Carlisle match thread

Akinfenwa has to be my favourite non Argyle player, looks just like your everyday fat bloke, dangerous striker though.

Should have been over by half time. Argyle were so dominant, with Blizzard and Reid pulling the strings in midfield and some really great passing football was the outcome. One worry about this team though is that goals are not really going to flow when you get past the Reuben and Lewis contribution. Carlisle were set up for the taking before half time but inevitably when teams are only 1-0 down, they are going to grow in confidence and belief and only some great last ditch defending near the end ensured the 3 points. Argyle did have their chances in the second half mind you, so you can't really be too critical, there's just this nagging doubt about goals from other areas of the team and especially when playing better sides than Carlisle. Still, a good win, MOM for me was Bobby Reid. Don't like his floaty corners but his work on the ball was frankly superlative, can't remember him wasting a ball-a proper little Steve McCall..

Cornish Chris wrote:

The Argyle Angels are still shite.

Are they ever and whoever keeps turning the sprinklers on near there ac/dc dance needs to remember most of them are under age or not far over it.



Just got back home from the game today, i thought it was a good hard fought win for us with a solid defensive display, Carlisle were hard to break down and look dangerous at times so the fact we showed we can protect a lead is pleasing. 5th in the league lets keep the forum and morale high for as long as possible

ill give player raitings ago today and try not to be bias like cobi or wtf like sam, rather than give scores ill just keep it short

McCormick  good display marked his 200th game well he even got a huge cheer from the fans (dont tell the sun that)
Mellor did alright he is struggling at left wing back so no doubt he is happy Kellet is here too allow him to go back to the right side
Nelson solid defending he is really stepping up this year. If i were shezza i would be opening contract talks now with him before bigger clubs start circuling and he goes for very little
Hartley perfect partner for nelson
McHugh no complaints nothing really to report
O'Connor good showing
Blizzard commanded the midfield well
Cox made some big tackles to win the ball back for us another good showing
B.Reid he is what Banton fails to be a decednt play maker i pray shezza can get him to stay longer he is an asset
Alessandra looked quick and sharp was marked up well but he got a much needed goal
R Reid had a quite game in comparrison to other games but still looked dangerous he was heavily marked through out, if i put my aviva specs on i notice he doesnt wear the clubs socks and it doesnt look like he wears shinpads which i thought was illegal in pro football?
Smalley his speed helped stretch the carlisle defence that had been strangling reid and alessandra
Morgan  his appearance was to time waste in fairness


oh and i saw an old forum favourite of ours the drummer boy hard at work for the club filming.. No doubt who got him that job

Job? voluntary shirley.

filming what ?!

alannotivvy wrote:

filming what ?!

the game from different position around the pitch. He wore a press vis, positive it was him if not he has a twin.

Pleased that Argyle won today, nice to sit in 5th place and knocking on the automatics door. Just hope they can keep up the winning run..

Angry wrote:

alannotivvy wrote:

filming what ?!

the game from different position around the pitch. He wore a press vis, positive it was him if not he has a twin.

is that because someone threatened to put his fecking head through said drum

First half good second half not so good.

Les Miserable wrote:

Akinfenwa has to be my favourite non Argyle player, looks just like your everyday fat bloke, dangerous striker though.

Akinfenwa FAT!!!!!, I don't think so. He is a body builder, have a look at some shots with him topless.

125+1 wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Akinfenwa has to be my favourite non Argyle player, looks just like your everyday fat bloke, dangerous striker though.

Akinfenwa FAT!!!!!, I don't think so.  He is a body builder, have a look at some shots with him topless.  

good luck nelson and hartley lol

125+1 wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Akinfenwa has to be my favourite non Argyle player, looks just like your everyday fat bloke, dangerous striker though.

Akinfenwa FAT!!!!!, I don't think so.  He is a body builder, have a look at some shots with him topless.  

No thanks, each to their own though

Shrewsbury was a win. Today was a convincing win. That's the kind of win that made me think there might, might just be the nucleus of a promotion team in there.

A very good attacking performance in the first half against a sluggish Carlisle side. The only grumble to have is that we didn't wrap the game up quicker because we certainly could and should have done so. It wasn't just a performance of randomly scattered talented individuals who looked as if they'd met that morning. It was a cohesive performance where each player knew the movement of the players around him. They were all very aware of the space they were being afforded and made the absolute most out of that space. It was passionate, it was spirited, it was committed, it was well drilled.

