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
Showing posts with label Colchester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colchester. Show all posts
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Saturday, 23 February 2008
One down, seven to go
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
Monday, 14 January 2008
Robins squander chance
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
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
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