Plymouth Argyle Q and A
Hi
A Plymouth Argyle fan here. I wonder if would answer a few questions about the relegation battle to give Argyle fans an insight into your team for the last four games? Thanks.
1: Do you think Wycombe will escape relegation and why?
2: Your thoughts on the performances of the players and manager during the season?
3: What four teams do you think will be relegated?
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Comments
If you ask around amongst Plymouth fans about Wycombe I'm sure you will get plenty of insight @pl23dq . The ones who came on here after the Adams Park loss in particular...
1 - I do think we will escape, as we have played much better than our results indicate, and have generally been in every game. Wycombe love to increase the profits of heart medication companies though, so it may not be simple.
2 - The manager has been exceptional as always, exuding both class and dignity, while managing to motivate his players through an awful spell of results. The players have been tenacious, and have always given the sense of "leaving everything on the pitch", to use a cliche. Several players have raised their stock considerably, and the old war horses such as Bayo and Bloomfield have continued to show that class is permanent (the cliches keep coming).
3 - I really hate to say, as I don't wish it on anyone, but Bradford are obviously needing snookers, and based on form, Walsall and Southend may be in trouble too. So if I had to say, those three plus one of Rochdale, Scunthorpe or (very unlikely) Accrington. Wimbledon and your lot seem to have too much about them, as things stand.
You receive a certificate for being the first Plymouth fan in many a moon to come on here for non-abuse purposes!
1) I think probably yes. I expect at least four teams to get less points.
2) Gareth Ainsworth has done wonders getting this club into league 1 and then potentially keep us up. That he also is a really nice guy on top is a huge bonus. The plAyers have to a man worked as hard as they possibly can. We can ask no more
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3) Bradford obviously. Then perm any three from seven or eight others. To be honest few would be sad to see Argyle go, if only to see the look on Adams’ face and see who he would find to blame for his failure.
1: Yes, because we are in 17th and only four from 24 go down. Our three next fixtures are all against teams below us in the table, and the final game is home against Fleetwood, one of the few teams with nothing to play for. We've not been in a position all season where relegation looked likely, which is a great achievement from Ainsworth and the team.
2: Given our budget relative to many of the other teams in the League we have done very well. Many thought it would be a scrap all season, so we have largely exceeded expectations. Our last three seasons in League One all ended in relegation.
We certainly had a better first half of the season than second - perhaps because some of our influential loanees returned to their parent clubs in January and were not replaced.
3: Bradford, Walsall and Southend plus one other. Ideally Bristol Rovers but it seems highly unlikely (if not quite mathematically impossible.)
I think everything hinges on Rochdale away, they will be fighting tooth and nail on their home turf and a loss there could heap pressure on us for our home fixture with Walsall. whilst i appreciate the work GA has done for this club I am sometimes left wondering if he is tactically naive on occasions. I can't see us getting anything from Wimbledon away and maybe we can take advantage of Fleetwood's turmoil from Bartons inevitable sacking. I think 4 points from the last 4 games may be enough but if we stay up, I have to wonder how the squad can be strengthened in the summer with an inept board at the helm.
We've never looked like relegation fodder, even in our winless run that ended on Saturday.
As soon as we lost our loanees in Jan we've struggled, but Ainsworth has done a brilliant job on a shoestring with a lot of uncertainty behind the scenes.
No-one in the squad can be accused of not giving it their all. Sometimes the football has been frustratingly niggly, shitty hoofball but I understand why we play the percentage game.
When we simply haven't had enough quality we've usually tried our best. But other times we've gone up against the top clubs away from home not being fancied at all and got creditable results.
A bit conflicted about who I actually want to go down though. Want Stanley to stay up but their run-in looks the toughest.
Would be initially funny if Rovers and Plymouth both went down after their endless abuse of Wycombe the last few years, but I'd miss the competitive edge in games the next season.
Would rather lose away days I wont be likely to go to -Rochdale & Scunthorpe.
Amused to see the first appearance for a while of the dreaded ‘tactically naive’ cliche but at least it’s preferable to ‘lost the dressing room’.
I would agree with most of the above. I think we'll survive if we take our chances..losing our loanees cost us but we've never been totally out of many games and have let leads slip...it's all narrow margins. If we could save Southend and have Rovers or Mr Adams crying (sorry!) I would be happy.
1: I have more confidence that Wycombe will escape than Plymouth will escape.
2:In my opinion it has been a good season, even if we are are relegated, which I think is quite unlikely. Gareth Ainsworth is a good fit for us and is a consistent positive influence. He has been willing to learn. We have a group of players who play to each others strengths and have matched the best in this league on most occasions. I have never been bored at a Wycombe game this season.
