Purrington

Angry wrote:

"Plymouth were really good to me, but there was no real attempt to persuade me to stay.

"I guess it was the money talking, but it made Rotherham's keenness stand out.


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and they tell me argyle are ambitious

Going through the gears with the Banker Bro's, wake me up when this nightmare is over.

Graiser wrote:

Purrington also mentions the finance was an attraction to him, all about opinions of course but defensively I prefer Sawyer even Threlkeld, offensively maybe Purrington shades it a bit, so I'm not convinced it's that big a deal he's gone.

Not really the point though. The Purrington deal was sold to the public as if the club had done all it could to get him to stay ["Ben wanted to go" was the mantra parroted by various sources from within and without the club] when it would seem fairly clear from his words that the money offered by Rotherham to Argyle was far more important in the deal than any particular desire of the player to go. Never did believe the bullshit about contracted players wanting to leave but the club having no choice but to sell them [Norris's strike threat, Hourihane's girlfriend etc]-the ball is always in the clubs court and if they really wanted to keep players they could do so, as has been proven over and over at various places aound the country.

Greenskin wrote:

Graiser wrote:

Purrington also mentions the finance was an attraction to him, all about opinions of course but defensively I prefer Sawyer even Threlkeld, offensively maybe Purrington shades it a bit, so I'm not convinced it's that big a deal he's gone.

Not really the point though. The Purrington deal was sold to the public as if the club had done all it could to get him to stay ["Ben wanted to go" was the mantra parroted by various sources from within and without the club] when it would seem fairly clear from his words that the money offered by Rotherham to Argyle was far more important in the deal than any particular desire of the player to go. Never did believe the bullshit about contracted players wanting to leave but the club having no choice but to sell them [Norris's strike threat, Hourihane's girlfriend etc]-the ball is always in the clubs court and if they really wanted to keep players they could do so, as has been proven over and over at various places aound the country.

To a certain extent.

There comes a point where the money we could pay just isn't enough to be competitive, though.

If what is on the table is, say, treble (I'm guessing) our highest paid player then a player like Purrington is always going to be on his way. I'm not suggesting that this applies to the Purrington transfer - I would have thought we could match Rotherham financially if we wanted to but their crowds (typically 8-11,000) are a bit better than ours and their TV income will be higher so we'd always be struggling, as things stand, to compete with them if they really want one of our players.

I'm fairly sanguine about Purrington's, only currently with all being well our second choice left back let's not forget, departure; it's the lack of a replacement that worries me.

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

Graiser wrote:

Purrington also mentions the finance was an attraction to him, all about opinions of course but defensively I prefer Sawyer even Threlkeld, offensively maybe Purrington shades it a bit, so I'm not convinced it's that big a deal he's gone.

Spoken like a true Brenty Worshiper!!
Will be a big deal if Sawyer gets injured and Argo struggle for a left back, still no doubt another season in the Basement with Team Jimmy will be a joy.

It's not. It's spoken as Graisers opinion which is different to your (and others) opinion. That's all! Doesn't deserve a reply of ''Brenty Worshiper'' That type of comment is what happens on the farm. Purrington has said ''Argyle didn't do enough etc'' Perhaps ''enough'' was refusing to match Rotherham's wage offer. He wasn't that good.

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

Graiser wrote:

Purrington also mentions the finance was an attraction to him, all about opinions of course but defensively I prefer Sawyer even Threlkeld, offensively maybe Purrington shades it a bit, so I'm not convinced it's that big a deal he's gone.

Spoken like a true Brenty Worshiper!!
Will be a big deal if Sawyer gets injured and Argo struggle for a left back, still no doubt another season in the Basement with Team Jimmy will be a joy.

Still writing total bollox I see

tigertony wrote:

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

Graiser wrote:

Purrington also mentions the finance was an attraction to him, all about opinions of course but defensively I prefer Sawyer even Threlkeld, offensively maybe Purrington shades it a bit, so I'm not convinced it's that big a deal he's gone.

Spoken like a true Brenty Worshiper!!
Will be a big deal if Sawyer gets injured and Argo struggle for a left back, still no doubt another season in the Basement with Team Jimmy will be a joy.

It's not. It's spoken as Graisers opinion which is different to your (and others) opinion. That's all! Doesn't deserve a reply of ''Brenty Worshiper'' That type of comment is what happens on the farm. Purrington has said ''Argyle didn't do enough etc'' Perhaps ''enough'' was refusing to match Rotherham's wage offer. He wasn't that good.

'He wasn't that good'. The mantra for Brent apologists everywhere. The sort of comment that's always made when trying to justify the club's actions. He was good enough to be wanted by a Championship club which would indicate that he was pretty good at League 2 level.

He's said himself that the club didn't do enough to persuade him to stay, which gives a pretty fair indication that Brent was keen to get in the money with very little time to get a replacement. As Brent thinks the squad is big enough anyway there's no need to get in anyone else. Isn't it wonderful to have a Chairman who is the font of all football knowledge.

