Released and retained lists....

Oh come now throbby, Brent is the first owner in the history of football to not pay the creditor debt when taking a club out of admin. If he were doing it for the benefit of the club then he could be forgiven, being that he is doing it for his own personal gain then that makes it good for Brent not the club. How do you feel about being the first club in the history of football to have a dentists and school in the ground?
What's happened to your tagline BTW? what was it?
Honesty, Openess, Integrity? How's that all panning out then? guffaw.

It is sad on two levels X Isle; firstly, seeing a local lad booted out of his hometown club against the wishes/opinions of the supporters, and secondly, losing arguably the most quality player at the club.

Fans like to see good football and Luke Young is renowned in his ability to provide those openings.

Blizzard, Gurrieri, Wotton - some of Sheridan's retained list can't play a fraction as well of what Young is capable of.

21 is no age to release a player either. Beckham was 23 when he stamped on Simeone and he had barely started in the game. Pirlo, a player Young tries to emulate, was not appearing for Italy and Milan at 21, but he built up to it.

What was Young supposed to have 'proved' by now? Is 90 appearances, 9 goals and plenty of assists not enough? Most Argyle fans have this gut feeling that this is a stupid and wrong decision, and would sign him up.... if it was in our hands. We will see who is wrong - the one, or the thousands.

Obviously not. Shez would have watched all the players at matches and in training he judged that the others have more to offer other than POTENTIAL. If he were as good as you say he is he wouldn't be here.

Iggy wrote:

Oh come now throbby, Brent is the first owner in the history of football to not pay the creditor debt when taking a club out of admin. If he were doing it for the benefit of the club then he could be forgiven, being that he is doing it for his own personal gain then that makes it good for Brent not the club. How do you feel about being the first club in the history of football to have a dentists and school in the ground?
What's happened to your tagline BTW? what was it?
Honesty, Openess, Integrity? How's that all panning out then? guffaw.

All points covered in the Richard Burton v Richard Blight thread m'lover, P4.....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I'll always take the time to reply to my fan mail. However whilst no-one likes the long posts it causes, peeps WILL insist on bringing it up. Does ATD have an FAQ section?  

I'll pop a new signature up on my profile for you treacle......

I guess Young would be the only debatable one in that list, but looking at it pragmatically, he's probably not a league 2 type player. If we were in the Championship he'd be one of the first names on the team sheet, but the type of football necessary to be successful in this league doesn't suit him. What was the phrase, 'blood and snotters?'

Shame to see him go though, someone else will certainly benefit.

Wotton offered a new deal? One for the future there.

The only surprise in my opinion is keeping Gurrieri. Young didnt cut it for me and I always thought him and Hourihane were a very very lightweight central midfield.

I think the choice to be made came down to either Young or Guerrieri and due to versatility and ability to win possession, which he does surprisingly often if you watch him, then Guerrieri won out. It's not really about bulk or physicality with either of them; it's more about engine and awareness - of the old "footballing brain".

Passing ability is about firstly having the vision to see the pass and then matching one's ability to the vision. And then it is about consistency. It's not about whether or not they can do it (they all, mostly, can - at least sometimes) but how often they are successful in doing it and, I'm afraid, that Young wasn't successful often enough and, that part, offered little beyond an eye for a free kick.

If Young's corners were better, if he tackled harder, if he made valuable interceptions more often, if he was quick, if he showed he could go past a man, if he was good in the air, if he could fill in somewhere else... But either they weren't or he wasn't or he can't and sad though it is the decision had to be made and I think Sheridan got it right.

Of the others let go I can understand and agree with the thinking behind letting Parsons, Blanchard and Cole go although if I was Cole I'd be very disappointed. I'd have let Vassell go, too, with the nagging fear that he'll go and score 30 goals in a season somewhere; he must have something to have been kept on so often by so many different managers but his luck with bullet dodging is obviously exhausted. I'm surprised that Trotman is going.

