deserved their win, they came with a game plan, and stuck to it. The result leaves Rovers needing a miracle to get to the play offs. York are in a similar position, but will have renewed hope at a sensational push towards the top five.

JAMES LEWIS

Your Bristol City correspondent owes me a fiver

2008-03-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

Football - tis funny ole' game, innee??

Or so we say in the deep, dark western depths of Cornwall and Devon. Plymouth Argyle's season has been mystifying, exhilarating, depressing, confusing, and historic in so many ways. Saturday afternoon at Ashton Gate will be one of the more well-remembered landmarks of 2007-8, whatever the eventual outcome of Argyle's promotion push.

Rory Fallon - who, in my post-match anger after the horrors of Scunthorpe, I described as a 'lost cause' - scored twice to give the Greens an ultimately unassailable lead over Westcountry rivals Bristol City, as well as our first victory in Turnipland since (ridiculously) 1931. The pasties and cider taste sweet tonight.

The victory almost seemed inevitable, such has been the almost hallucinogenic nature of results in the Championship – particularly for Plymouth Argyle – this season. Argyle’s 2-1 victory over City, with Lee Trundle’s penalty proving but a consolation for the Robins, to earlier away wins over Watford, Charlton, and Sheffield United (the three parachute payment-assisted Premiership failures of last season), as well as play-off challengers Hull. On the other hand, we lost to strugglers Sheffield Wednesday at home and in the aformentioned game at Scunny, were awful at Preston and couldn’t win at bottom club Colchester.

It is difficult to explain this, of course, but I would argue that the major factors are motivation – which have enabled Argyle to secure victories against teams who should supposedly beat them – and underestimation, similar in many ways, which has seen the Pilgrims fall victim to the same phenomenon which has often benefited us.

This has happened to every team in the league, with the most successful sides being those who have ground out results, with a good structure, a settled side and strong tactical operator in the managerial role, augmented by a few flair players. Bristol City and Stoke City closest fit this dynamic, and thus sit top of the pile – because they are, without doubt, the two most effective sides of all, with Watford on a similar level. The difference between the Hornets and their less fancied rivals does not come in the dugout, where Adrian Boothroyd is as determined and shrewd as Gary Johnson or Tony Pulis. If anything it might be in supporter expectations, with the Hertfordshire club’s fans demanding an immediate return to a top flight they have been occasionally familiar with in the past decade. No such historical millstones for the two Cities, whose last dalliances with the wealthy elite were many moons ago. This has kept the pressure of and both teams have blossomed.

West Brom sit fourth when, as any Argyle fan who saw them dismantle the greens at the Hawthorns a few weeks ago will testify, they would be top if pure technique was the sole barometer. But they have a lacklustre manager, Tony Mowbray, who is happy to get well-paid, skilful players knocking the ball around elegantly and feeding a terrifying array of second-level finishers (Kevin Phillips, Roman Bednar, Ishmael Miller, Luke Moore) but seems incapable of building a side with the grit and organisation to dominate the league as they should. If they secure promotion they are probably best equipped of the challengers to survive, because the Premiership is a very different league. But the Baggies’ elevation looks by no means certain – everyone, including myself, tipped them to go up last year, and yet they still failed with a side containing now-England-star Curtis Davies, football league player of the year Jason Koumas, and the lethal Diomansy Kamara. This seasons team went 1-0 up against Ian Holloway’s collapsing Leicester City on Saturday, had Moore sent off, and promptly fell apart, contriving to lose 4-1 and prolong Ollie’s agony by another week. There’s still a fair chance though of, before the month is over, Mafia Mandaric shunting him forcefully towards the exit.

Argyle aren’t a side full of stars, but we have grit in abundance, if intermittently. Paul Sturrock is still sizing up his squad and whatever happens this season I fully expect the next to be less haphazard and more centrally driven by the idea of promotion. Luggy will know what he wants us to do and how to do it – this season he seems understandably less sure, as the players at his disposal are assessed for both ability and character.

Fallon is one of the major protagonists squarely under the microscope, and has not thus far been a fan favourite, with few among the Green Army greeting even his initial signing which much enthusiasm, let alone what has followed. Leigh Moore, correspondent for the Swindon teams on this site (Fallon played for Town), called him a ‘carthorse’ when we signed him, and for large periods it’s been hard to argue. He was good at home to Southampton in January, netting Argyle’s equaliser, yet it is difficult to remember another match which has ended in glory for the big man. Saturday was the New Zealander’s day, though. First was the snatched, eight-yard finish from a ball across the box which shot past Adriano Basso on the stroke of half time. As big a psychological blow as Zoltan Gera’s scrappy goal had been for WBA against Argyle at the Hawthorns, it stunned City, who had been seemingly dominant up until then.

Just before the hour, a corner bewildered a City defence looking lost without Jamie McCombe, and there was the big Kiwi again to bundle the ball home from less than a yard. They all count.

Despite "what a waste of money" Trundle’s rare goal (it was a handball from Jermaine Easter, but it certainly wasn’t a foul by Russell Anderson which led to the free-kick from which the handball occurred) the Greens held on to defy any pundit you would have asked on Saturday morn.

Credit also must go to emergency signing Rab Douglas, amusingly from Leicester, who made a couple of good stops to preserve Argyle’s lead.

The Westcountry derby was the featured game on this morning’s Championship Goals ITV show, which made a nice change from the 20 seconds of coverage we usually enjoy, but it was made clear from the outset that the men in yellow (again, unfortunately) were not what the London-based cameras had travelled so far west to witness. Instead, Bristol’s supposed great resurgence as a football city was the chosen documentation, with a 19,000, capacity crowd (never mind that 2,000 were greens in the away end, with many more, perhaps hundreds, in the away sections) ready to cheer them to the Premiership. Argyle were, as always to the national media, merely a distraction.

Call me paranoid? Just listen to the tone of the ITV commentator, growing increasingly frustrated at City’s inability to break the visitors down. The result was described as a major shock, but anyone who had seen the return fixture at Home Park would not have been unduly surprised. But for a freak Krsitian Timar own goal that day we’d be celebrating a Westcountry double.

As it is, I can’t pretend that any victory this season will be any sweeter, bar perhaps a play-off final victory over the same opponent…if we did do it, it’d be the most publicity-free promotion of all time.

RICH PARTINGTON

Cheltenham reach new highs with a sensational double

2008-03-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

Back in November, Cheltenham took on Leeds United at Whaddon Road. A capacity crowd packed into the small stadium, to watch Cheltenham defend heroically, and nick a late goal to take the three points. Fans went wild, and it was billed as one of Cheltenham's greatest ever results.

But surely it was a one off. Surely Leeds would wait until Cheltenham came to Elland Road and teach them a lesson in football? Especially since Cheltenham's away form had been pretty much woeful. Even Port Vale had managed to hammer us 3-0 earlier in the season.

So onto Tuesday March 11. The Saturday before, Cheltenham had lost 2-1 at Yeovil after a poor performance. The doom merchants were out in force. "Go easy on us" they begged Leeds. "We'll be lucky to be only 4-0 down at half time."

Now admittedly I didn't travel to Elland Road. A four hours plus bus journey was beyond me,
instead I accompanied my housemate to the SU bar to watch Liverpool take on Inter Milan.

On getting home, after a rather dull (for a non-Liverpool fan) second leg, I suddenly remembered that Cheltenham had played Leeds today. I chastised myself for being a rubbish supporter, then, as my computer was at the time very much on the blink, got my phone out, and found the BBC Sport website....

So I scrolled down the list of results, thinking "I wonder how many we lost by?", fearing the Leeds backlash. And then I got to the score...

"Leeds United 1-2 Cheltenham Town".

"Surely that must be a misprint. Surely the 1 must mean 7 or something. Cheltenham surely couldn't have done the double over Leeds? Even Manchester United struggled to do that!", I thought to myself.

I found the whole thing rather amusing. How could Cheltenham go from being outplayed by a rather average Yeovil side, to beating a team which only seven years ago was beating AC Milan and the like in the Champions League, in their own backyard. Leeds losing at Whaddon Road, although still shocking, is partly excusable. Games like that are more difficult than you think, with the crowd close to the pitch, the tight atmosphere, and the players playing as if their lives depended on it.

I had presumed that it was a case of Leeds outplay Cheltenham, Cheltenham get two on the counter attack, then Leeds, after battering Cheltenham, get a goal but Cheltenham defend heroically and sneak the win. Not so according to various sources. Apparently, Cheltenham had been much the better side, and could have won by a higher margin than 2-1.

Yesterday I had the "privilege" of watching the highlights on Virgin Media. The same Virgin Media who once managed to include two commentaries during the same match. The Cheltenham-Leeds highlights didn't feature such an interesting experiment, but did have one of the most bored sounding commentators ever. Most of the highlights seemed to consist of Leeds shooting over the bar, with Cheltenham's goals being squeezed in. Pick of the two was
a curler from Alex Russell from the corner of the penalty area.

Leeds fans meanwhile bemoaned the "darkest day in the clubs history", while Cheltenham prepare for a local derby against Bristol Rovers, relaxed after a day at the races.

JAMES LEWIS

Who will be crowned best in the West?

2008-03-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

Only last season Plymouth were regarded as the best team in the south west, which goes to show how quickly things can change in football. Argyle were in the Championship pushing for a play-off place while Bristol City were in League One fighting for automatic pro`motion. This season has seen the tables turn with City establishing themselves as surprise promotion contenders while Paul Strurrock’s side have struggled to stay in the play-offs. Only a few weeks ago, Argyle’s season looked to be over as they lay far adrift from the play-off places, yet a resurgent run of four straight wins in February took them back into the play-offs and had fans dreaming of the Premiership. But they have now lost three games in March and have slipped outside the top six so Saturday’s game is crucial for both teams.

City, on the other hand have maintained their place at the top of the league and have now gone eight games unbeaten. We have managed to take 16 points from eight games which is a fantastic return and certainly promotion form, and hopefully this will continue. But the Westcountry derby will not be an easy game for City as Plymouth will obviously be desperate to get back to winning ways and maintain their push for a top six finish.

In our last meeting in December, the game ended 1-1, with City scoring from a Krisztian Timar own goal. Plymouth goalkeeper Roman Larrieu had a fantastic game and was unlucky to concede a goal after he had made some fantastic saves. Fortunately for City, Larrieu is injured, as is his number two Luke McCormick, so Argyle have a keeper crisis and are looking at bringing in an emergency loan as they are left with only a youth team goalkeeper to stick between the posts. Hopefully, the headlines from this game aren’t ‘loanee goalkeeper makes fantastic save to win the game for Plymouth’!

The game is sure to be sell-out, which is two in a row at Ashton Gate, so the atmosphere should be fantastic. I am sure the game will also be entertaining with both sides wanting to play football instead of looking to kick the ball in the air, which has been the case in recent games at Ashton Gate. The swirling winds will hopefully have ceased so the players should find it easier to play football. On Tuesday, I became frustrated with the lack of football played by City and Watford, but walking away from the game I realised how bad the wind was which would have made play difficult for both sets of teams.

So who do you think will come out victorious on Saturday? Of course I am going to say City but Plymouth will no doubt create a hard game. With quality players like Peter Halmosi and Jermaine Easter, it promises to be an entertaining game. I expect City to make some changes to the side that played on Tuesday, with Lee Johnson looking doubtful and perhaps Ivan Sproule and Darren Byfield could be recalled. I was not happy, to say the least, with having Brian Wilson playing on the right wing against Watford and we looked a better side when Sproule replaced him in the last five minutes. I also have a bet with a Plymouth fan riding on this game, so a win would be all the sweeter.

ANDY DAVIES

Gutless. Witless. Pathetic.

2008-03-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

One of the major problems with keeping a regular blog on your football team is that while it’s great fun to wax lyrical on famous victories and dazzling players, bringing yourself to write about those days when your heroes don’t quite cover themselves in glory isn’t quite as enjoyable.

So it is then that I’ve given myself a couple of days to recover from the farcical debacle of Tuesday night at Glanford Park, but the passing hours have barely dimmed how utterly appalled I am at Argyle’s performance in the 1-0 defeat against Scunthorpe United.

Admittedly, there were mitigating factors. The howling wind gusting off the Humber rendered anything but on-the-floor tactics impractical in the first half, and, under Paul Sturrock, this is not Argyle’s forte. But our brainless incompetence in adapting to this was still a site to behold, or rather, one I wish I hadn't. Once Scunthorpe – who were even worse than Argyle and comfortably the poorest side I’ve ever seen in the second tier of English professional football – managed to squeeze a rather fortunate effort past Luke McCormick early in the second half, referee Stuart Attwell appeared to decide that it would be easier, in such an awful game, for the team who scored first to win, and from there on in Argyle were the victims of a run of decisions almost as disgraceful as their performance.

The men in yellow were as awful as our luminous away kit. Lee Hodges, mystifyingly restored to left-back in place of the improving Gary Sawyer, insisted on hoofing the ball skywards every time he received it, despite the force of the wind curling every effort backwards. Hodges, who never had the technical gifts even for third level football but has often displayed enough grit and determination to disguise these failings, was on this occasion so bad that when McCormick was sent off on 71 minutes for handling the ball outside his area, Hodges replaced him and was actually better between the sticks than he had been outfield.

Steve McLean’s ridiculous ineptitude was almost funny, displaying an inability to complete one-yard passes or keep control of even the gentlest of loose balls. Argyle’s most expensive ever signing looked at best lost and at worst uninterested, and got absolutely nowhere near even having a shot at goal, let alone scoring. Lilian Nalis and Jimmy Abdou, in central midfield, were ineffectual to the extent that the only time they were noticed was when needlessly giving away the ball. Paul Connolly's primary achievement was managing to sky the white sphere high, over and out of the shack masquerading as a Championship football ground (which provoked such classics and "My garden shed is bigger than this...", and the more modern twist of "Is your ground from MFI?" from the Green Army) on three separate occasions.

The roll-call of villains in day-glo had a few notable exceptions. Jamie Mackie was given his first start at long last and was Argyle’s sole attacking threat, with the pace, energy, and desire lacking elsewhere. Picking up the ball and realising the rest of his team were going to be of little use, Mackie took on the Scunny defence single-handedly, beating defenders and causing havoc. Sturrock seemed to be mocking either Mackie, the fans, or perhaps even himself when choosing to withdraw the 22-year-old from Horsham for lost cause Rory Fallon. Luggy also refused to bring on Jermaine Easter, who had not even really deserved to be dropped, instead persevering with the hopeless McLean.

Gary Teale added more urgency when on as a sub for Chris Clark, who until this moment I had completely forgotten the existence of, such was his anonymity.

And Russell Anderson was generally able to neutralise what passed for a Scunthorpe attack, despite the goal.

Despite all of this, Argyle still should have won. Scunthorpe were a collective of clueless pub players with a dodgy keeper and a colander defence. On any other day the Greens should have won 7 or 8-0. It is laughable that Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins described his players as 'absolutely magnificent'. If that's true, I'd hate to see them on a bad day. No wonder there were less than 4000 home fans present.

It must be said that the 400 or so travelling supporters were, as usual, immense, providing faultless vocal encouragement for the majority of the game, until even the infinite stoicism which the average Argyle exile wears like a badge of honour began to disintegrate. The likes of Mackie and McCormick - the players that care - clearly appreciated this, and were not shy about showing it. A pumped fist from Mackie and a quick clap from Luke while play continued said it all. And the keeper gave the Green throng the best moment of the entire evening, clearing up a slack Connolly backpass with a nonchalant drag back and turn which left the advancing Scunny striker flailing.

The Argyle fans were certainly louder than their hosts. Even after scoring and at the final whistle, the Lincolnshire natives were largely silent, save for a dozen or so screeching kids immediately to our right. I have literally never encountered such an unenthusiastic home crowd, although as previously explained, their team provide little to shout about.

I’m struggling to decide whether the similarly poor results for Argyle’s playoff challengers – Hull, Ipswich, Charlton, and Wolves – in the last couple of days is a good or bad thing. On the one hand, we are still very much in the race - seventh, only a point away from the magical zone which will allow the extension of our season beyond 46 games. Had we beaten the Iron, as we really should have done, Argyle would be fifth on 58 points, two ahead of Charlton and Hull.

This is despite three defeats in four games, which really should have seen us left in the dirt. But the Championship is wildly unpredictable this season. I’d have said it was a poor league, but the FA Cup semi-final line-up, with three teams from the second tier present, somewhat contradicts this. And two of those, Barnsley (who have beaten two members of the ‘big four’, Liverpool and Chelsea, on their way to Wembley) and Cardiff, are nowhere near the playoffs.

So, in conclusion, if Argyle beat Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday, which I doubt we will, then anything is possible. If we don’t, the playoff charge is definitely over. I’m sure of it. Maybe. Unless we then win a few games…

RICH PARTINGTON

Top of the table encounter ends in stalemate

2008-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

It was billed as City’s biggest game of the season and it certainly was. The game against Watford on Tuesday night was perhaps one of the biggest games for City since they last won promotion to the top flight over 30 years ago. And for the first time this season, football fans in Bristol realised what was at stake as the game was a complete sell-out with 19,000 fans anticipating a titanic encounter. I have said in previous articles about the lack of full houses at Ashton Gate and after last night’s sell-out, it really does show what a difference a full stadium makes.

The atmosphere was electric and the players certainly responded to the occasion with tackles flying in and the two dugouts also seeing plenty of action involved in the fiery arguments. Although I may be biased, from my position just behind the away dug out, it seemed as Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd failed to control his players and staff as they became involved in arguments with Gary Johnson. But tempers reaching boiling point is hardly surprising, given the occasion and importance of the game.

The match itself was not the prettiest of encounters with the ball often in the air and with the windy conditions, both sides failed to make much of an impact. Marvin Elliot going close with two shots well saved by Watford goalkeeper Jordan Stewart was as close as City came to scoring but the Hornets had the best chance of the half to score when McIndoe was adjudged to have brought down Tommy Smith in the box. Darius Henderson stepped up to take the penalty, but Ashton Gate erupted when Adriano Basso’s right-hand palmed the ball to safety and he later thanked God for his help in making the save. Perhaps another ‘Hand of God’ scenario? That save could prove crucial as we struggled to break through the Watford defence and I doubt we would have equalised had Henderson found the net.

Lee Johnson was substituted at half time after suffering an injury from a challenge by striker Henderson and City missed their instrumental playmaker in the second half. Lee Johnson, has since he arrived at Ashton Gate last season, been subjected to unfair criticism from some sections of City fans who have failed to realise the importance of his job in midfield. As he is Gary’s son, he can be an easy target for many fans criticising his ability hold onto the ball and tackle an opponent. However, hopefully after his absence in the second-half, these fans will realise what an important player he is to the team. He may not make the most challenges, but this is not necessary when he has ‘marvellous’ Marvin Elliot alongside him, who has been a revelation since arriving from Millwall in the summer, to tackle the opposition. Johnson's role is to help keep the game moving with his quick passing and it was easy to see the ball becoming stuck in the midfield after his departure. But he may have won over some his critics as he was given a standing ovation by the Atyeo Stand as he headed for the dressing room. Hopefully, he will make a quick recovery and play some part in the Westcountry derby against Plymouth.

Tuesday’s draw with Watford is City’s third in a row so a win on Saturday is crucial if we want to remain at the top, but we are now eight games unbeaten so the players should be full of confidence. Saturday also sees Stoke host Watford, so City really do have a chance to move away from the chasing pack, so we have every chance of being top come 5pm on Saturday night.

ANDY DAVIES

Overview: The Western Rising

2008-03-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Football in the south-west has never had the status and importance of that in other parts of the country. The Westcountry has eight professional football teams, yet none has ever won a major honour. The most successful, Bristol City, experienced their heyday a century ago with runners-up medals in League and Cup, but as recently as 2004 only they and my beloved Plymouth Argyle could even boast third-tier status.