As for preferring Sawyer or Threlkeld in that position, I reckon that wouldn't be the case if Purrington was still here and in the side.

It is a shame to continually excise local talent from the squad.

seadog wrote:

It is a shame to continually excise local talent from the squad.

This the core of it for me.

I edge towards the "not that good" synopsis but he was good enough and improving. Who knows how good he'll be with 200 games behind him?

And it is those notional 200 games that matter.

One of the deep sadnesses of the modern game is the breakage of the link between clubs playing homegrown players. At one time Liverpool's XI was packed with Scousers, Newcastle's with Geordies, us with Janners and so on. That is no longer the case. The only two like likely starters we currently have are McCormick and Sawyer and that's not enough. If you think back to Sturrock's team we had a few: Wotton, Adams, Stonebridge, Evans to name a few off the top of my head and I think they bring more than the sum of their parts to the table.

Apart from the obvious joy we take in seeing one of our own come through they are a magnet to other local talent yet to come and it is they and not the journeyman pro who understands what the club means to the city and the wider region and it is they who are likely to go that extra yard and play for the shirt.

It's one of those ephemera that has intrinsic value just because it is there even if it isn't something you can label, bottle, value and add to a spreadsheet.

Plymouth Argyle represents us supporters and Plymouth as a city whether it wants to or not; it's why we invest such irrational amounts of time, money and emotion into it. And it represents us far more successfully when there's a few local players in the team.

McCormick is a Janner is he?

Les Miserable wrote:

McCormick is a Janner is he?

By adoption. Likewise Sawyer who is from north Devon. They've both come through our youth and reserve teams like Curtis Nelson did before him. They're not Plymothians but they are ours.

And Stonebridge is a Londoner

Homeslice wrote:

And Stonebridge is a Londoner

Yes and the same adoption principle applies to him.

.....and of course Ridsdale is one of ours because he put his boots on a came down for a walking holiday once.

A North Devon bhey can be moulded into a Janner. Someone born and bred in Coventry can't.

Never really been concerned about where players come from. Waiters team only had John Hore from this area, Smith's team had Uzzell from time to time but all the other home grown products were from different parts of the country, legacies of the brilliant youth policy set up by Waiters. Can't remember too many protests about the lack of home grown players at the time. Obviously in an ideal world Argyle would produce good home grown players but that would seem to be quite difficult both from the historical perspective and from the fact that some very big clubs have their own academy branches set up down here now to snap up the best talent from an early age. All wrong but that seems to be the way of the world now, although IMHO signing for Man United at 10 isn't necessarily a better way of enhancing eventual progress than signing for Argyle and eventually having a genuine chance of making the first team. Having said that, Exeter seem to be able to buck these trends and produce some good ones, whether that's because of reputation or economic and time input, don't really know.

In my head, a wider continuity is the key, of which locally based youngsters obviously play a part. There's been precious little continuity over the last few years. How many of Tuesday's team were the starting eleven three years ago ? ? I'd be interested to know that,  if any geeks actually inhabit ATD. Mr Drake ?

In the end, there's not many keys to all this..... it's either/and/or brand loyalty or tribal loyalty, with maybe a few geek sport aficionados.
I have deliberately left out a huge rump of fans who just need an excuse to do something on a Saturday without taxing their sensibilities. I'm not really interested in their opinion or their drivers.

Well, I don't need a geek because greensonscreen is already on hand.
Not 3, just 2 years on, only one player, Luke McCormick, is still playing. And almost all of the squad is totally changed. That's just not good enough, and that sort of "staff turnaround" just did not happen back in the past.
So-called Plymouth Argyle.

beesrus wrote:

Well, I don't need a geek because greensonscreen is already on hand.
Not 3, just 2 years on, only one player, Luke McCormick, is still playing. And almost all of the squad is totally changed. That's just not good enough, and that sort of "staff turnaround" just did not happen back in the past.
So-called Plymouth Argyle.

To be fair most of them weren't here 12 months ago let alone 2 years ago. Carey, Sawyer and McCormick off the top of my head?

Beginning to learn chums? City are just sorry that a local boy should choose to play for Plymouth, bet he's sorry now! Our first team at this moment has 3 valuable academy players, two other players that were brought in as teenagers and one bloke from Tiverton. The rest of the squad is built in similar proportions (apart from the Tiverton bit!)

Can't beat westcountry beys when you want a job done!

Sturtz wrote:

Beginning to learn chums? City are just sorry that a local boy should choose to play for Plymouth, bet he's sorry now! Our first team at this moment has 3 valuable academy players, two other players that were brought in as teenagers and one bloke from Tiverton. The rest of the squad is built in similar proportions (apart from the Tiverton bit!)

Can't beat westcountry beys when you want a job done!