I'd have kept the ones offered deals too except for Berry who must be thanking his lucky stars. Wotton is the obviously contentious one here and a convincing case could be made either way. I'm assuming that he's going to take a player/coach role in which case it makes perfect sense. If he's here as a player only then, unless he's really cheap, I would have thought the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Happy with pretty much every decision bar Young and Blanchard.

The latter has always looked good when next to a defender who can communicate and isn't as error prone as Trotman is.

The former- well, I can only argue the points already made on this thread. Great young player with real promise and could only get better. Potential is still a relevant word to be used too. He may have played a lot of appearances but that's only because he broke in at such a young age. Imagine how bad Hourihane would have been if he was playing for us aged 17/18 like Young did. Young at 18 was better than Conor would have been for us at 18. Young now at 21 is better than Conor was two season ago at 21. There is no feasible reason why Young at 23 wouldn't have gone on to be a better player for us than Conor currently is aged 23. Again, really baffling for me and one I think we will regret.

I'm happy that Wotton's got another year. The role he plays doesn't require a lot of running. He won't be on big money and he's still got another year left in him as a squad player.

The other contentious one is Cole who I can understand. He hasn't been as good this season, his wages could be re-directed elsewhere and he probably wants somewhere where he can fight for a number one spot.

I'm surprised that Young has been released. HOWEVER I'm not hugely dissapointed by it.

Something tells me, and maybe I'm wrong, but as has been mentioned, if he wasn't a Plymouth lad people wouldn't be so up in arms about it.

He undoubtedly has some potential, but at the age of 21 the word potential begins to wear a bit thin, if he was as good as he's often made out to be he would have stamped a spot on the first team.

He's too inconsistent and too lightweight for me, I hope he does well in his career as he's a passionate hard worker, but I just don't see his future being with us.

I think John Sheridan has made the correct decision.

I don't think Argyle fans are that clever when it comes to football. Bolasie was a clown, all pace and not much else - set up Palace's second goal yesterday against Liverpool. Mackie, a headless chicken - plays at Forest now. Noone was too lightweight'no. That's just a few recent ones - Puncheon too was labelled 'lazy'. Mason, not good enough.

Young's a shock. I was genuinely surprised. His time here wasn't conjucive to development - he played too many games and most of his appearances were in relegation dogfights. He had no real senior player to learn from - it's a shame.

Gurrieri is awful - he's 'versatile' apparently - for me that means he's not very good anywhere and he makes up the numbers.

I hope Sheridan just plays players in their right positions next season. Blanchard was forced to play full back all season.

I don't think Gurrieri is awful at all, I don't think he's amazing though.

Versatile is a good way to describe him. To me it means he can slot in, in numerous positions when needed and do an alright job.

His attitude is also second to none, probably the most passionate player (bar Wotton) at Argyle.

I'm more pissed off about keeping Wotton than I am about letting Young go.

Feeeerkin hell I thought we'd got rid of this clomper years ago...before he got slower (and slower, and slower).

Suprised Young is going. Not the finished article, but surely at 21 he is worth developing. Decision might be explainable if he's on a big wage or money is really that tight. However if it's the latter it makes no sense to keep Gurrieri. Nothing I've seen of him suggests he's anything other than a mediocre L2 player (he was released by Burton a few years ago, they don't seem to have missed him). Would have thought Young was a better bet than him.

Blanchard and Cole can consider themselves unlucky, but it's understandable why they have been let go. Trotman's departure might mean more game time for Richards, alongside a new CB signing.

Berry blows hot and cold from what I've seen, but he's young enough to been retained. Lecointe will presumably be given 6 months to prove his fitness ability and will be released if he can't hack it - last chance saloon time for him unfortunately.

I think the reason for keeping Wotton is to have him in a coaching role now that bloody Owers has gone, and have him as a player if we desperately need. Seems sensible to me.

Pitbull wrote:

bloody Owers

Why the hate?