Now things are changing. Argyle won the old Division Two that year and were finally followed into the Championship last season by City. The Ashton Gate outfit have been a revelation, with quick passing football and a formidable home record propelling them to the league’s summit. Most pundits seemed sure they would fall away eventually, but Gary Johnson has made remarkable consistency the trademark of a club which always used to choke when it really mattered. Argyle, much to my delight, are pushing hard for a playoff spot and it is not inconceivable that the Match of the Day cameras could be covering a pair of Westcountry derbies next season.

For Plymouth, the second-largest city in Europe (after Hull) never to have a top-flight team, it’d be a first. Of course, for those raised on the self-preserving Premier League elite, this seems absurd. But Bristol is the seventh-largest city in England, and Plymouth has a larger population than Derby, Portsmouth, and Blackburn to name just three. Both have huge catchment areas which could clearly support top clubs.

And these are not the only two south-western teams on the up. Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers both won promotion last season to join Yeovil Town, and of course Cheltenham Town, in League One. All four should retain their status this year, enabling them to push on afterwards. Cheltenham have risen from utter obscurity a decade ago to challenge Gloucester Rugby for public and media attention in this area.

Rovers have delighted football romantics nation-wide with their FA Cup adventure, with giant-slaying wins over Fulham and Southampton giving them a quarter-final clash with West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. It’ll be tough – the Baggies are the best side I’ve seen in the Championship this term – but with a raucous Memorial Stadium behind them and goalscoring threats Ricky Lambert and Craig Disley in the side, they have a real chance.

Further down, Exeter City, Forest Green Rovers and Torquay United are all vying for elevation from the Blue Square Premier, the Devon sides hoping for a return to their traditional fourth-tier level, and Rovers aiming to become the smallest club ever to play in the football league. Anomaly of the season, though, must be the fact that promotion could actually impact negatively on the finances of these clubs. Fifth-tier sides, now given ample television coverage by Setanta, receive excellent broadcast revenue, and greater media exposure than those in League Two. Added to the dent in attendance figures from a likely season in the middle or the lower reaches of the table, as opposed to a play-off race, and you can see why some have darkly suggested it might be better if Torquay and co remain where they are.

Look out, too, for Truro City. The ‘White Tigers’ from the Cornish capital are backed by millionaire property developer Kevin Heaney, who aims to give the peninsula a league side by 2017. They won the FA Vase at Wembley in May in front of an astonishing crowd of 27,754, and stormed Western League Division One last year, winning 37 of their 42 games and scoring 185 goals. Striker Stewart Yetton (formerly of Plymouth) bagged 72 himself, as well as 36 so far this season, and is a prime example of City’s successful policy of cherry-picking the best players from non-league and professional reserve sides in the area. Truro were installed as 2-7 favourites to win the 2007-8 Western Premier and have not disappointed, currently sitting five points clear. Next season they should go up to Southern League Division One, with four additional promotions needed to realise Heaney’s dream.

RICH PARTINGTON

Surprise promotion contenders

2008-03-08T11:54:00.001-08:00

Every season, in every league, there is a team that exceeds all their expectations and has bookmakers scratching their heads wondering whether they underestimated them. Last year in the Championship Colchester surprised many people when they finished just outside the play-off places, when many tipped them as relegation contenders. This season is no different, only there are two teams who are upsetting the form book, Bristol City and Stoke City, who both currently occupy the top two places of the league. I am sure I am not the only one who is surprised by their deserved success.

Before the season began, bookmakers ranked Bristol City 30-1 to win promotion and Stoke’s odds were not much shorter. To be fair to the bookmakers, I was happy with the odds we were given as we were given a better chance for promotion than some teams who had established themselves in the Championship in the last few years. Stoke’s success this season has surprised some people but Tony Pulis’s side almost made the play-offs last year, missing out by just one place and they have come back stronger this year with a sustained push for Premiership football. But can either side achieve it?

The favourites at the beginning of the season were the likes of Watford, West Brom and Charlton, who all had bigger spending powers than the other two sides. Watford started the season brightly leading the way, but inconsistent results have left them playing catch up. West Brom also led the way for a time and they are regarded many as the best football team in the Championship, which I would have to agree with. They have the best goal scoring record in the league although not the tightest defence, but with Kevin Phillips up front they will rarely struggle to find the net. Personally, I still believe West Brom will gain promotion and anyone who finishes above them is guaranteed Premiership football.

The biggest surprise by far has been Bristol City, and Gary Johnson has to be awarded manager of the year even if we ultimately do not win promotion. City have been the most consistent team in the league and although we don’t have the best goal scoring record compared to West Brom, we certainly deserve to be where we are. We have won 18 games, the joint-highest in the league with the Baggies, and have only lost seven matches in 37 games, a record which takes some beating, in a league where almost anyone can beat anyone.

With only nine games left now, we are still top, with Stoke in second place three points behind. City are now seven games unbeaten after today’s 0-0 draw away at Leicester and the team is on a roll. I’m sure most fans will agree that March is probably the most important month in our season with four matches still to play, in particular Watford at home on Tuesday night, a game I cannot wait for. A result against Watford would go a long way in securing Premiership status and we are more than capable of beating them as we proved at Vicarage Road in December. We also host Westcountry rivals Plymouth, who also have promotion aspirations on Saturday, so March really could make or break our season. With a trip to Stoke in April also still to come, our destiny is in our hands and is ours to lose.

ANDY DAVIES

City reach the summit...and stay there

2008-03-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

All too often this season, when Gary Johnson’s Bristol City side have reached top spot of the Championship, we have been knocked off it within a few hours. But on Saturday, after our 2-1 success at home to Hull City, we stayed top. Before the game, Johnson described the match as a ‘must win’ game as we face a tough March with an away trip to promotion chasers Charlton, and host Watford on 11 March. The match was important and there was big crowd waiting in anticipation, although it was not a sell out and I can’t understand why not.

We are in a fantastic position, the highest the club has been for 28 years yet we still have not had a 19,000 plus crowd cheering on the lads. I know I have mentioned this before but there are few home games remaining and we are on course to achieve the biggest feat this season. To be fair to City fans, the 15,859 spectators present were mostly made up of home supporters with Hull City bringing probably less than 1,000 supporters. With Watford and Plymouth likely to bring support in the region of 3,000 fans, I am sure Ashton Gate will be sold out for some games this season.

Back to Saturday, and Phil Brown’s Hull City side made life very difficult for City and could have easily taken the lead after just 50 seconds when an unmarked Caleb Folan found his way into the box, only to slice his shot wide of Adriano Basso’s left hand post. The miss proved crucial on 14 minutes when a Jamie McAllister long ball forward was misjudged by defender Neil Clement and Dele Adebola lashed the ball on the half volley into the top corner of the net from 15 yards.

It was a fantastic finish from a player many City fans questioned the signing of when Gary made a bid for him in the January transfer window. But three goals in six appearances speaks for itself and this may prove to be one of the smartest signings of Gary’s reign if his goals send us into the Premiership. Personally, when we signed him, I looked at his record at Coventry City, which revealed he had scored six goals this season, and I was unconvinced. Many friends, one a Coventry fan, couldn’t speak highly enough of him, while others believed he was too old. But I think all his doubters can agree they were wrong.

After the first goal, as has been the case so often this season, we struggled to score a second and the visitors equalised on the stroke of half time through a Liam Fontaine own goal. The goal did not come as a surprise as Hull gained in confidence as the half progressed and City seemed to sit on their one goal advantage. I’m sure Gary gave the players a roasting at half time as their performance was not up their usual high standards. His team talk worked again, as it has on so many other occasions this season, as defender Jamie McCombe scored with an over head kick which any striker would have been happy with. From then on the team grew in confidence and could have scored more with Adebola going close and David Noble shooting over the bar.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was fantastic, one of the best all season, as fans began singing and dreaming of promotion as we headed to the top of the league. With Stoke City losing to QPR on Sunday, we are still top and there is now a real belief that we can achieve promotion and with just six more wins needed from 11 games according to Johnson, it is certainly achievable.

ANDY DAVIES

Cheltenham hold on for draw

2008-03-03T03:46:00.000-08:00

There are boring 1-1 draws, and there are entertaining 1-1 draws, and this would probably just come under the second category. However it was not entertaining in the case of free flowing football, there were no spectacular goals, or spectacular pieces of skill. Instead it was end to end stuff, with both teams creating enough chances to score a hatful. Despite Southend badgering Cheltenham's goal with shots, the Robins took the lead on 25 minutes. Steven Gillespie, lively as ever, danced through the Southend defence, and squared to give Steve Brooker an opportunity that even my grandmother couldn't have failed to score. The rest of the half consisted of each goalkeeper taking very, very long goal kicks, and not much action on the floor.

The second half began with Southend continuing their onslaught on the Cheltenham goal. While it wasn't pretty, it wasn't the sort of game you could take your eye off, as Southend came forward in waves, with Cheltenham occasionally threatening on the counter attack, thanks to a couple of moments of determination from Damien Spencer. Sadly, two moments of good football didn't hide what was in truth a poor performance from Spencer, and especially the other winger, Ashley Vincent, who did less in 75 minutes than Michael D'Agostino did in 15.

The equaliser finally came with 17 minutes to go, when a clearance fell to Nicky Bailey, who rifled home from the edge of the area.

At this point I was disappointed with two points lost, but as Southend went all out for the winner, I suddenly realised a draw against a team battling for the play offs couldn't be all that bad. After a short period of injury time, in which Southend came close with a free kick, I left Whaddon Road feeling slightly disappointed, but relieved it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

All in all our situation is probably slightly better than it was this time last season. It was around this time that we started to go on a run, winning against decent teams such as Oldham and Doncaster. Hopefully another such run of form will materialise, pulling us clear of the drop zone, and giving us a comfortable mid table position.

JAMES LEWIS

Outplayed but never outsung

2008-03-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

Twelve hours ago I awoke with the fuzzy, spreading glow of hope that the 2007-8 season may turn out to be the greatest in Plymouth Argyle’s history. And despite the 3-0 mauling the Greens got at West Bromwich Albion today, it refuses to leave me. Because the almost carnival atmosphere present amongst the 3000 travelling Pilgrims swarming to the Hawthorns provided a clear marker of the positive momentum which has already been accrued. This defeat felt like little more than a setback, and one achieved by an overly numerous margin.

As silver linings go, comprehensively outshouting your opponents from the stands is not to be sniffed at. From well before kick-off, in the pubs and streets of Sandwell, Westcountry accents bawled out all the old favourites and KC & The Sunshine Band-inspired newies. The 19,000 home fans were relatively subdued throughout proceedings, and even after each goal their Boinging seemed oddly restrained. The Green Army were able to eagerly indulge in mocking chants of the "worst support we’ve ever seen" variety, while, in contrast, proding a level of verbal support which was frankly astounding.

The effect of this on players like Paul Connolly and Kristian Timar was immediately obvious. The Baggies were clearly the more technically proficient side, but Argyle outfought them for large parts of the first half, until lacklustre defending allowed Zoltan Gera to scramble home on halftime. A sickening blow for Argyle, a slightly below-par visiting side failed to recover, and Uriah Rennie’s big club refereeing and two more scrappy goals put paid to our hopes.

But we roll on, now effectively joint-sixth with Ipswich, and Tuesday’s home clash with demotion-doomed Colchester United assumes significant importance. The line-up requires refreshment; Steve McLean currently looks lightweight and lacking in confidence, a pair of accusations which it would be unthinkable to level at Jamie Mackie – whose flashes of brilliance during limited runouts from the bench deserve greater exposure. Even today, with his team-mates low on ideas and drive with the game already lost, Mackie beat defenders, won free-kicks, and was unlucky not to be given a penalty after being clattered eight yards out. He deserves a full test alongside the hardworking Jermaine Easter.

Gary Teale is also yet to impress, while his second-half replacement today, Chris Clark, looked sprightly on returning from injury. Let’s hope the change is effective from 7.45pm in midweek.

Argyle should beat Colchester, but either way there is a new spirit and verve among fanbase and players which promises to bring greater glory.

RICH PARTINGTON

Well done Mr Lansdown

2008-02-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of the year again, the day Bristol City fans start counting the pennies as season ticket prices for next season have been released. This news today came as quite a shock to me because usually at City you can expect to wait until at least the end of March, normally the beginning of April before there is even any talk about prices being released. Seeing the news this morning you could forgive me for being slightly nervous before reading through the story as season ticket prices last year, after promotion to the Championship, increased by about 20 per cent for adult tickets. With the team riding high in the Championship in second place I assumed the Steve Lansdown would have increased the prices even more. To his credit, the club has frozen all ticket prices for the forthcoming season. But are we as supporters still getting value for money?

When the prices were released last year, there was a backlash from many fans who felt the price rises were too steep, and many fans simply couldn’t afford it. Personally, the ticket price for my seat at £225 was in my opinion value for money, although that is the benefit of being a student. With 23 homes games in a season this worked out as under £10 per game watching Championship football. Even the more expensive adult tickets, priced at £425, worked out as under £20 per game, which is good value. The pay on the day prices though, for fans cannot who cannot afford a season ticket or are simply unable to watch every match, were too expensive. Adult prices in the Dolman and Williams stands were priced at £26, which is more expensive than some Premiership teams. Steve Lansdown at the time said the increased prices were justified if City fans wanted the club to be competitive in the Championship and, fortunately for him, he has been proven right so far.

By placing season tickets on sale from 1 March, Mr Lansdown has strategically aimed to get City fans to commit their money in the hope that City can achieve promotion. Well, personally, it has worked for me as I will be buying my ticket for next season before the prices increase on 12 April in the hope that we will be playing top flight football next season, but will the rest of you?

Although supporters could lose out if we did achieve the unthinkable, the prices would certainly be value for money. In the past, the club has put season tickets on sale when we were in League 1 pushing for promotion and uncertain of what league we will be playing in. Unfortunately, the gamble for those fans including me who did part with their money was lost. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

Premiership football would bring sell-out crowds and having a season ticket would probably be a necessity in securing a seat. It would not surprise if we sold out the entire home allocation to season ticket holders if we gained promotion. The current capacity allocates just over 19,000 fans, taking the away allocation in to account, only 16,000 seats would be available. This season alone we have sold over 10,000 season tickets, and it’s not unthinkable that we could sell out.

The club is also introducing a new card system which signals the end of the season ticket book stuffed full of vouchers. The new card will be similar to those used by the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle. Personally, I think this is a great idea, as it can become tedious searching in the book for the correct voucher to present a turnstile operator. But does this signal the end for the old fashioned turnstile in football? Will all tickets including pay on the day just involve a card being swiped?

Back to the prices: I am sure most City fans will take up the offer and gamble on the clubs fortunes, but even if we do ultimately fail, next season we will certainly come back even stronger and mount another promotion push. However, I am now convinced we can achieve promotion and why not? We have been one of the most consistent teams in the
Championship; we have won the most games along with Watford and Stoke City, and we have also lost the least amount of games. Who would have thought that at the beginning of the season?

ANDY DAVIES

Peter Halmosi, love of our lives

2008-02-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

Joni Mitchell was right – you don’t know what you got til it’s gone.

Living in Devon and (mostly) Cornwall for the first 18 years of my life I was always proud to be from the Westcountry, and following Argyle obviously only strengthened that. But it’s only when you live away from the area for any reasonable length of time, and return, that you realise what a bleddy special place it is.

The train journey down itself has me swelling with green pride. Twas thus yesterday morning as I made the trip down for our home game with Burnley, the biggest Argyle match, to my mind, in a very long time – with the Pilgrims having a strong chance of climbing into the top six with a victory.

With the neat-but-dull (I know, I’m biased) Exeter trailing in the dust, we hit the coastal line, snaking elegantly along the bottom of Devon. Just seeing the water again is enough. Teignmouth’s stunning views over the English Channel, tranquil beaches and rock formations, and pretty harbour clustered with boats stirs a feeling in my soul which does not occur anywhere further north. I pity the Lancashire folk around me and their floss-minded yarnings on gambling and inane Premiership tabloid trivia, cans of Strongbow in hand, ignoring the splendour evident outside the carriage window. Ignorant bastards have probably never even seen the sea! Or drank proper cider!

Onwards then, through the rolling hills and curvaceous green valleys of the South Hams, to the fair city where the girls are so pretty. And the Theatre Of Greens, still infuriatingly sparse at 13,500 inhabitants. Although it didn’t feel like that. The Lyndhurst produced a cracking atmosphere, and from the moment towering (both physically and psychologically) Argyle captain Lilian Nalis’ volley crept through a crowd of players – and the slippery gloves of Danish goalkeeper Brian Jensen – into the bottom corner, it began to feel like a new area.

Or rather, the resumption of an era. Namely, that of Paul Sturrock’s midas touch in the Argyle dugout. This was Plymouth’s fourth consecutive victory but for the first time, it felt like everyone BELIEVED. New songs are sprouting on the terraces – "Peter Halmosi, love of my life, I’d let him shag my wife" easily the most hilariously memorable, but the imperious Kristian Timar, rock solid Luke McCormick, and intoxicating Jamie Mackie also received huge personal fanfares. It was the sound of the fans and players rediscovering the connection that was integral to the golden years of 2001-4, and you could see from McCormick’s prolonged appreciation ritual at the final whistle how much the raucous support he had received really meant. Sure, the moaners are still there, but they were mostly drowned out at the Burnley game. The tide has changed, cynicism is giving way to love and passion. Hurrah.

So, the game then. Well, we weren’t actually that good. Burnley came to Home Park with a formidable away record, having won more games on the road than we had on our own turf. And they were impressive, with Kyle Lafferty’s movement causing plenty of problems, and Wade Elliott gave Gary Sawyer – who despite relentless endeavour is looking the weak link, with Paul Connolly massively improved at right back since the return of John ‘Sloop’ Blackley as defensive coach – a torrid time.

For long periods, particularly in the second half, Argyle were forced to soak up pressure, and this is where Timar truly excelled. I honestly can’t remember a player making so many headed clearances before in one match, and the big Hungarian has surely now supplanted Marcel Seip as Argyle’s top defender. When the Dutchman returns their partnership should be pretty much impregnable.

As for Seip’s replacement, the on-loan Russell Anderson, he looks a composed ball-playing centre-half but would not keep either of the aformentioned behemoths out of the team. Gary Teale, our other temporary Premiership recruit, looks more likely to stay and is a neat, tidy midfielder who could make a real impact once settled into the team.

Burnley were excellent and probably deserved to win, but being able to secure victory when not always in control of proceedings shows a steely, ruthless streak that Argyle have not had since Sturrock was last at the helm. Our 3-1 victory catapulted the Greens above the defeated Ipswich (at Stoke) and Charlton (at Blackpool) into the vertigo-inducing heights of fifth place, simultaenously dealing the Clarets' play-off hopes a severe dent. And in some ways it felt like long-needed revenge for two of Argyle's most painful defeats in living memory, both against Burnley - the 1994 Division Two play-off semi-final, and the 1998 relegation decider from the same league.

It was ultimately the brilliance of Halmosi which proved the biggest difference between the sides. The Green Army rarely agree on much, but one consensus seems to have arisen in the last few months – Halmosi is the best footballer to wear green since Paul Mariner, and his frankly astounding levels of technique are a match even for the England international himself. His sublime flick over the advancing goalkeeper and quick finish to restore Argyle’s first half league was one thing, but the persistence, devastating change of pace, and immensely powerful shot which forged his second – the clincher – was truly world-class.

Supposedly form is temporary, and class is permanent. Well, in football – and particularly in the 46-match dog-eat-dog scrap that is the Championship, with top and bottom only 30 points apart – form actually goes quite a long way. Twelve points has unimaginably altered the complexion of Argyle’s season. And although we have players like Halmosi and Nalis for whom the ‘permanent class’ tag applies, at the moment most of the Pilgrims squad are arguably playing outside of themselves, driven forward by confidence, togetherness, encouragement, and success. But there are only 12 games remaining, plus, hopefully, two or three play-off games, and it is quite conceivable Argyle could win the vast majority of those if the players retain this spirit and play adhere to Sturrock’s acutely effective tactics.

Fifth place, above such apparently 'massive clubs' as Wolves, Ipswich, Leicester, Norwich, Southampton, and Coventry, going into March…who would have thought it?