There's no doubting you've unearthed a few decent kids. The worry as far as you are concerned though is that the infrastructure and running of your club seems to be massively dependent on selling them, and the windfall does nothing more really than keep you bobbing around division 4.

When the sales dry up, which they inevitably will at some point, you'll be fooked again.

Czarcasm wrote:

Sturtz wrote:

Beginning to learn chums? City are just sorry that a local boy should choose to play for Plymouth, bet he's sorry now! Our first team at this moment has 3 valuable academy players, two other players that were brought in as teenagers and one bloke from Tiverton. The rest of the squad is built in similar proportions (apart from the Tiverton bit!)

Can't beat westcountry beys when you want a job done!

There's no doubting you've unearthed a few decent kids. The worry as far as you are concerned though is that the infrastructure and running of your club seems to be massively dependent on selling them, and the windfall does nothing more really than keep you bobbing around division 4.

When the sales dry up, which they inevitably will at some point, you'll be fooked again.  

The sales have continued to rise over the years, it's sad to see good players move on but you're right in as much as we have to sell to survive. The good bit will come when we've enough money to pay players more and not have to sell. We made 1.7Mill for Grimes which made us solvent for a while with the Watkins money being the extras, we have other valuable youngsters on the conveyor belt to success. We don't have a council that shells out like yours does on lost causes so may have to spend some of our gains on our ground but with plenty more to invest in Devon's finest youth who can tell what might happen?

How much do you think Cardiff might accept for that Kennedy tw@t?

Sturtz wrote:

Czarcasm wrote:

Sturtz wrote:

Beginning to learn chums? City are just sorry that a local boy should choose to play for Plymouth, bet he's sorry now! Our first team at this moment has 3 valuable academy players, two other players that were brought in as teenagers and one bloke from Tiverton. The rest of the squad is built in similar proportions (apart from the Tiverton bit!)

Can't beat westcountry beys when you want a job done!

There's no doubting you've unearthed a few decent kids. The worry as far as you are concerned though is that the infrastructure and running of your club seems to be massively dependent on selling them, and the windfall does nothing more really than keep you bobbing around division 4.

When the sales dry up, which they inevitably will at some point, you'll be fooked again.  

The sales have continued to rise over the years, it's sad to see good players move on but you're right in as much as we have to sell to survive. The good bit will come when we've enough money to pay players more and not have to sell. We made 1.7Mill for Grimes which made us solvent for a while with the Watkins money being the extras, we have other valuable youngsters on the conveyor belt to success. We don't have a council that shells out like yours does on lost causes so may have to spend some of our gains on our ground but with plenty more to invest in Devon's finest youth who can tell what might happen?

How much do you think Cardiff might accept for that Kennedy tw@t?

I wouldn't think we'd have a cat in hells chance of signing him permanently. A lot of Cardiff fans were miffed Warnock did us a favour in sending him here - he is quite clearly a Championship level player. But who knows. If we go up, Brent fecks off and Hallett takes the reins fully, there may be a chance. I doubt it though.

We can do you a big favour by beating Luton tomorrow. Don't cheer too loudly when we score...

Sturtz wrote:

Czarcasm wrote:

Sturtz wrote:

Beginning to learn chums? City are just sorry that a local boy should choose to play for Plymouth, bet he's sorry now! Our first team at this moment has 3 valuable academy players, two other players that were brought in as teenagers and one bloke from Tiverton. The rest of the squad is built in similar proportions (apart from the Tiverton bit!)

Can't beat westcountry beys when you want a job done!

There's no doubting you've unearthed a few decent kids. The worry as far as you are concerned though is that the infrastructure and running of your club seems to be massively dependent on selling them, and the windfall does nothing more really than keep you bobbing around division 4.

When the sales dry up, which they inevitably will at some point, you'll be fooked again.  

The sales have continued to rise over the years, it's sad to see good players move on but you're right in as much as we have to sell to survive. The good bit will come when we've enough money to pay players more and not have to sell. We made 1.7Mill for Grimes which made us solvent for a while with the Watkins money being the extras, we have other valuable youngsters on the conveyor belt to success. We don't have a council that shells out like yours does on lost causes so may have to spend some of our gains on our ground but with plenty more to invest in Devon's finest youth who can tell what might happen?

How much do you think Cardiff might accept for that Kennedy tw@t?

Heartwarming stuff.

Conveniently forgetting the bit where they had to go cap in hand to the PFA a couple of years back so they could pay their staff.

Also conveniently forgotten was when this home grown, farmers market team of youthful talent were heavily thumped at home park a few weeks back.

O.k Hugh it was a bit of a blip for us, for you too I hear, tell me that you've played as well since that "cup final" performance?

As for the cap in hand incident, well the irony is that the case illustrates exactly the kind of scenario that our present structure is hoping to avoid in future. The days of manager's having to pay our club gas bills or creditors being left high and dry are hopefully over, for us anyway.