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Pitbull wrote:

bloody Owers

Why the hate?

Met him numerous times and he just seemed completely lazy and careless.

Praps he just didn't want to talk to you.

I was hoping Gurrieri was released as old sensible calls him Galtieri (not even as a 'Dad' joke - he gets it wrong) and it does me 'ead in.

Cobi - I'm surprised you want foreigners in the side.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

I'm more pissed off about keeping Wotton than I am about letting Young go.

Feeeerkin hell I thought we'd got rid of this clomper years ago...before he got slower (and slower, and slower).

Sooner him than Trotman or Blizzard though.

GreenSam, disagree entirely regarding Blanchard.

Too weak to excel at CB, mobility issues and lacks pace for RB. Can't distribute which rules out midfield.

Earns too well to consider such a pay reduction. If we are trimming the fat, Max is the perfect example of where it needs to be cut.

Young is different in that he has one excellent attribute in his passing range, and at 21, will be a much improved playmaking midfielder at 23/24. His contract would have been an investment at quite a reasonable cost.

Blanchard as a CB isn't to be underestimated. If we play against him next season, our strikers will have a tough day. His biggest flaw is his use of arms though, he's a grabber and fell foul to that v Oxford (?) a few weeks back and I think that's why he was sent off at Rochdale on the final day last season.

I really did rate Trotman too, from when he joined until March. He made a very solid partnership with Nelse and a good 3 when Blanchard was added in there. All of a sudden his form dropped dramatically and it was one clumsy error after another. Cost us about 4 goals in 3 matches!

Spowell and Pitbull's avatars are too similar - it's annoying.

So, are we going to get some more Bury reserves in to bolster the squad? I'd like to see us actually push for a top three finish next season but I won't hold my breath.

ejh wrote:

GreenSam, disagree entirely regarding Blanchard.

Too weak to excel at CB, mobility issues and lacks pace for RB. Can't distribute which rules out midfield.

Earns too well to consider such a pay reduction. If we are trimming the fat, Max is the perfect example of where it needs to be cut.

Young is different in that he has one excellent attribute in his passing range, and at 21, will be a much improved playmaking midfielder at 23/24. His contract would have been an investment at quite a reasonable cost.

If he does earn well and wouldn't consider a reduction then I'd see the logic in the decision. Trimming the fat and all.

Purely on ability though, I think he would excel at CB next to a dominant partner (ala Wotton, Purse). He ability to position himself defensively is the best we've got at the club imo (even better than Nelson) and he can make last ditch challenges very well when he's needed to. He's not a ball playing defender but he can (usually) stop men getting past him. Playing next to Trotman though is going to make his own job tougher. I think if we could have signed a shouter CB and paired him with Max then that could have been worth trying- but agreed with you that today's biggest disappointment is Young.

spowell92 wrote:

Blanchard as a CB isn't to be underestimated. If we play against him next season, our strikers will have a tough day. His biggest flaw is his use of arms though, he's a grabber and fell foul to that v Oxford (?) a few weeks back and I think that's why he was sent off at Rochdale on the final day last season.

I really did rate Trotman too, from when he joined until March. He made a very solid partnership with Nelse and a good 3 when Blanchard was added in there. All of a sudden his form dropped dramatically and it was one clumsy error after another. Cost us about 4 goals in 3 matches!

I agree with the first paragraph.

Blanchard is a fine CB, proved that in his first season. He's much better as part of a back 2 than a back 3. On Saturday, when played at CB, he had a great first half, was moved to RB at HT, and had a woeful second half.

I however cannot agree with the second, on average this season, Trotman was a 3/4 out of 10 player, he's quite lucky he was playing next to Nelson.

Pitbull wrote:

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Pitbull wrote:

bloody Owers

Why the hate?

Met him numerous times and he just seemed completely lazy and careless.

which political party was you trying to push on him,greens ukip, lib dem ?