I’m already dreaming of a Wembley Westcountry derby with the Turnips.

RICH PARTINGTON

One down, seven to go

2008-02-23T16:11:00.001-08:00

Finally, Gary Johnson has revealed what he thinks can secure promotion back to the top flight for the first time in 28 years. Last week, he stated publicly that City needed eight wins from their next 13 matches to win automatic promotion. On Saturday we faced struggling Colchester United and secured three precious points with a 2-1 win courtesy of goals from Dele Adebola and Michael McIndoe. So we now need only seven wins from 12 games. Is this achievable?

Our form over the last 34 games suggests we are capable doing it and after seeing us go six points clear of West Brom who are sitting in fourth place, a team that until a couple of weeks ago were my tip for automatic promotion, anything is now possible. We may not be top of the league, with Stoke City leading the way, but we are only one point behind and in second place ahead of third placed Watford by one point.

The Championship is such a tight league, certainly the tightest in the football league and things can change quickly. Looking at Leagues 1 and 2, the top teams like Swansea have opened up big leaders on their opponents, but this has not happened in the Championship. It is a cliché but really, anyone can beat anyone. We’ve proved this on many occasions when we have lost to Ipswich 6-0 and then beaten them 2-0 only a few weeks later.

It is rare for any club in this league to put a run of more than two wins together and when a team does it they can really shoot up the league. Crystal Palace have done this in recent months despite languishing near the relegation zone in the early part of the season. Similarly, Plymouth have in the last few weeks started winning and now found themselves in fifth place when their fans believed their play-off dreams were all but over. So if things can change for the better so quickly, then they can also change for the bad quickly. Hopefully that won’t happen at City.

We are currently in a fantastic position that is still unbelievable to me, but do we have what it takes to stay there? On Monday night we had the chance to go top and didn’t take it, did nerves get the better of us? One thing in City’s favour is that the majority of our squad have experienced promotion and the pressures that come with it so we have every chance.

The result against Colchester is further confirmation to me that we have what it takes to stay amongst the leaders and hopefully all City fans agree. Colchester is always a hard place to go and win with their tiny stadium and small pitch but we battled and came away with the win. Our away form is picking up now with two wins in row so all the signs are looking good. Our home form this season has been one of the best in the league and I am sure this will continue. What has puzzled me this season is that although our average home attendance is up from around 13,000 to 15,000 supporters; shouldn’t we be selling out our stadium seeing as we are so close to the Premiership?

With only six home games remaining I hope we can attract a 19,000-plus crowd before the season is finished. On Saturday we face Hull City who beat West Brom this weekend 2-1 away, so it is going to be a tough game, but come 5pm on Saturday we might be three more points closer to where we all want to be.

ANDY DAVIES

'Boom boom' McCombe steals a point

2008-02-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

For the first time this season Bristol City had the opportunity to go top of the Championship and stay there on Monday night. Although Gary Johnson’s team have reached the summit on a number of occasions this season, we always seem to be knocked off the top within hours due to a late kick off, usually involving Watford or West Brom. However, on a freezing cold Monday night against Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace side we had the chance to sit top of the pile. Sadly as most City fans and others fans will know, having watched it live on TV, we failed. Many Championship supporters will however look at our position and say ‘we should be happy where we are’, but are we really satisfied?

At the beginning of the season, all the talk and expectation on fans forums were of staying up or perhaps finishing in mid-table. Some cheeky supporters said we should even push for a play-off spot but many of us were quick to stress survival was the priority. If someone had told me at the start of the season that we would be third in the league, only one point behind the leaders and with a real chance at promotion, I would have called for the men in the big white coats to take them away. Since I have been supporting City, which is for over 15 years now, there has always been an expectation, certainly when were in League One, that we were a big club and deserved better. Which is why for many years, under the likes of Danny Wilson and Brian Tinnion, that we failed in numerous promotion attempts – because of the attitude of some of our players.

Under the guidance of manager Gary Johnson, who has built a fantastic team spirit at the club, we are finally achieving what most fans expect. Now we are in the Championship that expectation, I think, has disappeared. The fans are just happy to be playing bigger teams again and travelling to brand new stadiums like the Ricoh Arena. There is a buzz around the club and this has rubbed off on the players. They are able to play with a freedom, even more so now given that we have virtually retained our status as a Championship club for next season. But we now found ourselves in a position of being in touching distance of the promise land and the question is: Do we go for it?

We have seen many clubs go up to the Premiership, spend a fortune and come down a broken club. Under the guidance of Johnson and wise chairman Steve Lansdown I doubt this would happen and I hope many other City fans would agree. For instance, if we were relegated after only one season we would bank at least £50 million and a further £30 million from parachute payments. Who wouldn’t want to go up? Take Watford for example, they managed two years ago to gain promotion and although they failed in their quest to stay up, they have returned to the Championship a much richer and bigger club.

Anyway, back to Monday’s game. After two straight wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Scunthorpe, confidence was high. I expected three points as our home form has been fantastic this season and Crystal Palace had not won a game since they had beaten us 2-0 in January. Revenge must have been on the minds of the players and I hoped for a good game of football. Unfortunately, Palace seemed intent on hitting the ball long and direct at every opportunity, and we were unable to get our passing game going.

It was a poor first half with the best chance for City going to Nick Carle who shot just wide. Palace improved in the second half and scored with a fine half volley from Lee Hills after 60 minutes. City were awarded a penalty with just five minutes to go after a foul on Darren Byfield. Bradley Orr stepped up to take the penalty, confident after scoring two previous penalties, unfortunately his effort and rebound were saved but in the last minute of injury time Jamie McCombe rescued a point with a bullet header from a corner.

On many occasions this season we have scored late goals to either rescue a point or win the game. With just 13 games left the league is very tight and with Stoke City now leading the way it looks to be a four-horse race for who will gain the two automatic spots. I’m sure City can achieve the play-offs and maybe automatic promotion. As Adriano Basso says, "Always believe."

ANDY DAVIES

Swindon eye Forest double

2008-02-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

Just five points adrift now from a play-off position and Swindon Town are gearing up to seize three more away to Nottingham Forest this Saturday.A fantastic 3-0 win over Cheltenham on Tuesday, and a 2-1 victory over Forest last month means that there is no reason why history cannot be repeated.

Lee Peacock said: "If we apply ourselves we have a chance. It is a fantastic stadium and if we apply ourselves like we did at Leeds we will be alright.

"We will be good for a point at least. We need to compete with the likes of Forest away if we are to be a contender for the play-offs.

"When we are going away to the teams at the basement we also have to be turning them into wins."

Maurice Malpas is also optimistic that the quest for the play-offs is realistic and that the odds can be defied.

He said: "There is no way I will set up in a negative way. We are going for three points and if we only get a draw then we will take a point.

"It is far more important we get wins away from home as opposed to hoping for draws by being negative.

"We know it will be a difficult game but I think the pressure is on Nottingham Forest. They are expected to beat us.

"I am a typical Scotsman and we will go up there and upset the odds."

The Cheltenham game on Tuesday started off dismally, the weekend hurt against Huddersfield still raw after the end of our nine game unbeaten run. For the first 15 minutes, Cheltenham fought full possession of the ball, and lacklustre defending from Swindon nearly cost us dearly. Nerves were probable here. And there was good reason for Billy Paynter to be nervous, who warned to watch out old pal Steve Brooker, on loan to Cheltenham from Bristol City.

However, it was a delight to see Simon Cox netting in the 20th minute, his first goal at home since his signing – kicking from close range after Cheltenham sacrificed the ball. A lazy goal one might argue, but a typical good striker’s goal – being simply in the right place at the right time. Twenty minutes later, Paynter sent Swindon 2-0 up.

In the second half, Swindon finally displayed consistent levels of brilliance. Towards the end of the game, Christian Roberts came off the bench to secure Swindon's win from the left side of penalty area. After being 3-0 up, Cox was replaced by Blair Sturrock and enjoyed a rapturous applause as he came off.

Anthony McNamee also stood out for me as man of the match. The game ended with a fine 3-0 result and a fine three points. Swindon are now currently five points behind sixth-placed Tranmere. I finish off by wishing the very best of luck to Swindon tomorrow. Who knows, the play-offs could be waiting for us.

NEIL ROBINSON

Cheltenham's away form deserts them again

2008-02-14T07:39:00.001-08:00

Cheltenham failed to follow on from their Manchester United style 2-1 win against Brighton, in which they scored twice in injury time, as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Swindon at the County Ground.

Despite a bright start, in which Steve Brooker missed two good chances, and Dave Bird hit a post, the game changed when the usually reliable Alex Russell misplaced a pass. Sadly, this was in his own penalty area, and after the mix up, Simon Cox put Swindon ahead. Russell then seemed to think Cheltenham were still playing in red, as he hit dozens of passes to gleeful Swindon players, as Cheltenham got themselves in a muddle.

Thankfully the County Ground was a lot drier than the last time I visited, but still slightly cold, and Cheltenham's day got worse following yet another mix up, as again they tried to pass it out of the box. This time Billy Paynter was the recipient, scoring Swindon’s second, which was followed a bizarre celebration as Paynter pulled captain Hasney Aljofree's shorts down in front of a slightly bemused crowd.

While Cheltenham couldn't have been faulted for determination, Steven Gillespie especially, the killer touch was lacking, and any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Christian Roberts scored with practically his first touch after coming on. A good first touch it was too, firing an angled shot into the bottom left hand corner from long range.

So not as good a day as Cheltenham's last trip to the County Ground, and they'll need to pick themselves up for the game against Hartlepool on Saturday.

Meanwhile a good set of results for Forest Green's play off hopes meant nothing as they could only draw with Stevenage, although that in itself is a credible result. Rovers remain four points off top five, and still have to go to Cambridge.

JAMES LEWIS

'The Three Maccateers' continue Argyle revival

2008-02-14T07:34:00.000-08:00

A week is a long time in…blah blah blah.

But how apt a phrase that is today. Six points, two clean sheets, and a pair of commanding performances on, the pessimism pervading Plymouth Argyle at the end of January has given way to renewed hopes of a Championship play-off punt.

Argyle sit just two points outside the top six after Tuesday’s comprehensive 3-0 success at home to ten-man Barnsley, Yorkshire’s best side this year, who beat us 3-2 at Oakwell in August. Indeed, at the final whistle the BBC Sport website – which, for me, is the definitive resource for all football matters – actually had the Pilgrims sat in sixth spot , before a win for Ipswich at Crystal Palace and Burnley’s Andy Cole-inspired comeback at QPR dropped us back down to eighth.

Still, after I’d all but given up on a real run at promotion after the home defeat to Hull a couple of weeks ago, the race is very much back on and I’m chewing away at my green-and-white hat.

Luke McCormick deserves a huge amount of credit for this. Romain Larrieu’s return from injury this season appears to have spurred ‘Super Luke’ on, and, with the Frenchman out of action again, Luke has assumed a commanding status in the Argyle goal. For the first time, as well, McCormick looks the club’s undisputed number one, whoever he is competing with.

The Coventry-born stopper’s lack of height has been a traditional weakness, from the very first time I saw him – away at Tranmere in 2002, when 85 minutes of inspired shot-stopping was undone by two late blunders which gave the home side victory. Under the returning Paul Sturrock, though, McCormick has learned to mask this with aerial confidence and an exemplary all-round game. His kicking has always been long and strong; he thinks quickly and often wins one-on-one contests with opposing attackers.

There were rumours of interest from Middlesbrough in January, but these came to nothing. Luke would probably leave if an offer like this came in, but so would most Championship players. For now he seems content at Home Park, enjoying the lack of national expectation and pressure which goes with a 'bigger' club and quietly guiding his side up the table.

From looking likely to leave the club several times in the last couple of months – first after seeming to back Ian Holloway’s departure in a press statement, and then in the aftermath of an admittedly reasonable declaration that there could only be one first-choice keeper at Argyle – McCormick has established himself as the goalkeeping future at Home Park.

This is arguably less than fair on Larrieu, an Argyle legend and fan favourite, who has been unlucky with injuries. The growth in his abdomen currently keeping the Frenchman out is the latest in a string of problems, with a serious knee injury and a cancer scare forcing lengthy lay-offs while at Home Park. At 31, he is in the prime of his goalkeeping life, and will not want to play second fiddle to his young English rival, but it would be a shame to lose him.

While McCormick kept Barnsley at bay on Tuesday night the other ‘Maccateers’ (and I’m copywriting that phrase, by the way) were making the difference at the other end.
Record-signing Steve McLean’s free-kick gave Argyle a fifth minute lead, and the Scottish striker his first goal in green. The wily forward has been settling well, delighting the Green Army with his cleverness, technique, and reading of the game. But he needed a goal, and while he will never be an arch-poacher like Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who he replaced in the number nine shirt, his overall qualities are of greater value to the team. McLean reportedly loves his new home, and he could form a great partnership with another new arrival.

Jamie Mackie was not, for Pilgrim fans, initially the most exciting signing in our history. He came from Exeter, a club we treat with withering disdain, and had only bagged 11 goals this season in a league three levels lower than the Championship.

On as a sub for the hard-working, pacy Jermaine Easter, however, and he looked a man possessed. Only eleven seconds had passed when Mackie charged into the box, took a pass from Peter Halmosi and displayed tremendous strength and composure in shrugging off two defenders to score. His second goal was even better, receiving the ball down the right channel, teasing and twisting the defender and smashing home.

It was one of the most inspired and surprising cameos I’ve seen from a player in green. Here is a rough diamond, clearly tremendously talented but also oozing arrogance and self-regard, as his dancing celebration displayed – personal glory is obviously a major priority for the 22-year-old from Dorking. But if he plays like that every week he can have a statue outside the Devonport End for all I care. Mackie’s a showman, a superstar in his own head, and with the potential to become one on the pitch as well. If anyone's going to take over SEB's goalscoring mantle, he has staked a prime claim to be that man. It's a little harsh on Easter, who has performed well for Argyle without getting the breaks, or goals. But Mackie made his own opportunities against Barnsley, and sometime's that's the sign of a great player, as opposed to a good one.

And Paul Wotton’s back! What a week!

Roll on Southampton, and I’m getting a bit excited just at the thought of it.

RICH PARTINGTON

City come out on top in grudge match

2008-02-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

This game was billed as a ‘grudge match’ since Scunthorpe beat us to the League One title last season and we were looking for revenge. Although, Scunthorpe finished higher than City, it is the Robins who have settled in the Championship. Prior to the match, we were third in the Championship and only one point off leaders Watford.

Nigel Adkins’ team, on the other hand, are struggling near the foot of the table, facing the threat of relegation. Despite our high position, this was billed as a ‘must win game’, as Gary Johnson’s team looked to win away for the first time in 2008.

This match was always going to be difficult as the pitch at Glanford Park is not exactly perfect for playing good football. It is much shorter and narrower than our surface at Ashton Gate so the players would have to adapt. The solution to this problem was to resize our training pitch in preparation for the game. We were also without our captain Louis Carey, who had suffered a foot injury at the weekend, so a win would take some hard work. Judging by the radio commentary in the first 20 minutes Scunthorpe had most of the possession and created the most chances. We did however force our way into the game and Jamie McCombe came close with a header which went just wide of the post.

In the second half our play sounded a lot brighter, with chances being created but still no goals. With time running out Johnson introduced defender Tamas Vasko to play up front in place of Dele Adebola. The substitution paid off when Vasko’s presence in the box distracted goalkeeper Joe Murphy, and Bradley Orr’s left-footed, curling effort ended up in the far corner of the net.

For the next ten minutes I was sitting on the edge of my seat while the final minutes were played out. The win was crucial, with Stoke and Watford both winning it was important to claim all three points. And with West Brom only managing a draw at home to stuttering Sheffield United, the win was even more welcome.

Last season, we travelled to Glanford Park and lost 1-0 to a Billy Sharp goal. After the game, the Scunny players celebrated by unsportingly banging on the away dressing room door. All I can say is; I hope we gave them the same treatment. Let me say to Scunthorpe, League One here you come and to City, Premiership here we come!

ANDY DAVIES

Revenge is a dish best served Ready Salted

2008-02-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

Leicester City 0, Plymouth Argyle 1. Every time I read it I feel so happy I could cry.

A raucous 1500-strong Green Army pitched up at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday evening, but I’m not ashamed to admit I wasn’t one of them. For one, I’m skint, with my attendance currently restricted to home games I’ve already paid for, and for two, Argyle matches being featured on live television is still such a novelty that I like to enjoy it.

Oddly, my own experience of the Ian Holloway Grudge Match™ was in the University of Huddersfield Student Union’s fairly empty bar with three mates – a Blackpool/Celtic fan, and two girls who tried to be interested, with varying degrees of success.

My ecstatic roar at Peter Halmosi’s 34th-minute winner attracted the attention of the venue’s entire clientele, not particularly difficult when it barely ran into double figures. Indeed, I was the only fan of either team present, unless there were some Foxes supporters keeping very quiet…although who could blame them, considering the way their team was thoroughly embarrassed and outmanoeuvred for the majority of the 90 minutes? The only similar sound I heard during the game was a Ghanaian fan celebrating his team’s success over Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations’ Third Place Play-Off, which was being shown on another screen.

Watching the green masses packing the visitor’s section and singing the house down at the ‘Crisp Bowl’, and the way Halmosi tore Lionel Messi-like through incompetent blue foes in an unfamiliar role on the right, it was hard to feel anything but pride for the Pilgrim blood flowing from the arteries.

As already predicted on this blog, the Hungarian international will be almost impossible to keep at Home Park beyond the summer unless Argyle can defy the odds and sneak up to the Premiership through the play-offs. Outside of the big boring four, any side would be lucky to have him, and few would begrudge Halmosi a crack at the top flight, given the commitment and excellence he has shown this season.

Jim Paterson also had a good debut on the left. Jimmy Abdou regained the place in midfield he never should have lost and looked solid, while Paul Sturrock finally bit the bullet and tried Argyle’s best strikers together – record signing Steve McLean and the pacy Jermaine Easter, despite neither being the target man he likes to employ. They looked good, with spark and technique Rory Fallon sadly lacks, and the hope must be that Luggy will attempt to rework his footballing philosophies to suit the attractive, attacking, passing football which seems to best suit the resources he has at his disposal.

Ironically, it was Ian Holloway who introduced this style of play, and bought many of the players now employing it. The pained expressions anointing the Bristolian's cheeks on Saturday, at the various points when the Sky cameras focussed on him, were glorious sites to behold, and while Argyle now lie just two points behind the top six, Ollie’s new charges are only three above the drop zone. After watching their disorientated performance, it wasn’t hard to see why. Steve Howard is still as good in the air as ever, but he was generally well dealt with by cult star Kristian Timar, ably assisted by the increasingly magnificent goalkeeping of Luke McCormick. The best home player was probably Barry Hayles, which, considering he was no longer good enough for the Argyle starting eleven when we sold him in January, says a lot for the gulf between the teams.

Press coverage of this game has focussed strongly on Argyle chairman Paul Stapleton’s war of words with Ollie this week, but for now I’d rather concentrate on the important bit. At Leicester, the men in green put together a performance of almost utter control and dominance, played exciting football, and were multipack value for their win. This is a team with sealed-in freshness. But Leicester are looking a bit Tesco Value.

RICH PARTINGTON

City back on form

2008-02-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

After last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to big spending QPR it was important Bristol City returned to winning ways yesterday against a struggling Sheffield Wednesday side. Before the game, manager Gary Johnson made a plea to supporters to do that ‘little bit extra’ to support the team, in a game which was a must-win if we were to stay amongst the leaders. After last week’s result, the national press were quick to say our ‘bubble had burst’ yet again, but we have proven this season we can bounce back from setbacks and this was the case on Saturday.

The game also saw the return of captain Louis Carey who has been sorely missed in recent weeks. Dele Adebola was making his home debut up front with Nick Carle playing just behind him in a 4-4-1-1 formation. We started brightly with Marvin Elliot seeing his header bounce off the crossbar and in the first five minutes it was clear City had sorely missed a strong target man like Dele. Since Steve Brooker’s persistent knee injuries of last season, we have lacked a player in this mould. Hopefully, with Brooker now playing at Cheltenham Town on loan in a bid to regain his fitness, we should soon have two target men at the club.