I don't share the pessimism about the second half- it was inevitable that Carlisle were going to come at us a lot more but unlike the Shrewsbury and Tranmere matches we didn't sit deep for any longer than we strictly needed to. We still had our chances and prolonged spells in Carlisle's final third throughout the second half too and we seemed to be taking on board what Sheridan said on Tuesday night at the fans meeting- that about pressing higher up the pitch. Carlisle were much improved but we raised our game to counter it. The second half was very entertaining indeed. Both teams did their best to play creative and fast paced football along the ground. We were the better team and our fantastic centre-backs were the difference when Carlisle did have their attacks. If we can limit opposition teams to (say) two or three clear cut chances a game then for one that says something about how good the CBs are in itself. And also, you can usually rely on Luke to pull off a great save or McHugh as seen today to make a last ditch challenge to stop that chance from going in. People talk about our luck defensively but it isn't luck when it happens so often. We've probably got three of the best centre-backs that they're are in the league and one of the best if not maybe the best goalkeeper in the league. That's not luck- it's having absolutely fantastic defensive players who are doing the job they are employed to do. Would we have called it luck when Larrieu, Wotton and Coughlan bailed us out in 2001/2? I think not.

Peter Hartley is a very, very good defender for this league indeed and probably is neck and neck with both McCormick and Reid for player of the season so far. He's physically very dominant but what goes unnoticed is his composure. He will never hoof the ball out of defence when the ability to play the ball out of it is there. An underrated quality of his and one that has started several attacks. His ability to organise and gee up the players around him is also something that cannot be quantified. Another thing Sheridan said at the fans meeting was that the main difference between this season and last season was that we had more players who had desire and will to win compared to what we had last season. Hartley's a clear example of that. Carl McHugh is another. What a refreshing thing it is to see the REAL McHugh now that he's been moved away from a position in which he was clearly awkward and uncomfortable. He's a real stopper defender who will throw his leg, body or face in the way of anything to stop it going into the net. That does not however mean that he isn't also good on the ball when he gets it. Man of the match for me and possibly our best defender when in his actual position. Nelson- well, what more can be said about Nelse. He's got technical ability, he's got pace, he's got strength and his positioning/marking whilst traditionally his weak spot gets better and better as the months roll on. If we don't go up this season, he'll be gone in the summer.

O'Connor had the best game I've seen him have in a while. He's another player who's excellent in the pressing in in the tackle when he's one on one with an attacking player. He's increasingly shown that he can do quite well going forward too- overlapped quite well today. He got tired towards the end but that's to be expected. A lot of people around Argyle are making similarities between O'Connor and Steve Adams. I can see their point there but actually I think he's more like another player from that era: Lee Hodges. Good on his natural side and in deep lying central midfield- can also play on his unnatural side and at centre-back. Mellor isn't a natural at left-wing-back but I feel his performance shouldn't be rubbished. He could not naturally run down the line and ping across or whip a ball in due to his weaker left foot but what he did do was get a great first touch on it with his left foot and then either play a good ball down the line for a runner and then get a deeper cross or through ball into the box. In short, he did about as well as a right-sided player can do at left-wing-back. I'd give Blizzard a rest for Tuesday. I'm not sure if he's ready for three games in a week. Put Kellett in, Mellor to RWB and O'Connor to shore up the midfield.

Blizzard himself had a FANTASTIC game from an attacking point of view. Not so good defensively. He's a real trier now but he is so so slow and their fast right sider got past him too many times. With the ball and going forward though he really has got it and he's found his position undoubtedly as the most advanced of a midfield three. The composure and technical ability needed for him to create the first goal was utterly fantastic. Bobby Reid was very good in the first half but tailed off in the second. He's a good player but I think perhaps marginally overrated on here. I don't necessarily agree that our upturn in form is mainly due to him. No doubt it plays a part- he's added that injection of pace from central midfield which was very much needed. That burst forward followed by a good pass has created quite a few chances for us. But it's also helped switching to 3-5-2, playing Lewi up front, Coxy in CM and Carl in CB. None of those were present under the 4-3-3 system but they're all being used now and are all imo more relevant to our upturn than Bobby. Reid is good but he gets tried quickly and doesn't offer as much as he should from a defensive point of view. He's good but we're not dependant on him. Our main strength is scoring one and letting our phenomenal defence do the rest. We could still probably just about do that without Bobby, as good as he is. And as for Cox? I quite like him in the more advanced role that he's been trailed in this season but he's at his very best as the deepest lying man of a central midfield three. He's very good in tight situations and keeping possession. We just don't look like conceding goals at all. And that's why I'm so positive of Cox, McHugh, Hartley, Nelson and McCormick.

Reuben had a quite game by his standards but that's cause he is double marked now by many teams. No problems with that though as it created a lot of space for Alessandra who made a lot of things happen. His finishing was as usual poor when he got into the 18 yard box. But he's so agile and finds so much space up until the finish- so if he could do that, he wouldn't be an Argyle player. And he still grabbed a goal so a good game for him. As for the subs? I'm no fan of Deane Smalley but I'm always willing to give credit where it's due and that was by far and away the best he's played for us after coming on as a sub. He harried, he got into positions and passed well too. He's been alright as a striker for us this season but he's no winger. Credit to Morgan in the short time he was on and put in the kind of block in stoppage time that sees games through.

