Adams on A Trialist (Paul Anderson)

Derek Adams has confirmed that the club are taking a close look at former Mansfield Town winger Paul Anderson and a decision will be made on whether to sign him soon.

The 30-year-old winger is a free agent having had his contract terminated by Mansfield Town on transfer deadline day at the end of January and he has spent the last week training with the Pilgrims.

Anderson also played in Tuesday's 1-0 Central League win over Exeter City and Adams says a decision will be made on whether to sign him in the next 24 hours.

"We are obviously looking for a player in the forward area. We have had a look at him in training and had a look at him in the game," Adams said.

"Paul Anderson has a very good pedigree and we will take it from there.

"We are just going to wait at this moment in time and hopefully things come to a conclusion tomorrow."

Adams' hand has been forced due to a potentially season-ending injury to winger Joel Grant with Adams keen to ensure he has enough competition in the forward areas.

"Joel will be struggling now until the end of the season and if Joel had been fit, then we wouldn’t have had to make another signing," Adams said. "But Joel is out and he has done really well for us this season."

Anderson started his career at Liverpool and can include the likes of Swansea City, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City, Ipswich Town, Bradford City and Northampton Town among his former employers.

However, he has not played competitively since April 2, 2018 and the biggest concern to Adams is whether he can get him match-fit to play a part for Argyle this season.

"In a game, we are not judging just his fitness, it’s his technical ability," Adams said. "He is not right up to speed, so we are obviously looking to see how quickly we can get him up to speed and that was the same with Oscar Threlkeld and Lloyd Jones, we are trying to get those up to speed as Quickly as possible .

"But we do need competition in the squad from now until the end of the season."

You have got to be shitting me

Read the story today and just looked at Jethros post as I leave the muff.
The only reaction I have is to say feck off Hallett, Adams and the Bents.
The club is going NOWHERE under this board.

Another fxxxing winger. You have got to be shitting me too.

The thing is ,
Yes its down to boards etc,

But Adams is the one who goes to the board,

I want that one I guess in an Andy Pipkin style way,

you can feck off with the
Arm tied behind his back excuse,

Who the feck scouted this guy, Answer no one.

Isn't there some kid we have who's job it is to scour a football manager database for these names,

Adams is a joke of a manager who has just lucked onto a joke of a club gullible to soak up his bullshit and OFFER HIM A FIVE YEAR DEAL.

I assume this is because Joel Grant is out for the rest of the season and this Job Seeker is all that's left. As I said during the Argo V Exeter stiffs match, he was binned off by Mansfield after a glittering spell which yielded 1 goal and 2 assists in his 33 appearances.

I'm sure I read somewhere that he was played out of position at the stags and didn't get on well with his manager and he does a decent pedigree elsewhere, so could either be a Fox or a Goodwillie.

Why was Paul Anderson released by Mansfield Town?
The reasons are unknown but there were rumours he was being disruptive/rebellious in the dressing room for new boss David Flitcroft, having been signed by Steve Evans.

He was told pre-season this season he was not in the plans and could go but sat it out until January, playing I think one reserve game. The club were desperate to get him out as he was rumoured to be one of the biggest wage earners.

What was he like across his whole time at the club?
During the first season here he played 33 times and largely did very well. He was used as a wide player to start with but injuries saw him also have to dig in and help out as a wing back.

I don't think he ever gave less than 100 per cent when I saw him.

What could Argyle fans expect to see from him if he was signed by the club?
One look at his CV tells you he has quality and experience and, at 30, he still has time left. I saw him many times for Forest and was excited to see him join Mansfield so it's just a shame that it didn't work out between him and Flitcroft.

Neither is saying too much but it's clear they had a bust-up of sorts. He played the wing back position well but semi-reluctantly and is much more useful in a proper wide midfield role.

Do you think he is good enough for League One?
He was certainly good enough for League Two and I don't think the gap in standard is huge, plus he has extensive Championship experience.

The only thing will be getting him back up to full match sharpness after so long out of the game at all levels.

What is your view on his trial with Argyle? Was it a surprise to see?
Flitcroft had been carping about him indirectly for a while, saying he could never understand players simply picking up a wage when they were not playing and, with such a short career, not getting themselves out anywhere to get back on the pitch.

I am delighted to see a club like Plymouth are a possible destination as he still has a lot to offer and it would have been tough for him to end up on non-League level aged just 30.

I am not surprised it's Plymouth as he does have that quality and is far from a spent force if he can regain that full sharpness again.

That could well be next season now after a full pre-season though. Can he do enough now to get a deal with the fitness he has?

How popular was he with the fans?
The fans liked him a lot (and some have said they feel sorry for him with what happened). But all we have to go on is rumours and some have picked up on them as fact and believe he was disruptive and has been picking up money he didn't deserve since the summer.

So mixed is an accurate description of how fans feel about him. But he did nothing wrong in the shirt. Off the field we don't know we happened.

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Freddie got the same treatment from Argo fans?

No he didn't? Anyway no ones denying he's got a bit of pedigree but he's hardly played for nine months. Makes no sense to sign him now if he's not fit.