It seemed only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken and the first goal arrived after eight minutes. Michael McIndoe threaded a through ball to Adebola who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Lee Grant and into the far corner of the net. From then on we could have added at least two more goals with Carle seeing one chance flash wide and another well saved by Grant after a promising run by McIndoe. Wednesday rarely threatened and the only person in danger of causing City problems was referee Richard Shoebridge, who failed to spot many poor challenges by Brian Law’s team.

At half-time the score was 1-0 and I was in two minds as to whether to be pleased that we were winning and creating chances or disappointed that we had wasted most of those chances. We started the second half as we had the first, pushing forward and creating chances. However, with Wednesday behind it was inevitable their forwards would put pressure on us. Marcus Tudgay sent a dipping effort wide of Adriano Basso’s post while Sean McAllister header was tipped over the crossbar with a fingertip save from Basso.

That save was crucial as moments later City scored a second. Carle’s pass to Adebola eventually found its way into Bradley Orr’s path, who lashed the ball into the far corner of the net from 15 yards. At last, the home side and the majority of the 15,600 could sit back and enjoy the rest of the game. Too often this season, City have failed to score the decisive second goal, leaving fans on the edge of our seats.

Gary Johnson then substituted Adebola and Carle soon after the second goal with Tuesday’s away game at Scunthorpe in mind. Lee Trundle and Darren Byfield came on in their places and both threatened to add a third. Trundle’s layoff to McIndoe should have made it 3-0 but the winger shot straight at the Goalkeeper.

Wednesday did eventually score with Lee Bullen firing past Basso with a fierce volley, but it was far too late in injury time for it to spoil the party. After the game, Johnson, in his post match interview told reporters, a supporter in Japan did his extra bit to support the team by lighting a candle and sending a picture to the team.

City now only trail leaders West Brom by one point, and with 15 games to go the dream of the Premiership is still on as our ‘bubble’ remains intact.

ANDY DAVIES

Debut for Dele ends in defeat

2008-02-04T02:07:00.000-08:00

So the transfer window has finally closed after a month of mass speculation surrounding Bristol City, linking the club with players from Scotland to Turkey. During the month many names were mentioned by journalists locally and nationally, with the majority of the players being strikers or attacking midfielders. In the end their rumours were proved correct as we signed attacking midfielder Nick Carle from Genclerbiligi and striker Dele Adebola from Championship rivals Coventry City. As is commonplace in the game now, the fees paid for both players were undisclosed, but speculation suggests the club forked out £500,000 on Carle and £250,000 for the services of 32-year-old Adebola.

The signing of Adebola, or at least that type of player (a target man), was always on the cards after City accepted a bid from Leeds United last week, for striker Enoch Showumni. He ultimately declined to talk to Leeds and stated his intention to fight for his place. Yet he found himself sitting in the stands last week against Blackpool as Johnson stated publicly he felt the move would be good for Showumni.

Deadline day was fairly quiet for City as Johnson seemed satisfied with his two new signings, but there was still business to be done with outgoing players, as Kevin Betsy headed to Walsall on a month’s loan and Jennison Myrie-Williams extended his loan with Tranmere until the end of the season. Alex Russell also extended his loan with League One local rivals Cheltenham Town and Showumni finally left for Sheffield Wednesday on a month’s loan. This deal was inevitable, as the day beforehand Johnson had made clear in an interview that he had signed Adebola because the strikers already at the club lacked that physical presence.

In a more intimate interview on Friday, Gary said how he had tried to turn Showumni into a target man, but the Nigerian striker still considered his role to be someone who plays off of someone like Dele. With Steve Brooker still on loan at Cheltenham but likely to return in the near future, Showumni’s time at City looks at an end with his contract set to expire in the summer. To me he has always offered us a strong presence up front, but he lacks good ball control and, for a player of his size, he is very poor in the air on many occasions. It is clear Johnson is looking to trim the squad of players unlikely to cope with the demands of the Championship, and as he always says when discussing possible new signings: "We will only bring players in who enhance our squad."

On Saturday we faced QPR, a side totally transformed from the side we hosted on the opening day of the season, a game which finished 2-2. Since then the club has had three new major shareholders in Formula One tycoons Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, worth an estimated £15billion and the world’s fifth richest man.

Going into the game I was confident that we could hopefully collect all three points as QPR had signed many players in January. I thought it might take them time to gel; sadly this was not the case as they stormed into a 2-0 lead by half-time with a brace from new signing Patrick Agyemang. In the second half, we improved and we were starting to dominate, but just couldn’t find a way back into the game. Then against the run of play, the home side scored a third through Akos Buzsaky. Adebola saw an effort hit the post late on and his rebound also hit the woodwork. It was clear that it wasn’t going to be our day and it proved the case.

Next up is Sheffield Wednesday at home, in a game we will expect to win. Judging by the manager’s comments after Saturday’s game, the players have a point to prove and hopefully Dele can be convinced that he has made the right move.

ANDY DAVIES

Discontent growing in Plymouth

2008-02-03T06:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday afternoon, the Plymouth public gave an early indication of how they felt about the January player sales at Home Park. Only 11,011, a figure pleasing only for its palindromic qualities, were willing to fork out and watch Paul Sturrock’s new-look team take on Hull. Their reward was to witness Plymouth Argyle’s play-off hopes take a decisive hit with a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat.

Had we won – against a side who have been the highest ranked of Yorkshire’s nine football league clubs for most of the season, but who we had already beaten twice in 2007-8 – Argyle would now be just two points off the top six going into next Saturday’s grudge match at former manager Ian Holloway’s Leicester City.

As it is, the gap is five, and we are four behind yesterday’s very limited visitors, who are still relying on that old warhorse Dean Windass, soon to reach pensionable age and with semi-automatic limbs. He’s still managed four goals in three games against Argyle’s backline this season, including the Tigers’ winner on Saturday.

While five points is, on the face of it, not insurmountable, the manner of recent performances has left more and more fans looking the other way – at the relegation places. I think that any fears of this happening are unfounded this season, but the horrible sense hanging around is that this era at Home Park has reached its zenith with the play-off flirtations and FA Cup Quarter-Final under Holloway. I’m not going to resign myself to that just yet; Paul Sturrock is a top manager, and could still mould a promotion-chasing team, but this has not happened as yet, and at this level he cannot survive on the shoestring budget which took us through the lower divisions.

And the reality is that over the last couple of years attendances have dwindled at Home Park, with the momentum of previous years slowing and the sense of excitement and anticipation of success among the fanbase giving away to grim ‘consolidation’. This is something that could have happened to Bristol City this season, but Gary Johnson’s side has taken the bull by the spiky bits and rode it, chortling heartily, into real contention for a second consecutive promotion. Its heartbreaking to see the Turnips overtake us as the Westcountry’s premier team quite so easily, but after five years in our shadow, this is the position they now undoubtedly occupy.

Personally, I’ll keep supporting the team, getting to as many games as I can from exile, because I’ve got the bug. Although, like anyone, I’ll make even more effort to attend matches if we’re doing well, I’ll never stop going completely because I need my Argyle fix every so often, and the club just means too much to me; it defines my adolescence, and that history will always be with me. But the club have clearly failed to keep hold of those fans who came back into the fold when we reached the Championship and enjoyed the novelty of big games against the likes of Leeds and Sunderland.

The much-maligned ‘Janner apathy’ does exist, but only because the people of Plymouth have never seen their club make a serious attempt to give the city the Premiership club it deserves. It’s a case of making them believe before they’ll come, and they’ve been let down so many times before that cynicism reigns, particularly among the older ones. But Argyle had a whole new generation they could convince of their ambition, and that has not happened.

Still, even if this season is over, (and I find it easier to just accept that now than have my hopes dashed again) I’ll still be here, attempting to pick apart the essence of the Green dream. Life goes on.

RICH PARTINGTON

Transfer deadline blues

2008-02-01T03:39:00.000-08:00

Roughly £4.9million received in player sales. Only £1.5million spent. When I mused in previous blogs that, despite the gloomy outlook, Plymouth Argyle might end the January transfer window with a stronger squad than they began it, I was possibly being a little over-optimistic.

Of course, money isn't everything, and the cut-price signings we have made could easily prove to be better than the players sold. But Argyle seemed to lose out to their Championship rivals on so many big targets this month, it almost became a cruel joke. Preston signed both Aberdeen right-back Michael Hart and Oldham’s highly-rated centre-half Neal Trotman. Talented Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Glenn Whelan, who many felt would be a strong replacement for Argyle’s departing David Norris, has instead joined Stoke.

Sheffield United defender Leigh Bromby went to Watford, although for an inflated price of £600,000 (which could rise to £850,000). The £400,000 bid Paul Sturrock tabled for the right-back seemed reasonable, but clearly those kind of offers are not enough to secure the kind of players who can secure Argyle a play-off place, when competing against a relegated Premiership club who have ridiculously huge parachute payments to call on.

Much of Luggy’s wheeling and dealing has indeed been attempting to sign a right-sided full-back to provide competition for Paul Connolly, who has pretty much had the run of the role since David Worrell left in 2005. There is a groundswell of opinion among Argyle fans that Connolly is one of the weaker links in the team, and that, at least, further options in that position would be welcome, particularly after the sale of the versatile youngster Dan Gosling to Everton. However, it seems efforts to secure this have been unsuccessful.

Left-back has been another problem position, with Lee Hodges ageing and technically deficient despite his boundless, admirable commitment. Youth product Gary Sawyer, who looked towards the end of 2006-7, has not progressed as hoped this season, with many believing he is more at home in the crowded centre-back position. Luggy moved yesterday to strengthen here, with Motherwell’s Jim Paterson coming in for a reported £250,000. This looks a good signing and, with Paterson apparently good going forward as well as defending, Peter Halmosi can expect increased support down an already dangerous and potent left side.

Norris, of course, has gone, with Argyle eventually receiving £1.25million of Ipswich’s £2million fee, thanks to the Tractor Boys’ close ties with Bolton, who originally held a 50% sell-on clause on the player. This seems a reasonable return with the player out of contract in eighteen months – he’d never have signed another one, and his value in the summer would have been lower. The question now is whether any of the three new midfield recruits – Chris Clark, Yoann Folly, or the currently imjured loanee Gyorgy Sandor – can adequately replace Norris. Clark looks the most likely, with a goal and some impressive performances already under his belt. If Sturrock prefers the Scot in the centre, Nadjim Abdou could return to a right-sided role.

Up front, the pressure is all on Steve McLean, already appreciated by many fans, despite his penalty miss in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw at Ipswich. This result was an odd one, with the hosts dominating, but Argyle having a great chance to win it. McLean will be expected to pick up Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s goalscoring mantle, although it remains to be seen whether big man Rory Fallon or the pacy, improving Jermaine Easter will partner him. Personally I’d like to see the two smaller, skilful players in tandem, but it seems unlikely – Luggy likes a target man and a goalscorer.

Tommorrow the Pilgrims face Hull, in a game which - and I can not stress this enough - we simply MUST win to stay in touch with the play-off hunt. Having beaten the Tigers twice this season already this should be more than possible. If not we’ll have to start looking over our shoulder – four points behind the top six, we’re also only ten points ahead of the bottom three…

RICH PARTINGTON

Referee and Millwall end Cheltenham's perfect record

2008-01-31T14:41:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night was, in clichéd terms, "just one of those days." In the morning, things looked promising; the sun was shining, and the weather was such that I could have ventured into my University campus in a t-shirt and shorts and not even felt midly chilly.

So following a rather uneventful day’s lectures, and an uneventful evening spent watching Hollyoaks and occasionally playing Football Manager, I made the short journey down to Whaddon Road.

This was my first experience of a match involving Millwall FC. Was their fans’ reputation deserved? If Cheltenham won would they start attacking the home support and vandalising cars? Would a Cheltenham defeat be better for my safety? As it was they remained perfectly well behaved, if not a little bit quiet, though only the hardcore fans would have relished a Tuesday night trip to the Westcountry.

Frustratingly Scott Brown – who surely must be fit by now – remained on the bench, with Andy Lindegaard, who still hasn't been totally convincing, on the left hand side. Ancient full backs Wright and Gill of course kept their places.

The first half was a game of few chances, and rather scrappy, similar to the Bournemouth game. It ended with Dave Bird breaking his nose. Despite carrying on for a few minutes, he was replaced at half time by Adam Connolly, who I was sure had gone out on loan by now. Despite being a free scoring central midfielder on my successful Cheltenham career on FIFA 08, Adam has struggled in the real world, but he was given a chance, and to be fair, he didn't do at all badly.

The goal came ten minutes into the second half, and was scored by Gary Alexander. I'm not sure how to describe the goal, but it was very scrappy, and very "League One" in execution. It will not feature in compilation videos in the future.

Scott Brown's appearance came much too late. Brown, a decent central midfielder, would probably have been a better bet than Connolly to replace Dave Bird. My belief however is that Keith Downing was saving Brown to replace Lindegaard or D'Agostino later in the game. In the end both wingers came off, to be replaced by Brown and cult hero Damien Spencer, who came on, ran about a bit, and nearly scored a header.

Not helping either was the referee. Any dubious offside decision was awarded in Millwall's favour, blatant fouls and handballs were missed, and Millwall's appalling timewasting – "Oh no! I've suffered a terrible injury! I'd best lie on the floor for ten minutes writhing in agony...oh wait it's just a stubbed toe." The man in black’s performance brought the usual cries of "How much are they paying you?" and as the game wore on, it became apparent that Cheltenham weren't going to score. And they didn't.

And thus what I hoped would be a great night became only an "alright" night, and Cheltenham must now look ahead to the game against Gillingham on Saturday, which, due to my dislike of the London Underground, I will probably not be attending.

JAMES LEWIS

Malpas plotting play-off push

2008-01-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

It’s been a few weeks since I last reported on Swindon but I wanted time to tick by so I could give a fair assessment on new manager Maurice Malpas. Two own goals by Nottingham Forest a couple of weeks ago was probably not the way Malpas had hoped to seize his first win as new manager but none the less, a win is a win in football. This was undeniably a brilliant result for Swindon, who did superbly in staving off an equaliser.

The play-off push is a tight one, but one that is being accelerated with optimism. To date Town have remained stagnant mid-table. In tenth place with 39 points, we are currently tailgating a play-off place.

The FA Cup game versus Barnet was a frustrating match for Malpas. Billy Paynter scoring at both ends was followed by failure to break through a ten men Barnet for the winner, and the eventual disaster of four missed penalties.

Paynter’s spell of misfortune continued at Crewe last Saturday when he saw red for fouling Michael O’Connor. However, Malpas’s first away victory against Luton earlier this week took Swindon’s unbeaten run to ten games, thanks to Christian Roberts’ 52nd Minute goal. Unluckily for the opposition, their attempt in the 14th minute was declared offside.

Afterwards Malpas said: "I think the pleasing thing is we got three points and the manner in which we played to get them.

"It wasn't a pretty game but I think in the second half we showed more composure and scored our goal."

It is pleasing to note that new players Anthony McNamee and Moses Ashikodi, both from Watford, have joined STFC as Maurice’s first new signings. McNamee’s two-and-a-half-year deal was for an undisclosed fee. Striker Ashikodi is on loan until the end of this season.

Reading Striker Simon Cox has been in the news in Swindon a lot this week as well. His deal has been secured with STFC and he is expected to play against Northampton on Saturday. Meanwhile, Malpas has recently approached striker Lee Peacock and defender Miguel Comminges to extend their contracts. Peacock has agreed to a new contract with Swindon will now remain in the squad for at least another season until 2009.

So it seems that finally Swindon is setting anchor on both its possessions and its sights. It will be interesting to see if we can still achieve the play-offs in the remaining time of this season. To be honest I think it’s remarkable that we are in the great position now to be able to make these ambitions, considering the recent dark days as reported in my earlier posts.

Keeper Brezovan is staying until the end of the season. The team is taking shape with some quality players all fighting to wear the shirt. Truly exciting times for a more robust and stable Swindon. Malpas has impressed fans so far. Let’s hope this remains the case.

NEIL ROBINSON

Pride at Pompey, intrigue at Ipswich

2008-01-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

These are odd times at Plymouth Argyle, and I’m struggling to decide whether excitement or despondency is the appropriate attitude to take with regards to the remaining three months of the season. Perhaps tommorrow night’s play-off battle with Ipswich will provide us with some answers.

January must this far be regarded as a poor month for Argyle, with unrest in the dressing room, top players leaving, and a run of disappointing league results which has seen the Pilgrims drop from 5th to 11th. Indeed, we are without a league win in four matches, a run which stretches back to the Boxing Day victory over QPR, and Argyle’s last victory outside of Devon was the 1-0 success at Watford on December 15.

In addition, our two top scorers, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Barry Hayles, have been sold to Championship rivals Wolves and Leicester, with the third highest marksman, midfielder David Norris, looking likely to depart in the coming days – probably either to Leicester or tommorrow’s opponents.

The possibility of Norris heading to Suffolk seemed to increase with today’s announcement that he will take no part in the Ipswich tie. Paul Sturrock and the player have apparently come to this decision after much discussion at today’s training session, with Luggy saying:

"Disappointingly, there has been a lot of media coverage from a team that is very interested in David.

"I don’t think he would be mentally attuned to the tussle and I don’t think it would be fair of me to allow people to put the microscope on him. Every bad pass or mistake that he made would be highlighted."

This seems strange in some ways, given that the one thing rarely questioned of Norris is his unswerving commitment. It is still possible that he could remain with Argyle, but given his roots in Peterborough, within an hour of Ipswich, and his undoubted ambition to play top-flight football, the only way this will realistically happen is if the Tractor Boys cannot meet Argyle’s valuation. The situation is complicated by the sell-on clause negotiated by Bolton Wanderers when selling Norris to Argyle, which means they receive half of any fee. Even if Ipswich boss Jim Magilton caves in and offers a reasonable £2.5million, Plymouth would only collect £1.25m of the money.

Argyle’s hopes going into the trip to 8th-place Town have been further dashed by the injury to stalwart centre-half Marcel Seip, which also kept the Dutchman out of Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup Fourth Round loss at Portsmouth.

‘The Dockyard Derby’ defeat, although initially disappointing, may eventually be seen as a blessing. Chris Clark’s early debut goal gave Argyle a real chance of shocking their Premiership hosts, and the pride and positive media coverage garnered from an unjust cup exit should boost morale in players and supporters alike.

Clark, a versatile Scottish attacking midfielder signed from Aberdeen a fortnight ago to little acclaim from the Green Army, could be another Sturrock find, and his fellow transfer window signing Yoann Folly has a chance to prove himself tommorrow night, replacing Norris. His eye-catching cameo role in the home draw with Southampton last week promised much.

Indeed, Sturrock has been putting the £4million received for the four players sold in January to good use, picking up talented players for low fees. This is his blueprint; hungry, committed players, moulded into a tight-knit, effective unit with flashes of flair. Clark cost £200k, and strikers Jermaine Easter from Wycombe and Jamie Mackie from Exeter were £210k and £145k respectively. Folly was free from Sheffield Wedneday, and Hungarian international midfielder Gyorgy Sandor became the latest arrival last week, the 23-year-old joining on loan from Ujpest in a similar buy-later deal which previously secured Krisztian Timar and Peter Halmosi. The ‘cherry on the cake’, as Luggy would say, was the club record £500k capture of striker Steve McLean from Cardiff.

The quality obviously present in this collection suggests that, with or without Norris, Argyle’s personnel may actually be of a higher standard at the end of the transfer window than when it began. This assertion could be shored up with a couple more bargains. Leigh Bromby from Sheffield United is a reported £400,000 target, and with the right-back area an Argyle weakness for several years, he’d be a shrewd acquisition. Rumours also abound of a bid for Oldham’s highly-rated centre-half Neal Trotman, now a real possibility after their ejection from the FA Cup at the hands of Huddersfield.