3: Bradford for definite, Southend, Rochdale and then Plymouth, which would be a bit sad because I have consistently really enjoyed games at Home Park. That looks a difficult last game of the season for you if Scunthorpe are still threatened. But as others have mentioned it would be funny if Bristol Rovers went down.
You really go out of your way to dig out stuff you disagree with
It must be exhausting, and for someone who constantly looks for the faults in others I'm not sure glasshalffull is an appropriate nickname
1 - yes, because we'd not won for about 11/12 games, and still were only in the bottom 4 for about 10mins mid one game. We've needed about 5-6 points to guarantee survival for 3months now!
2 - A few comfortable away defeats early on, but an excellent run of wins at home, often against top teams saw us almost mentioning the "P" word of playoffs.
Three key loanees propped up our resources, and when they unfortunately went back in January, we did drop off a bit, but still were very unlucky with about 3-4 last min goals sucker punching us.
A very good job from Ainsworth, keeping us looking very comfortable for most of the season, bar this recent couple of months where we flirted with the bottom 4.
3- the current bottom 4, with a slight chance Wimbledon escape instead.
1- 90% we’ll stay up. Saturday was a huge win and with others around us failing to get points I think 4 more points will do it, maybe even 3.
2- the players give their all pretty much all the time. I am saddened when I hear some around me (at away games not where I sit at home) suggest players aren’t trying when things aren’t going so well for them. Everyone can have days when ones’s head isn’t in the game, a lack of ‘flow’, one’s mind being subtly taken from the moment by life’s worries or whatever. One thing I have no doubt of is that the vast majority of Ainsworth’s players want to do their best for him, look up to him and respect him. He is a thoroughly decent guy and I’m sure could do very well at a higher level. His supposed use of the “dark arts” isn’t much worse than many others and his class in front of us, the media and the opposition players and support is evident. He also has excellent taste in music ?
3 Bradford are done. Southend I think as well- losing at home to a team with as bad a record as yours is a killer blow- Beyond that probably Rochdale and Walsall as we’ll win that one and may condem them. I hope Plymouth stay up as a good friend of ours joins us at many home games and she’s a Plymouth girl. Be fun hearing her muttering under her breath as we do them again next year.
I think the word hypocrisy is the most appropriate response to this post digging out someone you disagree with.
Absolutely.
Fewer.
That ‘less’ versus ‘fewer’ thing is, to quote @Malone, rather “awks” (and, no, I’m not sure if that is short for awkward).
I occasionally watch Pointless on TV and sometimes feel a little uneasy when Alexander Armstrong tells someone that they will be safe if they score “24 or less”.
The “amount of people” (frequently used nowadays, to be fair) also sounds wrong to me - I prefer “number” - and I always understood that, if the quantity of something could be expressed numerically then “fewer” was correct. “Amount”, “quantity” or volume apply to things that cannot be described numerically - eg snow, sand, traffic.
@micra , while not quite your level of Prof Pedant, I certainly am down that line, and I frequently get that less-fewer ting (ganster for thing) wrong.
More and less are opposites and you also have the phrase "more or less" (not more or fewer) so it seems very abs (absurd) that "fewer" enters the mix, not less.
Should Elvis' song be "a little fewer conversations" rather than a little less...?
You can define conversations numerically.
Isn’t it a little less conversation? With no s.
It is @Chris. But... I’ve had fewer conversations with @Chris than I have with @Malone.
And “more or less” has nowt (nothing) to do with numbers or amounts. It’s more akin to “as near as dammit (to swearing)”.
.
Sorry, “as near as damnit is to swearing”.
I knew I wouldn't get away with stealing that letter away. It had to be the forum wet lettuce shopped me too
Still, more haste, fewer speed.
Less or fewer posts about less or fewer would be good, and less or fewer nobby pedants would also be good.
Language evolves, deal with it......innit.
Evolution great (although not so sure about “could of”, gonna, “are” for “our”, “defiantly” for “definitely” etc etc which just grate). Nothing “nobby” surely about loving language and occasionally commenting on it.
I remember a boss of mine using the ‘language evolves’ line after amending multiple instances of my correct use of ‘you’re’ with ‘your’.
It’s true that language evolves but it’s equally true that excuse will be rolled out every time by someone getting chippy about being corrected.
Not talking about you're and your.
But yes nobby.
adjective, nob·bi·er, nob·bi·est. British Slang.
fashionable or elegant; stylish; chic.
excellent; first-rate.
I’ll take that @Onlooker !
Oh dear.
This superb thread derailment. All hail the Gasroom!
*This is - before I get in trouble with Micra!