Revenge is a dish best served Ready Salted

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

Ebanks-Blake blossoms to bury Tynan's ghost

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