And Sturrock has said he wants another striker – could this be Derek Riordan, the Celtic man Argyle (or, at least, the Green Army) have allegedly coveted for more than a year? Probably not, as Burnley are currently the only club known to have made a bid, and the Celts are keen to sign Clarets striker Kyle Lafferty, so a swap deal looks on the cards.

Sturrock has made a habit, unlike Magilton, of keeping most of his transfer targets quiet, information sometimes only surfacing hours before an official announcement. So there may be some surprises in the coming days.

The eventual denouement of all this is that, after a tough four weeks, Argyle can go into February full of optimism and with a squad who are capable of relaunching a play-off charge, despite the current five-point gap. Lose at Ipswich though, and that dream will feel some huge Massey Ferguson tyres roll it slowly into the dirt.

RICH PARTINGTON

King's Lynn vs. Swindon Supermarine. In the SOUTHERN league...

2008-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

We’ve all been there. You get home at the end of a long day and think, "I wish I had stayed in bed", and believe me this really was one of those days.

The 8:30am leave had been brought forward to 8:00am which meant the players and staff had been ordered to meet at the Hotel for 7:45am. So when the time to leave had come and gone, and there was still no sign of top goal scorer Richard Kear and fellow strike partner Jason Welsh, the manager and the rest of the assembled squad and supporters had begun to get restless.

"Boss its Jason, I’m really sorry my alarm didn’t go off and I’m just leaving Cardiff".

Not the phone call Mark Collier was looking for, knowing, at best, his missing players would not be at the hotel for another hour. The decision was made to go on without the duo and let them catch us up by stopping in Oxford.

Now when league teams set off on an away day, they may pick up the paper, reading remarks of supporters and pundits on their chances and quickly forgetting them. But this is non-league, and the Marine players get the benefit of their travelling supporters company on the team coach.

"Just to let you lot know, I’m not giving up my Saturday, spending a total of eight hours on this coach for the fun of it, I expect a result today", proclaims 80-year-old supporter Mrs Garland.

A 45-minute stop in Oxford saw the missing two catch us up, and we were now good to, eventually arriving at King’s Lynn in good time. Although very few people will have heard of King’s Lynn, they are a big non-league club with a proud history, last season entertaining Oldham in the second round proper of the FA Cup. It’s a club whose fans harbour ambitions of league status, and turn out in large numbers week in, week out. After being told the club shop grosses over £50k a year you could understand why Lynn maybe feel they are not playing in a division befitting their history and support.

Marine were without two key players in defender Leigh Henry and midfielder Gary Horgan so Mark Collier had to shuffle his pack, seeing a number of players playing in unfamiliar positions, and against the league leaders this was sure to be a tough afternoon.

The first half was a reasonably even affair with Marine having the better of the early chances, Ashleigh Edenborough twice going close in the opening minutes. The home side’s Michael Frew was looking lively on the right hand side of midfield and was causing Danny Allen real problems with his pace and skill. It was Frew who set up Lynn’s first chance of the game with Jack Defty heading a fierce cross wide of the upright.

As the first half wore on the game Marine’s injury woes continued with leading marksman Richard Kear seeing his day ended with a re-occurrence of a hip injury, this in turn resulting in Marine losing their most threatening forward option.

The opening goal of the game arrived five minutes before the break. Joe Francis, who has courted the interest of several league clubs, twice cut inside before delivering a pin point cross to the back post that Frew struck home.

Deep in to stoppage time at the end of the first half Marine drew level courtesy of a first class strike from Chris Taylor. Taylor was afforded space 20 yards out and curled a delightful left footed strike past keeper Scott Howie in to the top corner. Without question the goal of the game.

Unfortunately for the visitors Lynn struck back straight from kick off. Frew again got the better of Allen and he picked out Defty who had eluded his marker at the back post and restored his side’s lead with the last kick of the half.

Marine would’ve felt hard done by to be behind at half time, but not for the first time this season lapses in concentration had gifted their opponent’s goals in game that they could ill afford mistakes. The second 45 minutes is up there with the most bemusing halves of football I have seen, and no one inside the ground could’ve predicted what was to come after such a tight first half.

Within in minutes of the restart Marine went close to again drawing level but Kyle Lapham’s long range effort was well held by Howie. Lynn, however, found an opening through Frew, who again delivered a perfect cross to find Francis, who netted his side’s third of the game on 50 minutes.

In their debut season in the British Gas Business Premier League Marine have both won plaudits and gained critics with a philosophy of playing passing football no matter what. Mark Collier sends his sides out with the motto "Play, Play, Play" and this will produce match winning performances or defensive horror shows, reflected in his side having the least number of draws of any in the division.

With his side flowing forward in search of getting a goal back they were picked apart on the counter, and when Taylor upended Defty in the box on 63 minutes the game was put beyond doubt, Francis despatching the resulting spot kick for 4-1.

A glaring miss from Defty and a goal line clearance from Chris Thompson saw the score temporarily remain at 4-1, but it was a matter of delaying the inevitable with Lynn playing superb football. They got their fifth on 73 minutes when Matt Nolan headed home after Frew’s effort had hit the cross bar.

Marine had further chances to restore some pride but a combination of keeper and poor finishing saw the chances go begging. The rout was completed on 80 minutes through Kearan Deane, whose 25-yard strike somehow made its way through a packed box and into the bottom corner.

In truth Lynn could’ve added further goals but so could have Marine. Substitute Mark Draycott was first denied what would’ve been a superb goal by the cross bar, and then the same player saw keeper Howie come out on top in a one on one.

The final whistle brought an end to an unusual game that saw Marine defensively hit self destruct despite creating numerous chances going forward. A reporter in the press box alongside me uttered: "10-6 would’ve a been a more appropriate score line!"

A downbeat squad made their way back onto the coach for the four hour journey home.

"This is not news you are going to want to hear" announces the coach driver, "unfortunately there appears to be a problem with the coach and we are not going anywhere in this tonight."

An hour and a half later a second coach was with us just enough time for Mrs Garland to ‘consult’ the squad on the day’s performance.

"What on earth have you lot got to say for yourselves?"

This was a lady who demanded answers, but the players couldn’t muster much of a response.

"I’d tell you what I thought of it but the language would be too bad" she quipped.

Post-match analysis over we were finally on our way home, arriving back in Swindon just before midnight.

Hours of waiting for missing players and a new coach, a 400 mile round trip and a 6-1 defeat….when Jason Welsh rang to say his alarm had not gone off maybe this was a signal to us all that this was going to be one of those days… the ones where you should’ve just stayed in bed!

LEIGH MOORE

Johnson refuses to discuss new signings

2008-01-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

The January transfer window closes this week and much of the talk surrounding City is whether we will bring in a new striker to shake things up. Goals from our forwards have been in short supply this season with £1million summer signing Lee Trundle only finding the net three times, and Darren Byfield scoring eight goals.

With Steve Brooker out on loan to Cheltenham Town in a bid to regain his match fitness, and Enoch Showumni out of the picture after City accepted an undisclosed bid from Leeds United, (even though he turned down the offer) it is clear we need more options. Gary Johnson has since publicly stated he thinks Showumni should have taken the offer so with his contract up at the end of the season, it doesn’t look likely that it will be renewed.

Some could argue we should start fielding younger players like Tristan Plummer but we need a striker who is capable of holding the ball up front and letting Byfield or Trundle play alongside the target man. Rumours have been circulating for a couple of weeks now with many names mentioned including Coventry’s Dele Adebola and Celtic’s Derek Riordan, neither of which looks likely.

On the subject of new signings, Johnson has always remained tight-lipped about any targets he has, to prevent other clubs being alerted of their availability and to remain respectful to the players who have already taken us so far this season. Gary is in a tricky position as a new signing could bring more goals or upset the tremendous team spirit at the club already.

His only signing of the window so far, Nick Carle, made his home debut on Saturday and to me he looks absolute class. The Australian has a fantastic awareness of the game and is more than comfortable using both his feet, so this is encouraging and he can also play an attacking role if needed. At £500,000 he looks an absolute steal and will surely add quality to the squad. He could surely play at a higher level.

On Saturday we faced Blackpool after a run of two games without a win, so it was important we secured all three points. With the majority of the teams in the Championship competing in the FA Cup, a win would send us top, level on points with West Brom. An early goal from Marvin Elliot sent us on our way to a 1-0 victory and three precious points. Again we failed to score more goals as we were wasteful with our chances and this made for a nervy finale with Blackpool hitting the crossbar and forcing goalkeeper Adriano Basso to make some good saves.

Encouragingly City defended very well without both our regular centre backs Louis Carey and Liam Fontaine, with proves our defence has strength in depth. We are gradually getting to the business end of the season where it is only the results that matter, and hopefully we will still be up near the top in May. So far this has been an incredible season, which has exceded all my expectations, and there is no reason why our current squad can’t take us into the Premier League.

Although I might say different in my next blog if we lose to QPR and haven’t signed anyone!

ANDY DAVIES

Mackie signing emphasise gulf between Devon 'rivals'

2008-01-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

This morning, after weeks of protracted negotiations, Plymouth Argyle finally completed the signing of Exeter City striker Jamie Mackie, for £145,000.

Less than eight years ago, on March 11 2000, Argyle had struggled to a 1-1 draw at St. James’ Park in a LEAGUE fixture – now, three divisions above, we are buying the Grecians’ best player to bolster our reserves.

And Pilgrims fans have actually been generally split about whether Mackie is a worthwhile signing. Many don’t feel that 11 goals in the Blue Square Premier this season (14 in all competitions) are ample enough proof of Championship-level potential. But the pursuit of Mackie by Argyle boss Paul Sturrock has been dogged, with a series of bids, and the manager clearly rates him. At the moment, the price looks a touch on the steep side, but if the 21-year-old Blue Square December player of the month can score goals in the second tier it will look a snip.

It seems unlikely he will get his chance immediately. Steve McLean has just been signed for a club record fee and looks likely to shine. Rory Fallon shows signs of becoming a useful target man. Jermaine Easter has performed well and, you feel just needs a few goals to boost his confidence. And Lukas Jutkiewicz, on loan from Everton, is a top prospect who has come to Argyle for first-team football.

The primary impression created by the signing saga, though, is a huge reminder of the differences between these clubs who, at times during their histories, could have been described as rivals. Argyle have always been the bigger club – their crowds, fanbase, and legacy of success have always dwarfed City’s, unsurprsing given that the city of Plymouth is more than twice the size of its neighbour up the A38. But there is still a real hatred between the two sets of fans, particularly the younger element, who grew up with Plymouth having only a marginally better team.

Certainly, though, the hatred comes a lot stronger from one way – every Exeter fan I have ever met loathes Argyle with a passion. Once, at Exeter bus station, I came very close to a kicking from a pair of City lads returning from their Conference fixture, simply for wearing an Argyle shirt. We weren’t even playing them! I was only 16, not exactly threatening in appearance, and quietly minding my own business. But that’s to be expected. It’s not uncommon to see red-and-white striped shirts with ‘WE 8 ARGYLE’ printed on the back – I’ve witnessed them all over the country, and it always makes me chuckle. Sure, the Zoo Corner still sings of their mothers’ apparent order to ‘shoot the City scum’, but it’s more out of having no-one else to replace them with – Bristol City are more bothered about Rovers and Cardiff, and Torquay are essentially an irrelevance, who many Argyle fans support as a second team.

For many, of course – the old Navy boys, the Marines, and the dockyard workers, who once comprised the majority of Argyle’s fanbase, and still make up a decent chunk of present and exiled support – the big rivals are Saturday’s FA Cup Third Round opponents, Portsmouth.

The two south coast port currently host the south coast’s two best teams, and although Pompey fans are largely more bothered with Southampton, this match will be the main one for all men of sea and dock. In 1983, the enmity reached its peak when Portsmouth came to Argyle on the final day of the season, needing a win to seal the old Third Division Championship. They won 1-0, but the match was marred by hundreds of Pompey hooligans breaking through the barriers and charging through the Lyndhurst, causing many injuries among the Green Army.

Under Harry Redknapp, and backed by Alexandre Gaydamak’s shady millions, the Hampshire club are at their peak, European challengers for the past few seasons and currently sitting 8th in the Premiership. Despite the fantastic television spectacle and atmosphere Fratton Park’s ‘Battle of the Dockyards’ will surely provide, the BBC and Sky have yet again plumped for such irritating yawn-fests as Wigan v Chelsea, likely to be played in a half-empty stadium.

However, after requests from Navy and Marine personnel across the world, the match will be fed live to the forces, giving them a rare and welcome chance to watch their teams. This is a gesture which must be strongly applauded – but the question remains, why couldn’t ordinary British people have the same privilege? Portsmouth versus Plymouth has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

With Pompey having the noisiest fans in the Premiership and a full ground every week, and Argyle arguably the best travelling support in the football league, this promises to be a cracker – in the stands, at least. On the pitch, the Pilgrims may struggle to deal with stars like Nico Kranjcar and Benjani Mwaruwari – unless all even are at the top of their game, or the hosts field an under-strength side. Argyle’s cause has been somewhat aided with several Pompey players, including Sulley Muntari, away at the African Cup of Nations. If David Norris for the visitors, it is likely to be his swansong in green. Hopefully he’ll want to go out with a banging cup upset.

RICH PARTINGTON

Fleetwood pledges loyalty to Rovers

2008-01-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

This morning, on my daily look around the BBC Sport Website, an article grabbed my attention.

Over the weekend, Forest Green had accepted an offer from Crewe Alexandra for their free-scoring striker Stuart Fleetwood. It seemed inevitable that he had played his last game for the non-leaguers, and Rovers fans looked to console themselves with the £175,000 to spend, but Fleetwood had other ideas.

"It is a decision I have reached along with my family", said Fleetwood.

"Everyone at Rovers has made us so welcome, from the Boardroom to the supporters on the terraces. My mother in particular has a genuine affection for the club and everyone she meets each match day.

"The club is now part of my family as well and I am committed with my team-mates to making this the best ever season that the club have experienced in their history.

"Obviously I have been kept informed by the club of all the interest shown and I can honestly state that even if any other clubs come in with a late bid before the transfer window closes, I am not interested.

"The summer may be a different matter but I owe a debt of gratitude to the gaffer (Jim Harvey). At a time when many thought my career had ended, he had faith in me and I love the way he has the lads playing and that has helped me tremendously".

While this could mean Forest Green lose out on a substantial amount of money, Fleetwood's commitment would give them a decent shot at the play-offs, and possible promotion to the promised land of League football.

Fleetwood's attitude is refreshing, it's a nice change to see a player put his club before his wallet, and he's showing real gratitude to manager Jim Harvey for giving him a second chance.

It's good to see loyalty still exists.

JAMES LEWIS

Errea Cup - the (very) poor man's Champions League?

2008-01-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

Midweek cup football conjures up images of glamorous European nights, the romance of an FA Cup replay or even a chance to book an early appearance at Wembley in the Carling Cup.

It is therefore fair to say that, in comparison, Swindon Supermarine’s Errea Cup fourth round trip to league rivals Mangotsfield United failed to grab the imagination, so much so that a sorry crowd of under 100 turned out to see Mark Collier’s men ease their way into the last eight.

Supermarine had been left without a fixture for over a week due to two postponements so the game provided Marine with the perfect opportunity to eradicate from the mind their 5-0 mauling at the hands of Team Bath in their last run out.

Unlike in the previous round, Collier named a strong side, but had to make do without the services of the injured David Stroud and the unavailable Leigh Henry. The absence of the two former Swindon Town youngsters made way for the returning Chris Thompson and the latest former Robin to join the Marine nest, Alex Rigley.

Mangotsfield themselves were without a win in eight, and their team selection suggested this was a game they were targeting to bring to an end that winless streak. The hosts, however, failed to start in the manner their manager might have hoped and Marine took charge from the off.

Top scorer Richard Kear and fellow front man Jason Welsh had both fired early warning strikes before Danny Allen’s ninth minute goal, drilled home from 20 yards. This goal was Allen’s eighth of the season which is no mean feat from left back!

Conceding early failed to ignite the Mangos and Marine continued to dominate but failed to capitalise on their considerable possession and neat football. Despite a wealth of half chances the visitors had to wait till the final ten minutes of the first half for their next real chance in front of goal, with Welsh seeing his fierce effort flash wide of the upright.

They did, however, find the breakthrough for the second just before the interval. Stuart Pearson sent a lovely through ball over the host’s backline. Kear picked up the loose ball and rounded goalkeeper Josh Clapham, calmly side footing in from 10 yards. The 2-0 half time score line reflected Marine’s dominance and with Mangotsfield failing to register a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes it was half a job well done.

The second half was a more evenly contested affair but the hosts were grateful to their keeper Clapham, who denied Welsh with a fine save in the opening stages after the break.
Clapham was again to thank when he thwarted first Kyle Lapham and then Alex Rigley with two smart reaction saves.

Midway through the second half Mangotsfield created their first half chance of the match but Allan Griffin headed wide from a Sam Bailey cross. As the game entered its final stages Collier made three substitutions with youngster Sean Wood making only his fourth appearance of the season. Wood, who has impressed in his other three outings and with a stunning winning goal previously to his name, continued to impress in his latest cameo with a series of strong tackles and effective passes.

At the very end of a fairly uneventful second 45 minutes the home side recorded their FIRST shot on target of the game. However, substitute James Crew saw his shot saved well by Tom King. All in all a job done well done by Marine, whose dominance was not reflected in the final scoreline.

No glamour of Europe, no romance of the FA Cup, not even the chance of an early trip to Wembley – but, nonetheless, through to the next round for Marine.

Supermarine will head north on Saturday to King’s Lynn for a game against the league leaders in front of a crowd of over 1000, and spare a thought for this reporter who will be on the player’s coach leaving Swindon at 8:30am…and there I was thinking we played in the SOUTHERN league.

LEIGH MOORE

From the rubble comes creation

2008-01-21T16:31:00.000-08:00

When the final whistle sounded at Home Park on Saturday afternoon, the Plymouth Argyle players, as usual, applauded the home supporters stacked across three sides of the ground. One player, however, appeared to clap a little harder.

Midway through the second half of the preceding 1-1 draw with Southampton, a long ball down the right channel of Argyle’s half was pursued by a Saints player, in yards of space. Like Mr. Benn’s shopkeeper clad in green, suddenly David Norris was there, sliding full length across the zippy, moist surface to crunch the ball out of play.

The ‘Zoo’ corner of the Lyndhurst Stand were not shy in displaying their appreciation. An ensuing chant of "There’s Only One David Norris" was the loudest noise of an atmospheric afternoon in front of a respectable 14600 souls, quite clearly in response to continuing speculation of the Peterborough-born midfielder’s impending departure.

Rumours abound that Norris handed in a transfer request last week, and Paul Sturrock has failed to confirm or deny this, suggesting the player is almost certainly on his way. Saturday’s opponents have been tracking Norris since before the summer, joined by Norwich, Leicester, and Ipswich. The latter, rolling in Marcus Evans's debt-laden millions, seem favourites to nab him, with a £1.8million bid currently on the table and the club representing a base much nearer to Norris’s roots.

The majority of Pilgrim fans have resigned themselves to the loss of this committed and diligent performer, with his notably fervent applause for the Green Army on Saturday strengthening this assertion – it being viewed as something of a goodbye. Tony Capaldi, Akos Buzsaky, Barry Hayles, and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, the last four first-team players to leave the club, all reacted similarly in their final games. Slowly, the squad which pushed hard for a top six slot this year – and last – under Ian Holloway is being broken up, and you get the sense that this was a strong social as well as footballing group. Greed, ambition, and club decision-making, in varying degrees of concentration, has pulled them away, yet their time at Argyle was clearly a valued one.

For their part, the Argyle fanbase appears to wish Norris little ill in his probable departure. This may come as a surprise, especially since the Southampton clash also featured an updated version of ‘The Syvlan Ebanks-Blake Song’, the now-Wolves striker gleefully exhorted to "fuck off". This bitterness, however, is more to do with the way SEB left – forcing Argyle into a sale at below market value, and refusing even to countenance the idea of a new contract. Norris, it seems, has been more patient, but perhaps that patience is now wearing thin.

