From the rubble comes creation

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

Halmosi and co could make Sturrock king again

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