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
Showing posts with label Bromby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bromby. Show all posts
Friday, 1 February 2008
Monday, 28 January 2008
Pride at Pompey, intrigue at Ipswich
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
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
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