He has been a good servant to the Pilgrims since joining from Bolton in 2002, and is generally considered an absolute Argyle legend. As a player, his finishing and control have sometimes let him down, but his energy is unequalled in my years of watching Plymouth, and his commitment has, until recently, rarely been in doubt. Enthusiasm, ebullience, ingenuity – he might never be Premiership-quality in terms of technique, but he could play there on sheer force of personality.

Price-wise, though, Argyle would be fool to accept £1.8m. Norris is worth a fair bit more than that, and with a number of suitors, a bidding war could increase that price by at least 50%. There is also the added inconvenience of the clause which means Norris's former club, Bolton Wanderers, will receive half of any sell-on fee. If a new, promotion-challenging Sturrock team is to be reconstructed from the rubble of Holloway’s side (although of course Norris was Luggy’s signing) the greens will need to splash the cash.

Friday was a good start, with the capture of Steve McLean from Cardiff for a club-record £500,000 fee. The 25-year-old is fits the two most common criteria of a Sturrock signing; he’s Scottish, like the boss, and they worked together at a previous club, Sheffield Wednesday. It was at Hillsborough McLean enjoyed his most successful years thus far, before a short, injury-plagued spell in Wales this season. In addition to several previous problems, this is a minor worry, but McLean’s performance against the Saints was more encouraging. A thoughtful, elegant player, he showed some nice touches, but could have had a crack at goal a couple of times, and may need to build up his strength and match fitness. He will also take a few games to get used to the nuances of his team-mates’ styles and the manager’s tactics, but if he does there is no reason why he cannot prove to be even better than the man he has replaced in the number nine shirt – Ebanks-Blake.

The Southampton match itself fitted the unfortunately typical formula a great deal of home matches in the past eighteen months, including one just over a year ago against the same opponents, which ended in the same scoreline. Argyle start badly, concede early, and proceed to dominate proceedings from then on, with poor finishing meaning they are only able to score once, if at all. The visitors were poor, a shadow of their former Premiership-fixture selves. But Plymouth could not force the win.

On Saturday it was Rory Fallon who at least prevented a greatly unjust defeat, volleying in from Argyle’s most common source of ammunition – the superlative left foot of Peter Halmosi, who almost effortlessly produced a man-of-the-match performance.

Fallon has been much maligned since his arrival a year ago, without really having a sustained opportunity to prove himself. Against the Saints he was excellent, recalling the half-time draw guest, Mickey Evans, in winning so much in the air and proving a constant menace to the visiting defence. Incredibly, Uriah Rennie did not book the Kiwi despite a string of fouls, each knock further unsettling the Southampton centre-halves. A big-man-little-man partnership appears to be Luggy’s preferred attacking blueprint, and if so Fallon has a real chance of establishing himself alongside, probably, either McLean or Jermaine Easter.

Halmosi, meanwhile, remains the absolute jewel in Argyle’s crown. If Norris leaves, it will be a sad day – he is popular and a talented footballer. But if it is a choice between he and the infinitely more talented Hungarian, I have already made my decision. And so, you feel, has Paul Stapleton.

RICH PARTINGTON

Three wins in a row lifts Cheltenham out of the drop zone

2008-01-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

Who says lightning doesn't strike twice? Rewind back to February 2007, and Cheltenham hosted Bournemouth in a relegation six pointer. In a scrappy game with few chances, Cheltenham won with a header in injury time.

Almost exactly a year later, Cheltenham hosted Bournemouth in a relegation six pointer, and won a scrappy encounter with a header in injury time, David Bird the hero of the day.
Watching the game made me realise a few things.

1. Ashley Vincent is not up to League One standard.
2. The return of Scott Brown has come at a great time.
3. Andy Lindegaard is not comfortable at right back.

The loan signings also did well. Steve Brooker played much of the game before coming off. Brooker is at Whaddon Road to get fit, after an injury ravaged year, and along with Alex Russell, he joins Steven Gillespie, Damien Spencer and both Scott Browns as former Bristol City players at Cheltenham. Even a half fit Brooker is in my opinion better than Paul Connor, with Craig Reid still not getting a look in, and likely to move on if he doesn't get his chance. Russell is a decent partner for Dave Bird in central midfield, while John Finnigan recovers from his continuous injury saga.

All things said and done, the win was crucial and, coupled with a 2-0 success at Hartlepool on Friday night, put Cheltenham into 20th place, a point above Millwall who they meet on January 29. Cheltenham's home form has been half decent this season, while Millwall's has been, well, patchy to say the least. Before that though, they face Carlisle at home, which of course is ex-manager John Ward's return to Whaddon Road. This promises to be a tricky game.

Transfer wise, there are a few players worth looking at, namely Oxford's Rob Duffy. Duffy has Football League experience with Rushden and Diamonds, although it could be argued that while he's guaranteed to get goals, most of these come from the penalty spot.

JAMES LEWIS

City falter at the Palace

2008-01-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Bristol City faced one of their toughest away games to date, against a Crystal Palace team who were unbeaten in 14 matches going into the game. Realising the big task City faced I soon accepted a point would do nicely against a side completely rejuvenated under Neil Warnock.

In October his side were struggling at the other end of the table and a relegation battle looked likely. Now they have a great chance of securing a play off place, which creates even more competition against the top 10 teams all eyeing a top six finish. So in the circumstances a point would have been a great result for us as they would not have gained any ground on us, but this wasn’t to be the case.

Usually when City are playing I am watching them or listening to radio commentary of the match. But on Saturday, I had to settle for watching the scores on the TV, which was frustrating as I had no idea whether we were playing well or not. We soon fell behind to a Clinton Morrison goal which at the time sounded scrappy, and after seeing the highlights it was a poor goal to concede. Had Louis Carey not been injured we might have avoided it. Judging by the reporters’ comments it sounded an exciting game with chances at both ends but unfortunately we hadn’t found the net.

Our new signing Nick Carle was making his debut, playing just behind Enoch Showumni in a 4-4-1-1 formation which has worked well in the past. Judging by the reports it sounded as though he was having a good game, creating a few chances and nearly scoring himself with a looping header.

As the game wore on I became even more disappointed as West Brom were losing at home to Cardiff 3-1 and we were failing to capitalise on their mistake. As we pushed for an equaliser we left ourselves open in defence and eventually Palace grabbed a second five minutes from time. A free-kick into the box was misjudged by goalkeeper Adriano Basso and Hudson headed into an empty net.

The defeat was only our sixth of the season, which is still a fine record and the second best in the league behind Stoke City who have lost five. From the last two games we have only picked up one point which is disappointing, but we have already demonstrated this season we can bounce back from slip ups.

Next Saturday’s match against Blackpool is the perfect opportunity to put things right. The Seasiders were one of our promotion rivals last year in League One and they have settled in the Championship nicely, especially considering their transfer budget is not quite as large as other teams. Nevertheless this is a game we should expect to win if we want to still be challenging for promotion at the end of the season and Gary Johnson should have the players fired up and ready to go.

This time next week will see the January transfer window coming to an end which is sure to be exciting and hopefully by next week City may have a few new faces in the team help us push onwards and upwards.

ANDY DAVIES

Robins squander chance

2008-01-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

In my last blog entry I talked excitedly of where Bristol City might finish at the end of the season. I should, however, know better than to get ahead of myself as I have been supporting City long enough, 15 years in fact, to realise that things don’t always go as planned. Which was certainly the case on Saturday when we hosted Colchester United, a team second from bottom. And with the Robins flying at the top of the league, I could be forgiven for thinking this result was in the bag.

We started brightly and I was out of my seat prematurely on five minutes when I thought a looping header from Marvin Elliot was heading into the net. Unfortunately, his header was saved and within 60 seconds we found ourselves behind to a Kevin Lisbie goal. Our two centre backs, Liam Fontaine and Tamas Vasko looked all at sea when Lisbie was awarded too much space in the box, and sent a low curling effort past Adriano Basso and into the net.

The crowd responded in their usual fashion of urging the team on to bounce back, but I could sense we might be in trouble. Going forward we looked dangerous in the opening minutes, but at the back we were unsettled, our man marking not tight enough. Sure enough, Lisbie again found himself free in the box a few minutes later, but his effort was well saved by Basso. It was clear injured captain Louis Carey was being missed, but it was far too early for manager Gary Johnson to make a substitution.

From then on though, we improved. A tactical switch with wingers Michael McIndoe and Ivan Sproule swapping sides paid dividends on 32 minutes when Sproule ghosted past two defenders in the box and smash an equaliser into the net. Two minutes later we scored again when McIndoe’s free kick was well saved by Dean Gerken only to fall to Vasko, who bundled the ball over the line for City’s second. Celebrations were short lived as the referee’s assistant put his flag up for offside.

From where I was sitting it was hard to tell and I haven’t seen a TV replay yet so I can’t comment. But the players’ reaction clearly said it was a goal. Minutes later, McIndoe saw an effort hit the crossbar and the team headed to the dressing rooms at 1-1.

In the second half there were chances squandered at either end and penalty appeals turned down from both sides. I got the feeling this wasn’t going to be our day and that proved to be the case, with the game ending 1-1. Walking away from the game, to say I was disappointed was an understatement. This was a game that should have been won if we are seriously going to mount a challenge for promotion and instead we dropped two points. The funny thing though, was that the result sent us to the top of the Championship after Watford’s defeat to Preston, even if it was only for a few hours.

Reading the papers this morning I discovered that Gary Johnson locked his players in the dressing room for half an hour to tell them where they had gone wrong. It is clear we need to be more creative at times and certain players need to just take a chance if one comes along. With the January transfer window open I am hoping a striker might be on Gary’s shopping list.

Next up is Crystal Palace, who have gone 14 games unbeaten, so there is no chance the team will be complacent here. Neil Warnock has done a fantastic job but surely this unbeaten run has to come to end sometime. Looking on the bright side, after 27 games we have 48 points and sit proudly in one of the automatic promotion spots so things are not looking too bad!

ANDY DAVIES

Canham flattens Marine

2008-01-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

The Southern League’s top goal scorer Sean Canham put on a master class of finishing as the former Exeter City man fired four goals in Team Bath’s 5-0 home demolition of inconsistent Swindon Supermarine.

The visitors had started well with captain Kyle Lapham twice testing Bath keeper Darren Chitty from long range and Richard Kear also going close. However as the hosts settled they began to find room amongst Supermarine’s makeshift backline. The deadlock was broken on 17minutes when the lively Takumi Ake beat his man to fire in a low drive past keeper Tom King. Marine looked to regain immediate parity but Ashley Edenborough saw his effort well held by Chitty.

The turning point of the match came on 24 minutes with Canham hitting the first of a remarkable seven-minute hat-trick. A long cross field ball cut apart the visitors and despite strong offside protests, Canham was picked out unmarked at the back post to coolly slot home.

If his first was questioned for offside the second was merely to be admired.
Again a long ball caused confusion amongst the visitor’s rearguard and Canham took full advantage, sending a delightfully weig hted ball above the advancing Tom King and into an empty net.

Canham rounded off his quick fire hat-trick with a well taken solo goal after Dean Smith threaded a neat through ball to find him in space. With 12 minutes of the first half still remaining there was time for Canham to go close to piling further misery on the visitors but King and then Lapham kept the halftime scoreline at 4-0.

The second half was a much more subdued affair in comparison to the goal fest before the interval but when Canham was found once again in space he made sure with a confident finish to take his league goals tally to 18 for the season.

Marine fought to keep the score ine down and to their credit never gave in but their miserable afternoon was compounded when with 10 minutes to play, Gary Horgan saw a second yellow and a subsequent red for a late tackle.

Swindon Supermarine manager Mark Collier remained philosophical despite his side’s torrid day out:

"As a team we are always learning and today is a lesson learnt.

"We never get carried away when we win so we won’t get too despondent with this result."

LEIGH MOORE

Argyle's Weekus Horribilis

2008-01-13T04:56:00.000-08:00

My last blog predicted Sylvan Ebanks-Blake would be sold in the summer if Plymouth Argyle did not reach the Premiership this season. It’s a horrible cliché for a horrible seven days, but a week is a long time in football. SEB’s sharp finishing in the Hull game clearly focussed minds at Wolverhampton Wanderers and moneybags QPR, who both tabled bids of £1.5million.

It is my belief, despite much conjecture to the contrary on Argyle supporters messageboards, that the PAFC board would not have accepted this figure had it not triggered a release clause in Ebanks-Blake’s contract, meaning he was free to talk to any club who offered that amount. This clause, supposedly, was key to Argyle signing SEB from Manchester United in the first place, with Watford offering a similar deal. In the event, it seems the 21-year-old Cambridge-born striker couldn’t get out of Home Park fast enough. He had a miserable start to his Wolves career though, missing a good chance as his new side lost 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace. My heart bleeds for him, of course.

In a last-ditch attempt to hold on to Sylvan, Argyle proposed a new deal to make him the highest paid player in the club’s history. However, why did this not happen earlier? The board knew the release clause was present in the contract, and there was reported interest from Derby in September. It was obvious, from a fairly early stage of the season, that Ebanks-Blake would be an important player for the Pilgrims – so why was no attempt made to agree new terms, with the release fee increased or removed?

I am sure that if attempts such as this had been made, we would have heard about it, as the Argyle press relations department is always quick to justify announcements which disappoint the Green Army. As it is, despite much hysteria, Ebanks-Blake is Argyle’s only major loss of the transfer window thus far. Akos Buzsaky never really delivered for Plymouth and was nearing the end of his contract. Dan Gosling has great potential but was not a first team regular and there was no guarantee he would ever become one. And Barry Hayles fading ability to cope with the demands of this level has been apparent for some time now (although he did score for Leicester yesterday).

But what we are now left with is a paper-thin squad with more departures threatened. And a pile of money in the bank but no indication that enough of it will be spent on the fees, and more importantly wages, which will attract the necessary calibre of player for a real play-off push.

Yesterday’s gutless 1-0 defeat at Burnley, who had not won any of their previous nine home games, summed up the problems Paul Sturrock faces. Argyle had two untried, 18-year-old first-year professionals, Jake Moult and Dan Smith, on the bench, the latter appearing as substitute. And Lukas Jutkiewicz, the same age and in his first start on loan from Everton, must be wondering what he has let himself in for – forced to lead the line with Jermaine Easter on the right wing. Luggy must take some of the blame for this; while Ian Holloway was sometimes lacking tactically, he was usually less cautious away from home.

But the meagre resources the manager was left him with few options. Sturrock has promised that the players who lacked passion at Turf Moor, obviously deflated by SEB’s sale, will be whipped back into shape, and no one is better at this job that Luggy. But with Peter Halmosi a target for Wigan, with a £2.5million bid allegedly already turned down, David Norris attracting attention at around £1.5million, Argyle’s more talented players will be getting restless if the squad cannot be sufficiently bolstered.

Argyle need a real replacement for Ebanks-Blake – Derek Riordan from Celtic, Billy Sharp from Sheffield United, Freddy Eastwood of Wolves, that kind of player. He won’t come cheap, particularly wage-wise, but, for many greens, this week represents a crossroads in the club’s history.

We’ve been here before – both Tony Waiters in ‘75 and Dave Smith in ‘87 built sides which could have made a real challenge for elevation to the top flight, but neither received adequate support from the Argyle money-men. Now, in our best season in 20 years, Plymouth have a similar chance – and the same things seem to be happening.

So let me suggest something. We have just made more than £3.5million in transfer money – let’s reinvest it in the playing side, spending say just over £1million more than we would have done over the next three years. That means new signings, three-year-contracts – and upgrading the wage structure to give us a real shout of going up. Gates will increase if the fans see Argyle challenging to reach the Premiership for the first time. And if, in three years, we don’t make it, the ‘organic growth’ lobby can say "I told you so" and the rest of us will shut up.

One thing’s for certain though – like the teams of Waiters and Smith, without serious investment, the only way is down.

RICH PARTINGTON

Same old story for Cheltenham

2008-01-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Even having only followed the fortunes, or misfortunes of Cheltenham Town for just over a year, their lack of luck in the transfer market is already starting to get on my nerves. Players reject loan moves due to our obscurity (Phil Jevons), and we also have to contend with Blue Square Premier clubs valuing their players in excess of £250K. Maybe in the case of Forest Green goal machine Stuart Fleetwood, the valuation isn't too excessive but Jamie Mackie? I'd never heard of him until I heard of Cheltenham's interest.

A quick check on Wikipedia told me he'd got three goals since 2005. Thankfully this seems to be wrong information, although in any case, Plymouth Argyle, now with a fresh £1.5M from the sale of Dan Gosling to Everton, have the cash to splash about so £250K will seem like nothing to them. However a move for Bristol City striker Steve Brooker looks to be on the cards, and if he has as much as an affect as Dean Sinclair did, I'll be delighted.

On the football side of things, Cheltenham won a crucial game against bottom club Port Vale 1-0, with Paul Connor getting the goal. Barring a miracle, Vale look doomed, well adrift of 20th place. Cheltenham are still five points behind, with another six pointer against Bournemouth to come on Saturday. Robins fans will be hopeful of a repeat of their last gasp 1-0 win almost a year ago.

The relegation battle looks as intriguing as it did last year, with Luton having been dragged into it by their points deduction, and Bristol Rovers anxiously looking over their shoulders. Statistically speaking, Cheltenham are in almost exactly the same position as they were last season, which should serve to encourage, as they ended up surviving quite comfortably last time around.

Meanwhile, chairman Paul Baker has put forward plans to either expand Whaddon Road, or move stadiums. While Whaddon Road is a lovely, old-fashioned, typical lower league football ground, most people (especially away fans) will admit that its location is obscure to say the least. If I didn't live a stone's throw away I'd struggle to find it without a very good map.
So apart from the lack of luck in the transfer window, things seem to be looking up for the Robins.

JAMES LEWIS

Ebanks-Blake blossoms to bury Tynan's ghost

2008-01-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

I was but a glimmer in my father’s (or maybe the postman’s) eye back in 1986. That spring, Thomas Tynan, one of the heroes of Plymouth Argyle’s run to the 1984 FA Cup semi-final, returned to the club on loan from Rotherham United. The Pilgrims were pushing for promotion to the old Division Two and manager Dave ‘Ciderman’ Smith brought Tynan, who had scored 54 times in 107 starts in his first spell at Plymouth, in to spearhead his team in the closing stages. It proved a masterstroke; Tynan bagged ten goals in the final eight matches, including two in the 4-0 win over Bristol City, which clinched promotion on April 29th.

Signing permanently again the following season, the Liverpudlian was the clubs focal point for an ultimately unsuccessful charge towards the top flight, eventually leaving in 1990 with 144 goals from 310 appearances, a feat unequalled at Home Park since the war.

Ever since, the ghost of Tynan, now a taxi driver and evening newspaper columnist in Plymouth, has haunted the club. Until this season, no Argyle side has really come close to matching the 7th place finish in the second tier achieved in 1986-7, when Tynan plundered 19 goals. And Home Park has become something of a striker’s graveyard, even as the glory days returned under Paul Sturrock.

Dwight Marshall impressed many; Mickey Evans was a legend, but a target man, not a poacher. The mythical ’20 goal-a-season’ man has become the worst of clichés, with Argyle unable to raise the funds or develop the talent to finally replace King Tommy. Every new forward provoked fans to suggest ‘flashes of Tynan’ soon after arriving, and every one was ultimately unable to hit those heights.

But that may be changing. Last summer, Ian Holloway plucked Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, just a month old when Argyle went up in ’86, from Manchester United’s reserves for £250,000. Despite initially appearing possibly lazy and out of shape, increased opportunities alongside the veteran Barry Hayles sharpened Ebanks-Blake’s instincts and provided him with the confidence to progress. A goal in his second start, away at QPR, was the first of ten in 2006-7, the majority coming in the second half of the season.

This form carried through to the new season, with the winner at Hull on the opening day. Against the same opposition on Saturday, in the FA Cup third round tie at Home Park, Sylvan again showed the strength, quick feet, and unerring ability to find the target which have become his forte.

Far from providing the foil for Hayles, as he did last season, Ebanks-Blake has led the line almost single-handedly, with his veteran partner running out of legs. With Bazza now the first victim of Holloway’s ‘fool and his money’ policy at Leicester City, (reportedly leaving for £150,000 – more than Argyle paid and with his contract up in the summer) Ebanks-Blake has the opportunity to forge a promising partnership with young Welsh international Jermaine Easter, who scored in every round of the League Cup (bar the final) last year.

One particular trick in the SEB book is proving very successful. Commonly derided for a supposed lack of effort due to his restricted movement in the final third, Ebanks-Blake is in fact playing to his strengths. Hovering on the edge of or just inside the 18-yard box, he edges forward with his back tight to the opposition centre-halves, and looks to receive the ball to feet from midfield. In one sharp movement, he spins his marker and is often allowed a clear run at goal. Argyle’s other attackers take the other defenders out of the equation to give him space. Even with less opportunity to move, the 22-year-old’s eye for goal, vastly improved since profligate early days, means he’s usually a good bet to score.

Against Hull, with Argyle leading 2-1, he broke down the left hand side, laying the ball back for Peter Halmosi and ghosting into the area. The Hungarian winger beat a man before squaring across the crowded penalty area to Ebanks-Blake, whose first time, angled strike found the bottom right-hand corner. It was as good a piece of natural finishing as I’ve seen from a green-shirted player.

Argyle’s mixed results over Christmas have kept them just a point outside the playoffs, and with many of the big guns out of the way for a while. Saturday’s trip to Burnley could be a major test of promotion credentials; Sturrock’s squad is playing well, but is low on numbers, with more players set to follow 17-year-old Dan Gosling, Argyle’s record sale in going to Everton for £1.5million, out of the door. A flu bug is also causing problems.

The Clarets are in poor form and Argyle are clearly a better side in most departments, so a win must be expected, and the same can be said for next week’s home tie with Southampton. It’d be a huge boost for the Pilgrims to travel to Ipswich, whose manager Jim Magilton continues his efforts to poach David Norris, on January 29 with more points than our hosts, and no more star players having left.

Ebanks-Blake should definitely remain, despite reported interest from Derby last summer. However, if he can reach the magical 20 by the season’s end, and Argyle have not won promotion, expect the Premiership vultures to begin their spherical dance.

RICH PARTINGTON

Swindon saved

2008-01-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

The new year could have been rung in by the sound of the gates slamming shut for good at the County Ground.

Recent testing times in the boardroom of Swindon Town FC led many fans believing the club was nearing extinction. In 2007, the extent of debt owed to the Inland Revenue became more frighteningly apparent, reportedly amassing to £18 million. The club was on the brink of being pronounced dead; its obituary virtually written. "S.T.F.C R.I.P." was declared on many supporters’ placards.

Remarkably, the club has been reincarnated with fresh optimism thanks to Andrew Fitton’s consortium, whose wealth has a combined value of over a billion pounds.

Just before Christmas, on Thursday 20th December, I was glancing at the Swindon Advertiser website with a tear in my eye. It was reported that the IR was about to enact winding up orders. Scrolling down to the readers’ comments, I noticed that a protest gathering had been organised for 7pm outside the Arkells Stand.

It was at this point I realised it was make or break, and that I had an obligation to attend. So I drove down to the stadium car park, and gathered amongst the small crowd of 25-30 people in the freezing cold. Bearing in mind that this was organised at the last minute on the internet I was quite impressed with the turn out. Fans were patient considering the circumstances, that after months of delays a signature still had not been placed on the dotted line to buy the club.

In what I still think of as a miracle, just before 8pm a spokesman for S.T.F.C came down and announced that the deal had finally been done after so many agonising months. Crowds cheered, cars honked and it was a fantastic moment; just days before Christmas the future of Swindon Town Football Club had been secured.

I was also ecstatic to shake hands with millionaire James Wills shortly after the deal was done, when he stepped out to introduce himself to fans. He gave us photocopies of the press release, which read:

"Swindon Football holdings limited announces that at 7pm on Thursday 20th December 2007, it entered into a conditional agreement to purchase 75% of the issued share capital of Swindon Town Football Company Limited.

"The agreement is conditional on the vendors satisfying the purchasers on certain conditions (including matters relating to Shaw Park Develoments and HR Revenue & Customs) not later than 11th January, 2008.

"The purchasers will have an active involvement in the management of the Club with immediate effect."

Commenting, Fitton said: "I am pleased that we are nearly there. The hard work of reorganising the club will start immediately."

As part of the reorganisation plans, Fitton wants to establish Swindon as a Championship club within three years.

He has said: "Our plan for this club is that we think it has a place in the Championship.

"If in three years time we are in the Championship I will have succeeded, if not I will have failed."

He added: "I don't think it is ever wise to say we'll be in the Premier League in five years time. Those are absurd ideas.

"Where this club should rightly be is a well established Championship club and once we get to that stage maybe other things can happen.

"Our objective now is to make this into one of the best run and managed clubs in the country."

So, a dark era in Swindon Town FC’s history has now passed and can finally move forward with fresh new owners, rebuilding it so that it can climb back up the ranks to where it used to, and so rightly belongs. New Year, New Swindon. Come on you Reds!!!

NEIL ROBINSON

Promised land on the horizon?

2008-01-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

Well the busy Christmas period is over, and it is a time which can make or break a season for any club. Thankfully for Bristol City we have come through this intense time with only one defeat to our name, and that came away against West Brom, arguably the best team in the league. We find ourselves sitting in joint first place alongside West Brom and Watford, all on 47 points after 26 games.

The media have continually mentioned about when the ‘bubble’ will burst and in the beginning I thought this too, but something now tells me this won’t happen. We have shown already we can bounce back from severe defeats as we did at Barnsley (3-0), the 6-0 drubbing at Ipswich, and recently at West Brom when we were on the wrong end of a 4-1 score line.

The team spirit created by Gary Johnson means the players don’t dwell too long on a defeat and refocus their minds quickly on the next fixture. We are taking each game as it comes and as a result have not become unnerved by the new teams we are facing.

Although there are still 20 league games to play I am starting to believe we can sustain our current form and maybe make it to the promise land. Sceptics may say it is too soon for City to get promoted after only coming up from League One five months ago, but when a great opportunity comes along you have to grab it with both hands.

The money we would receive would be welcome even if we were to be relegated back to the Championship. Promotion is worth in the region of £60 million and with parachute payments of about £20 million it would do us no harm financially.

The club are already looking to the future with the capture of exciting attacking midfielder Nick Carle, an Australian International who we have paid £500,000 for from Turkish side Genclerbirligi. Having seen a video of him on the internet, he looks an exciting player with many fancy skills and he certainly knows where the goal is.

2007 has now come to an end and many football supporters in Bristol didn’t want it to end after such a successful year for both Bristol clubs in which both were promoted. Hopefully 2008 will be even more exciting and my next blog will be describing a City victory over Middlesbrough in the F.A Cup on Saturday.

ANDY DAVIES

Robins Trundle on...

2007-12-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

Bristol City are firmly back on track, following a run of three defeats in a row by going five games unbeaten. A win away at Watford, and a draw away at neighbours Plymouth in a game we should have won, has restored confidence, although the huge police operation I had to encounter to watch the game hindered my enjoyment of it.

At the weekend I witnessed a typical derby against Cardiff City - full of passion and determination, but lacking in real quality. The atmosphere throughout the encounter was electric with the Cardiff fans booing ex-Swansea player Lee Trundle at every opportunity. He had the last laugh with a lucky touch on his left shoulder sending Marvin Elliot’s header in to the net just after the half time break. We had chances to extend our lead with David Noble and Ivan Sproule going close with close range efforts, but 1-0 was enough.

Cardiff had made things tricky for themselves when Steven Thompson was sent off for a disgraceful tackle on goalkeeper Adriano Basso after just 15 minutes. As is usually the case, it was not easy playing against ten men as they packed their defence. Fortunately an in-swinging corner by Lee Johnson to Elliot helped give us all three points.

We are nearly at the half way stage in the season and we are sitting comfortably in third place. Before the season began, I would have laughed at the suggestion that after 22 games we would be chasing the leaders. Many predicted that we would struggle while others would have settled for a mid table position at this point. It just shows the belief this team has. We are still keen to catch West Brom and could find ourselves top if we win next Saturday against Barnsley.

Credit has to go Gary Johnson who in just over two years has created a winning team and I am sure we will be challenging for the play-offs in May. With the announcement recently of new training ground ready for next season, and plans for a new 30,000 all-seater stadium to be built by 2011, these are exciting times for City.

We are close to the top of the table and with the transfer window fast approaching, if we make a couple a good signings we could really mount a challenge this season. I am probably getting carried away of dreaming of the promise land but I think that’s allowed after years of disappointment. But first and foremost we need to get to the 50 point mark to ensure survival and then kick on. The future’s bright, the future’s red!

ANDY DAVIES

Honours even in derby battle

2007-12-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

It’s fair to say that the atmosphere at Home Park for Plymouth Argyle home matches has slowly disintegrated over the last few seasons. When the Greens stormed through the lower divisions from 2001-2004, blitzing all-comers on the way to two championships in three years, there were countless days when the Devonport End roof virtually struggled to withstand the force of noise from underneath. And, for the biggest games, the Zoo Corner of the Lyndhurst began to develop in a similar way, with hundreds on their feet, united in song, for long periods.

This is something which has slowly fallen away, and there are several reasons for this, aside from the obvious – Argyle, of course, haven’t experienced a promotion season in the intervening period. Success will always get the fans singing, and there were so many massively important ties at the time, with so much riding on them – who can forget Mansfield and Exeter at home in 2002, or Swindon and QPR in 2004? The nervous tension of these games and the large, fervent support was conducive to a raucous, intimidating atmosphere.

That was replicated a couple of times when Argyle first went up to the Championship – Leeds at home in particular – but the disappointments and defeats of a long, hard season, where Argyle struggled with the step up to the second tier, wore down the supporters. An average of 16,420 saw league matches at Home Park in 2004-05, the highest number since 1960-61. This should have been the springboard for a widening of the fanbase and increased success, but the incompetence of Bobby Williamson and conservative tactics of his successor Tony Pulis drove the crowds away.

Bristol City are currently in a similar position to where Argyle were three years ago. Flushed with the feel-good factor from promotion, the crowds are still high and roaring on their team. However, with the Robins having managed to hang on to their messiah, manager Gary Johnson, while the Pilgrims lost ours, Paul Sturrock, to Southampton. City have started their assault on the Championship impressively well, the winning momentum yet to catch up with them.

Saturday, of course, was where the two sides met, and as well as providing an opportunity to decide the strongest side in the Westcountry, it allowed an intriguing insight into the state of two broadly progressive clubs who, sooner or later, should be making real challenges for places in the Premiership.

This was the first Argyle game which came anything close to a derby since promotion to the Championship, and, with City having sold out the Barn Park End, they were obviously up for it too, despite their claims that this week’s home tie with Cardiff means more.

The police, at any rate, were not taking chances. Travelling down on the train with my Turnip companion Andy Davies, and clad in a green shirt and scarf, I was surrounded by a see of Bristolians from Temple Meads onwards. There was certainly a degree of comfort in having the boys in yellow blazers only a couple of yards away.

At Plymouth station the security was stepped up with City fans diverted away from everyone else. I very nearly got dragged with them, but thankfully several determined jabs at my scarf amid the din conveyed to the coppers that this might be unwise. On the way back, I was not able to find Andy until we had passed Bristol, with the City fans having been kept inside the ground for more than 20 minutes after the match, and the train coaches segregated to avoid conflicts.

The Britannia Inn, on the corner of the ground, held a calmer ambience, with red and green mixing happily, but this was obviously not the case inside Home Park. A small segregation area, and the apparent willingness of the stewards to allow the massed opposing ranks in the Zoo corner and away end to stand for the entire game, was conducive to a crackling atmosphere. Even Andy admitted, at the time, that Argyle outsang Bristol. And we had something approaching those days I was referring to; the first time since the Watford FA Cup quarter-final, last season, that Home Park had felt like a real football ground.

And there was the return of personalised songs. An Argyle team entering the field of play in 2003 would have been greeted by an individual chant for almost every player – from ‘Marino, woah-oah!’ (Marino Keith) to the famous Jason Bent Song (he ‘came from Canada to play for Ar-gy-le’, to the tune of ‘John Brown’s Body’, and was compared favourably to the also-dreadlocked Edgar Davids) – but as the folk heroes have been found out at higher levels, and the club have got bigger, the relationship between players and fans has become weaker and these songs have dwindled.

Also, these songs, often started as a joke by small groups of fans, are much harder to spread in the bigger crowds and designated seating of today.

But when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was tugged down in the box by Louis Carey on 23 minutes and got up to smash home the resulting penalty, the former Manchester United trainee’s enthusiastic celebrations were greeted by the Lyndhurst roaring his name to the cheesy tune of KC & The Sunshine Band’s ‘Give It Up’. Sylvan’s further exploits provoked repeat readings, and a classic was born.

Kristian Timar didn’t have the best of afternoons, slicing the ball horrifically over Romain Larrieu’s head for City’s second-half own-goal equaliser, but beforehand he had been treated to several hearty bellowings of his surname. And for Argyle’s man-of-the-match goalkeeper, ‘He’s French, he’s great, he’s David Friio’s mate’ made a welcome return.
I didn’t sit down all afternoon. And though the 1-1 result, while probably a fair reflection of the game, was mildly disappointing given Argyle’s winning position, the atmosphere was how it should be every week.

The problem of making this happen is a complex one which must be examined separately, but certainly the decision to reduce prices for the Hull City FA Cup game on January 5 is a step in the right direction.

As for the best team in the Westcountry…the league table suggests the Robins are on top, but this game was as tight as they come, and for 70 minutes the Pilgrims looked the likely winners. Four months til the rematch. I’m excited already.

RICH PARTINGTON

Halmosi and co could make Sturrock king again

2007-12-06T16:52:00.000-08:00

Plymouth Argyle's 2-1 defeat against Championship strugglers Norwich City on Tuesday night may have continued an unspectacular start for returning manager Paul Sturrock, but the ingredients seem to be in place to suggest significant success is within reach.

Losing at home to an excellent West Brom outfit in Luggy’s first game back at Home Park was disappointing, but certainly no disgrace. And goals from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Krisztian Timar, and Nadjim Abdou chalked up the first points of the new regime in Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Scunthorpe.

Norwich seem somewhat revitalised under Glen Roeder, whose knack for making a notable initial impact at a new club continues. He did the same as Newcastle United caretaker in the latter part of the 2005-6 season, and was given the job full-time, eventually discovering St. James’s Park to be as much of a managerial graveyard as most of his predecessors.

Reduced-price ticket schemes for Tuesday’s match (shows what a big draw Plymouth are!) dragged more than 25,000 into Carrow Road, and the big crowd seemed to intimidate referee Paul Taylor, whose decision to award an 87th minute penalty for Paul Connolly’s clearly ball-winning challenge on Darren Huckerby was quite frankly shocking.

But, looking at the bigger picture, the playing staff currently present at Home Park look well-equipped for a Sturrock team.

A few are still there from his last reign, of course. Romain Larrieu and Luke McCormick continue to dispute the goalkeeping jersey, with the former deservedly holding sway at present.

Paul Connolly broke through from the youth ranks in Luggy’s last season and, after looking out of his depth in the second tier for the last few years, appears somewhat rejuvenated at right-back, his performance in the 1-0 win at Sheffield United on November 24 a particular highlight.

Lee Hodges has defied all predictions, and his own advancing years, to adapt admirably to a higher level, although again it has taken time, and those wearying legs have necessitated a move backwards from midfield.

David Norris, a Sturrock find, continues to work his arse off in midfield, and the old tendency to sprint down blind alleys appears to be waning. Paul Wotton, Mr. Plymouth Argyle and the club captain, remains also, and is approaching recovery from knee ligament damage sustained more than a year ago.

But whether he’ll break back into the side must be a moot point. For there is an abundance of talent elsewhere in the squad.

It has often been said of Sturrock that his talents are in the lower leagues; and promotions with Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, and of course Plymouth (esentially twice) seem to support this. He is yet to achieve anything massive above the lower levels, unfairly sacked at Wednesday (they’ve not got any better since) and Southampton (they’ve got a lot worse).

At St. Mary’s Luggy bought Peter Crouch, who scored a hatful of goals and was sold on at a massive profit. Given only thirteen games, Sturrock won a respectable five, but was hounded out by negative media coverage, and, allegedly, a dressing room revolt involving the likes of Kevin Phillips and James Beattie, ‘star’ names who apparently objected to their managers fashion sense and strict changing regimes. Both have long since left the Saints, who have plummeted out of the Premier League and towards financial meltdown.

Sturrock, it seems, does not suffer fools, or big egos gladly. He’ll have been pleased to find a refreshing absence of those at Plymouth. Despite three nightclub-related arrests of Argyle players in the last eighteen months – Marcel Seip (twice) and Ebanks-Blake the culprits – these are a hard-working bunch with a similar team ethic to that instilled in the rampant 2001-2004 sides.

Seip is a rock at the back, magnificently consistent and an excellent reader of the game. Timar, who nicked his second goal in as many games at Norwich, in so doing recalled one Graham Coughlan – a monstrous figure arriving late in the box, splitting the defence, and delivering a powerful header.

The Gallic pairing of Abdou and the veteran Lilian Nalis reflect many of the qualities the David Friio-Steve Adams partnership brought in the centre of the Argyle midfield. Nalis is a vastly improved version of Adams, winning the ball constantly, and subtly orchestrating the midfield, albeit with the technical ability, shooting boots, and attacking thrust the Plymothian lacked. ‘Jimmy’, meanwhile, has some way to go to match Friio’s legendary status, but arriving late in the box and slotting home like he did on Saturday is a good way to go about it.

In attack Ebanks-Blake, Jermaine Easter, Barry Hayles, and Rory Fallon provide Sturrock with a far more competent stable of strikers than during his initial tenure, but the real gem is on the left hand side of midfield.

Hungarian international Peter Halmosi was Argyle’s record signing when joining from Debrecen for £400,000 in the summer, making permanent and impressive loan spell. His displays this season have raised the bar for every player at the club, a constant source of creation and invention. All three strikes against Scunthorpe were products of his assists, and Luggy is clearly a fan.

Halmosi’s humble yet fiercely determined nature – he has made it clear he wants to play in the Premiership – mark him out at the archetypal Paul Sturrock player. He’ll surely be in the top league next season, with or without Argyle.

RICH PARTINGTON

FGR do Gloucestershire proud

2007-12-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

Gloucestershire ‘village’ side Forest Green Rovers may not have won at the County Ground on Saturday afternoon. They may not have even won a place in Sunday’s FA Cup Third Round draw, but what they did win was the respect of the Swindon Town fans.

The weather for the game was typical cup tie weather. Drizzle soon turned into showers as I queued for a bus to the train station…only to find that the 12:46 train to Swindon had been cancelled for some reason. Fortunately there was a free bus to Swindon from Cheltenham, that took from 1:10pm to 2:50pm.

So I was already a bit late getting there. On my way to the stand I noticed a few hundred bank notes (presumably fake or I would probably have picked them up myself!) scattered over the floor saying "take your payoff and go". Unfortunately I couldn’t dwell on it too much as I had a game to get to.

Now anyone who has had the pleasure of being an away supporter at Swindon, will know that they are seated in the Stratton Bank, which is an uncovered area behind the goal….and although I had a coat, and a jumper on, I had no hood, so I was hardly shielded from the elements. I envied all the Forest Green fans wrapped up warm in their hats and scarves.

At half time, Swindon led 1-0, JP McGovern scoring direct from a corner. The first half wasn’t particularly noteworthy; despite the rain the sun was shining in the away fans faces, and it was difficult to see where exactly the ball was without getting a blinding headache.

What FGR boss Jim Harvey said to the non-leaguers at half time must have worked though. About ten minutes in, Stuart Fleetwood scored, followed by a crazy celebration in which half the team did Klinsmann dives one after the other. A word on Fleetwood before I go on by the way….that was his 24th goal this season. Compare that to the entire Derby County team who have scored a total of…five.

Most strikers would be proud to have scored two dozen goals in all competitions in May never mind early December. Just as Forest Green fans thought it couldn’t get any better, it did, Mark Beesley heading in a cross, and the away fans went wild. Only 24 minutes to hold on!

Ok…so they tried to hold on for the win, and it failed. Former Plymouth player Hasney Aljofree headed in a cross from the left, and the Rovers looked as though Rovers would have to make do with a replay.

Except they didn’t even manage that, because with minutes to go, substitute and general daddy’s boy Blair Sturrock scored a rebound from Billy Paynter’s saved shot, to send Swindon into the hat.

Despite coming so close, and missing out, the population of Nailsworth will have their heads held high tonight, after pushing the former Premiership side all the way, and almost pulling off another upset. I must confess I was already planning a trip to the New Lawn for the replay but alas it wasn’t to be and thoughts can carry on to the League, and the FA Trophy.

JAMES LEWIS

Horgan knows best

2007-11-30T06:02:00.000-08:00

Midfielder Gary Horgan has returned to Southern League Premier side Swindon Supermarine over ten years after he began his senior footballing career with the club.

Horgan, who made a midweek switch from league rivals Mangotsfield United, played for the Wiltshire outfit in the Hellenic league, and after years of playing football at higher levels, the club have finally caught back up with him.

Horgan will make his debut this Saturday at home to Banbury United in a game that sees boss Mark Collier without SIX key players.

The ill-disciplined encounter with Chippenham two weeks ago will result in captain Leigh Henry and forward Nathan Lightbody missing the first of three games, whilst striker Jason Welsh and Henry’s defensive partner, Cedric Abraham, will sit just this one out.

To add to the availability crisis, midfielder JP Mills is out of the country for two weeks whilst striker Richard Kear, who has been hitting the goal trail in recent weeks, is laid low by flu.
With his options limited Collier is expecting his squad to be stretched to its limits.

“We have always said to compete in this league we need a big squad and this is a real test of that.

“The lads that come in will be showing us that they deserve a starting position so we expect big performances.”

Henry and Abraham have just begun to forge a settled defensive partnership with both players catching the eye of higher league clubs, so to have both out is a massive blow for Collier.

“They have been playing really well together, to replace one is always going to be hard, to replace both is an absolute nightmare.”

Stuart Pearson, Chris Thompson and Chris Copp are all possibilities to cover the unfamiliar positions at centre half, while last week’s star man Ashley Edenborough will be set to line up by himself if Kear is unfit.

Banbury are languishing in mid table alongside Marine but come in to this game on the back of a seven match unbeaten run. With both sides setting their sights on a top half finish this game promises to be an entertaining encounter.

LEIGH MOORE

Luggy heads home leaving Town in tatters!

2007-11-30T05:51:00.000-08:00

As Paul Sturrock addressed the media gathered at Home Park on Tuesday you could see a man who was jovial, confident and relaxed, a far cry from the catastrophe he had left behind just 24 hours previously.

Very few can really blame Mr Sturrock for getting in his car and heading back down the M4/M5 to his “Spiritual home” with the future of Swindon Town looking less than bright, and after four months without pay!

With Sturrock’s departure came rumblings of discontent not just from the fans but, more worryingly, from Andrew Fitton, the man who had been poised to complete a takeover at the Country Ground.

Rumours in the local press suggest Sturrock’s departure has left Mr Fitton carefully considering his next move, which leaves you wondering just what happens now.

If “Mr Betfair” decides Town are one horse not worth backing then the possibility remains that Towns FA Cup encounter with Forest Green on Saturday could be one of their last.

Creditors are quickly running out of patience with the Wiltshire club, who have already seen the proposed takeover consortium Best Holdings pull out at the eleventh hour, and if Mr Fitton and Co go the same way as their Portuguese predecessors then the future of Town looks bleak.

With such a thunderous cloud hanging over the County Ground fans are scratching their heads as to just who is going to jump into the hot seat?

What manager currently in a job would leave for such a volatile post, and which out-of-work, proven candidate would risk their reputation on what seems to be a poisoned chalice?
One person to throw his hat into the ring is Martin Allen, the former Brentford and Leicester manager who was nicknamed Mad Dog for his unusual pre-match antics.

With very few others touting for the job Allen could possibly be the best man, because quite frankly to go within five miles of the Country Ground amidst this current crisis…. you’d have to be mad!

LEIGH MOORE

"Plymouth is my spiritual home"

2007-11-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

Adding to Swindon Town fans' further dismay in an unforgiving season, the club's most prized asset, Manager Paul Sturrock, has bounced back to his former roots at Plymouth Argyle.

Sturrock first managed Plymouth from 2000 to 2004 and has swiftly returned to fill the void left by Ian Holloway, who resigned last week to join rival Leicester.

Since being appointed in Summer 2006, the former QPR boss had led the Pilgrims up the League Championship table. Last week, Plymouth fans felt betrayed by his shock decision to walk out of their club having been refused talks with Leicester.

Speculation was rife over the weekend as to whether or not Plymouth had, or were going to, approach Swindon. Even Paul Sturrock dismissed the many rumours circulating online and in the newspapers.

But it was evident that his previous successful spell at Plymouth was still raw in the minds of the Argyle Board and fans, painfully but respectably recognised simultaneously by Swindon fans.

After his first stint at Plymouth, Sturrock coached at Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Swindon. He played his entire career at Dundee United as a striker and also played for Scotland. His son, Blair Sturrock, still plays for Swindon.

It must be said, that Swindon fans have endured so much these past recent months. The reaction by fans to Sturrock's departure has not been of anger, but of reasonable presumption.

Sadly and inevitably, it was coming. It was just a question of when. Denial was a way of acclimatising to the idea of losing a great manager that helped us win 50% of our games under him, losing just 11 of 52, and return to League One.

It certainly wouldn't take much to aggravate the Swindon fans at the moment, given the financial fiasco that has blighted this season. It is going to be a rocky and frustrating ride, now that we're looking for our sixth manager in two years.

I am sure the fans share my pride in the way Sturrock stepped down with such grace and how they have all fought a united front for the club's survival.

Sturrock's farewell message to Swindon read:

"In footballing terms and in my heart, Plymouth is my spiritual home and I never thought the opportunity would arise again. It is an opportunity that I couldn't turn down.

"My children will be able to fit into schools very quickly down there and my wife will be able to adapt to life there very quickly as we have a lot of friends down there still.

"It was a wrench because I have brought a lot of players to this football club and I have enjoyed my time at The County Ground.

"I hope people will appreciate that myself and the coaching staff have left Swindon in a better state than when we arrived and that is the aim of any manager.

"The last three months have probably been the most difficult of my football career but the lure of returning to Plymouth Argyle was just too strong to turn down.

"Hopefully there will be a change in ownership that enables thefootball club to bring the success that everyone who works for thisclub merits".

Sturrock left on good terms and for him to wish the club better luck struck the right chord for fans, I feel. He has been given a golden opportunity to return to a club he knows inside out, without the burden of a takeover crisis obstructing his managerial decisions. Who can criticise him?

Swindon Town fans will want to forget the year 2007, a year that sawtheir club's future clinging to a fine thread. A year ofstalled takeover plans, protests and the departure of Paul Sturrock. Hopefully in 2008 the club will be in a healthier state, led by amanager with similar dedication.

Comments by Argyle fans online have been fully sympathetic and welcoming to Swindon's cause. That has provided an amicable and comforting remedy to the misfortunes that have shaken the club. We thank you. And wish Sturrock the very best with his return to Home Park.

He's our hero of the South West too!

NEIL ROBINSON

Honeymoon over at City

2007-11-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Championship honeymoon is well and truly over for Gary Johnson's Bristol City, with three straight defeats causing a slump in confidence around the club which will need to be put right soon, or we will find ourselves slipping down the league table.

City began so strongly, collecting points on the road against the likes of Coventry, who were top of the league at the time, and Sheffield Wednesday. A minor blip against Barnsley was soon followed by one of the best team performances I have ever seen at Ashton Gate.

Beating newly relegated Sheffield United 2-0 in front of live television cameras was fantastic, myself and many other supporters then began to think that perhaps we could do more this season than just survive. Media attention likened our start to that of Colchester, who were the surprise package of the division last year.

This was followed by another strong performance against the bookies favourites this season, West Brom. A hard fought point through a late Bradley Orr goal raised expectations further. But our good form has come to a shuddering halt, with first a late winner from Chris Iwelumo securing a narrow win for Charlton in a game that neither side deserved to win or lose. Then a 6-0 hammering at the hands of Ipswich wiped away any confidence the players had.

The team hasn’t become a bad side over night, the lads just lack that all important thing in football which is confidence. Ask any player, without confidence you will struggle to hit top form. This was demonstrated on Saturday. City were at home to Leicester. The hype about the new manager, a certain Ian Holloway, familiar to this part of the region, added an extra to spice to this fixture certainly for the fans, yet the players failed to deliver.

A promising opening 20 minutes, with Lee Trundle seeing a shot just go over the bar, was ruined when a simple cross in the box led to the first goal.

In past matches the fans have rallied round the team when we concede, and you sense the players are up for a fight. Unfortunately on this occasion the crowd remained silent, and got the feeling the team weren’t offering much and the fans in return would do likewise. Holloway managed to contain his delight when his new team scored and many City fans decided to clap the arch enemy.

Gary Johnson later remarked: "I think as a club we have forgotten we’re in the Championship. Every bit of support is going to help and I just think it went a little dead today".

There seemed to be no urgency in our play and we lacked ideas, which after a bright start to the season of free flowing football is disappointing.

At the time of writing City have just played Hull City, who, in contrast to us, have won three on the bounce and were looking to extend that winning run. My thoughts going into the game was that if we could stop the run with a point, then that would be fantastic as the KC Stadium is not an easy place to go to and get a result.

Listening to the coverage on the internet while watching Man United in the Champions League, I was hoping for two teams to score – City and Sporting Lisbon. The latter did but I would have rather it had been City of course. On the bright side it seemed the re-introduction of Jamie McAllister and Bradley Orr, who had served one match suspensions, had helped restore a bit of fluency to our play.

We seemed to be on top, creating chances and winning six corners early on. I got the feeling the team’s confidence was being slowly restored and our defence managed to keep 38 year old veteran Dean Windass quiet.

We came closest to scoring when McAllister had a shot bound for the top corner tipped away by former City loanee and Hull keeper Boaz Myhill. Then on the stroke of half-time all my confidence seeped away when McAllister was sent off for a second bookable offence. Judging by what the commentator said the referee was quite harsh as the player had only made two challenges in the entire half and both were deemed to warrant a yellow card.

Johnson at half-time was forced to substitute attacking midfielder David Noble for a defender to tighten the defence, and now the main objective was to leave Hull with a point. Thankfully the lads worked hard and held on for the draw, but we could have won it when Darren Byfield was brought down in the penalty area, although the referee waved away any appeals.

I would have taken a draw at the beginning of the evening and to play for 45 minutes with 10 men and keep a clean sheet is a step in the right direction. Next up is a tricky away game at leaders Watford. The game is live on Sky so this will give the boys a chance to show any doubters out there that we can cut it with the best in this league.

ANDY DAVIES

Cheltenham's greatest ever result?

2007-11-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

As the Mastercard advert goes: Ticket-£13, programme-£2.50…watching Gillespie score with five minutes to go in front of the C&G Stand – priceless!

This was one of the biggest, if not the biggest game in Cheltenham’s history. Certainly the biggest I’d ever attended. The game was moved to Sunday, I heard, not due to being on television, or international reasons, the real reason was…..it clashed with the turning on with the Christmas lights. Cheltenham versus Leeds or Richard Fleeshman- I certainly know which one I’d choose!

Tickets sold out almost instantly, meaning Whaddon Road had the second biggest crowd in its Football League history, second only to the 2002 play off semi-final against Hartlepool. It was such that the club urged fans not to turn up after 1:30pm to this 2pm kick off.

Leeds, meanwhile, were confident. Dennis Wise had pointed out that Cheltenham were in dire straits, and Eddie Gray concluded that the Robins were probably the worst team he’d ever seen play, and the game should be one of the easier ones in Leeds’ League 1 season. How wrong he’d turn out to be…..

Before kick off, the general view around the ground was not whether Leeds would win, but how many they’d win by. As fans piled into the ground, and Leeds fans attempted to disguise themselves as Cheltenham fans, apprehension grew, and I counted a couple of famous and semi-famous faces, such as Flo, Prutton, Kandol and Beckford.

The Robins meanwhile had debutants on the bench. Guy Madjo, the loan signing from Crawley, and somebody called Michael D’Agostino. Despite having D’Agostino, a winger available, Keith Downing still decided to continue with the very frustrating Damien Spencer on the left side.

From the off, Leeds attacked. And continued to attack throughout the first half. At this stage I was trying to remember how long it took us to concede in the recent game against Nottingham Forest. It was, I remembered, about 10 minutes. When 15 minutes passed with no goals, I began to grow slightly optimistic.

I was reminded of cup games against superior opposition on Football Manager where I’d count down the minutes in order to hold onto the 0-0. As it got to half time, I began to feel that it could be one of those games where Leeds dominate but somehow fail to score.

It certainly helped that the Cheltenham players were defending as if their lives depended on it. It made me wonder why they couldn’t defend like this against teams like Walsall and Port Vale, who have a much less talented strikeforce than Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol, with Tore Andre Flo as backup.

However our defending led Dennis Wise to panic, and Leeds launched a full on assault on the Cheltenham goal, playing a 3-3-4 formation, with De Vries and Flo coming on for Prutton and Parker, and Westlake coming onto Kandol. With quarter of an hour left. Leeds won a free kick in a dangerous position. Captain Jonathan Douglas placed the ball. Cheltenham set up what looked suspiciously like two separate walls, Douglas shot, Shane Higgs palmed it away, and Beckford smashed it into the net.

The Leeds fans went wild, and the Cheltenham fans accepted the inevitable. Just then I heard cheering behind me. "Oh must be a Leeds fan in our end" I thought. But I looked behind me and recognised him as someone who I’d seen cheering on Cheltenham a few minutes ago. So why was he cheering what looked like a Leeds winner? Then suddenly it dawned on me. It was offside! There was a moment of great amusement as the Leeds fans continued to celebrate as though they’d just won the Champions League, until the fact they hadn’t scored suddenly dawned on them.

With about ten minutes to go, a pivotal moment in the game took place. Madjo, who had just replaced Connolly, raced to beat David Lucas for the ball, resulting in a rather nasty collision. Leeds players rushed to the injured keeper, and it didn’t look good. Leeds had at this point made all three substitutions, and Lucas was their third choice keeper.

I admit I felt rather worried for him, as the urgency in which the Leeds players summoned the referee suggested this was no ordinary injury. Fortunately, he got up, though he definitely wasn’t 100% fit. And so it was that a mistake by the injured Lucas led to the only goal of the game.

A rare attack from the Robins resulted in a long ball. Lucas decided to header it, not out for a throw, but straight in front of him. A gleeful Steven Gillespie saw the open goal, chipped the ball, and…Surely it couldn’t go in? Surely Cheltenham couldn’t be taking the lead against Leeds United? It can’t be allowed! Surely the ball would bounce harmlessly over. But no…the ball was in the net! Cheltenham fans jumped for joy, and began the countdown to full time.

After four agonising additional minutes, the referee blew the whistle, and Cheltenham celebrated one of their greatest ever results. How apt that it was a scouser who robbed the points from the league leaders. To put the brilliance of the result into perspective…this was only Leeds’ second defeat of the season, the first of which came against high-flying Carlisle. We were also the first team in the league to keep a clean sheet against Leeds, not counting Hereford in the F.A Cup. Meanwhile we had only won twice before this game, at home to Gillingham and away to Huddersfield.

Next up for Cheltenham is the short trip to the Memorial Stadium to play Bristol Rovers in this weekend’s big westcountry derby. Rovers have a number of players out injured, and their home form has been rather woeful. A jubilant Robins should be confident of getting a result.

JAMES LEWIS

Laughter with Luggy

2007-11-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ian Holloway may have left Plymouth Argyle in somewhat acrimonious circumstances last week, but he hasn’t stolen the club’s sense of humour.

Chairman Paul Stapleton introduced returning hero Paul ‘Luggy’ Sturrock – replacing Holloway as manager just under four years after leaving the Pilgrims for then-Premiership side Southampton – at today’s press conference, with a description of how the club’s board selected the new boss:

"When we drew up our list of who we would like as a manager, it said ‘grey haired and overweight’…sorry that’s the chairman’s list."

This last comment was, whichever way you wished to slice it, particularly self-deprecating. While Stapleton’s physical frame bares few similarities with chubby Luggy, a small minority of Argyle fans and Devon pressmen have questioned the motives behind bringing Sturrock back to the club from League One Swindon Town.

It has been well documented that he and Stapleton are close personal friends, and rumours were flying around over the weekend, suggesting the chairman was a loan figure in the boardroom, in his bid to bring the 51-year-old Scot back to Home Park. But Stapleton, the moustachioed accountant who has led the board since 2001, was quick to quell such whispers.

"We needed a captain on the ship, and the fact it was someone we had a lot of respect for, even the other board members who didn’t know him from before were unanimous in their choice.

"He’s got the job on merit, not anything else."

Whatever really happened behind the scenes, the installation of Sturrock in the position vacated by Leicester-bound Holloway – seemingly dazzled by the lure of Foxes owner Milan Mandaric’s millions – has sent shivers down the spines of the Green Army.

Luggy had inherited a club in turmoil in October 2000. Argyle’s record appearance holder Kevin Hodges had managed the worst side in Home Park history, arguably not helped by latterly parlous backing from ex-chairman Dan McCauley, and Plymouth were languishing at the wrong end of the old Division Three.

Stapleton, then on McCauley’s board, brought Sturrock to the club, lobbying for his appointment. The rest is history, with the former St. Johnstone and Dundee United boss revitalising Argyle from top to bottom – storming to the 2001-2 title with a record points total of 102, and leaving Plymouth on top of Division Two after 30 games, which they would eventually go on to win.

Along the way he vastly improved the performances and longevity of Lee Hodges, Mickey Evans, and captain Paul Wotton; brought through youth starlets such as Luke McCormick and Paul Connolly; and secured the signings of several unknowns who would go on to be legends in Jannerland – David Norris, Graham Coughlan, David Friio, and Romain Larrieu among them.

And for all Holloway’s countrywide fame – secured largely through sometimes amusing, but often plain idiotic, public pronouncements – Sturrock’s wit is more subtle and developed.

Asked who would oversee tommorrow’s mouth-watering home clash against second-placed West Bromwich Albion – with coaches Tim Breacker and Des Bulpin, who led Plymouth to a fantastic 1-0 win at Sheffield United on Saturday, likely to be joining Holloway at Leicester – Luggy was leaving it to his goalkeeping coach.

"Well Crudgie [Geoff Crudgington] has got problems!" he smirked, to general hilarity.
"I’m sitting with the chairman, I’ll have nothing to do with this one!"

And the jokes kept coming. Did it help that some players were still at Argyle from Sturrock’s last tenure, one hack asked?

"Hodgie looks much slimmer, so what he’s been doing for the last few years has definitely worked, I’m gonna take some advice from him."

Not to be outdone, Stapleton was happy to admit that the worldwind process of management change had left some creases unironed. How long would Luggy’s contract be?

"We haven’t really decided, we’re gonna have a quiet chat about that this evening I think…see how we get on tommorrow night!"

Sturrock will find with Argyle in rude health, sitting fourth in the Championship and with the feel-good factor coursing through Pilgrim veins. Whether he can repeat the heroics of his previous reign remains to be seen, but, for now, all is well in PL2.

RICH PARTINGTON