Really professional all round performance. We've got seasoned keeper and CBs, improving wing-backs, lots of options in midfield and a 20 goal a season striker. I was anti-Sheridan but he's doing all he can to make me eat huge humble pie. Maybe, just maybe, we've stumbled upon that perfect winning formula.

McCormick-7

Nelson-8
McHugh- 8 MOTM
Hartley-7

O'Connor- 7
Cox-7
Bobby Reid-7
Blizzard-8
Mellor-7

Reid-7
Alessandra-8

Smalley-8
Morgan-7

Did I watch the same game? A reasonable performance. Should have been wrapped up in the first half. Poor finishing ended up with a better Carlisle side in the second half unlucky not to get a point. Someone said " 2 years ago we were shite and would have lost that game. We are still shite but we are winning 1-0, so there's definitely an improvement". Several people agreed with that sentiment. Right direction, long way to go.

Richard Blight wrote:

Did I watch the same game? A reasonable performance. Should have been wrapped up in the first half. Poor finishing ended up with a better Carlisle side in the second half unlucky not to get a point. Someone said " 2 years ago we were shite and would have lost that game. We are still shite but we are winning 1-0, so there's definitely an improvement". Several people agreed with that sentiment. Right direction, long way to go.

sam tends to be very generous with his raitings im baffled morgan got a 7 for his cameo

Angry wrote:

Richard Blight wrote:

Did I watch the same game? A reasonable performance. Should have been wrapped up in the first half. Poor finishing ended up with a better Carlisle side in the second half unlucky not to get a point. Someone said " 2 years ago we were shite and would have lost that game. We are still shite but we are winning 1-0, so there's definitely an improvement". Several people agreed with that sentiment. Right direction, long way to go.

sam tends to be very generous with his raitings im baffled morgan got a 7 for his cameo

Only when I feel it warranted Angry. My ratings for the Stevenage, Wycombe and even Shrewsbury/Hartlepool games weren't very complimentary for example. Morgan I'm just judging it for the time he was on- it's not saying he's anything more than he is.

I like to think I'm someone who calls a spade a spade. I'd have agreed with Richard for the Shrewsbury game and the Hartlepool ones. They were wins in which we defended too deep, weren't good as a unit and were just a bit better than two very poor teams.

I think today was a step up though. Carlisle were the second best team I've seen down here this season after Wycombe and did their best to give us a real game in the second half- but we defended that ten yards higher up the pitch and we were (that last ditch block aside) very much in control of the game. I can't really recall Luke having to make a save and that was due more to our fantastic defending than anything else.

In no way am I 100% won over and I'll call a poor performance a poor performance- even if we do happen to win it. But I personally don't think today was that.

GreenSam wrote:

Angry wrote:

Richard Blight wrote:

Did I watch the same game? A reasonable performance. Should have been wrapped up in the first half. Poor finishing ended up with a better Carlisle side in the second half unlucky not to get a point. Someone said " 2 years ago we were shite and would have lost that game. We are still shite but we are winning 1-0, so there's definitely an improvement". Several people agreed with that sentiment. Right direction, long way to go.

sam tends to be very generous with his raitings im baffled morgan got a 7 for his cameo

Only when I feel it warranted Angry. My ratings for the Stevenage, Wycombe and even Shrewsbury/Hartlepool games weren't very complimentary for example. Morgan I'm just judging it for the time he was on- it's not saying he's anything more than he is.

I like to think I'm someone who calls a spade a spade. I'd have agreed with Richard for the Shrewsbury game and the Hartlepool ones. They were wins in which we defended too deep, weren't good as a unit and were just a bit better than two very poor teams.

I think today was a step up though. Carlisle were the second best team I've seen down here this season after Wycombe and did their best to give us a real game in the second half- but we defended that ten yards higher up the pitch and we were (that last ditch block aside) very much in control of the game. I can't really recall Luke having to make a save and that was due more to our fantastic defending than anything else.

In no way am I 100% won over and I'll call a poor performance a poor performance- even if we do happen to win it. But I personally don't think today was that.

its your opinion and thats fine and dandy however Morgan was a cameo never worth a 7 in anyones book as he didnt really do anything and while McHugh played well including two goal line clearances i wouldnt say he was an 8 or motm imo.

He did well aside from just that though. Got his head and body in the way of everything that came his way all game. He's the stopper we've needed to compliment Nelson and Hartley. One or two good accurate clearances out of defence too.

I think it is gradually coming together. That's 4 wins in a row (when did we last do that?) and yet another clean sheet. We have some players who can play a bit. There's plenty of heart in the team. There's a refreshingly young look about the side too. It's nearly all good from where I'm sitting.

The problems we have were there again today though. A dominant first half should have seen us out of sight but it only coughed up the one goal for us. The second half was entirely different and showed us defending doggedly to carve out the result and what should have been an easy 3 points ended up being a bit on the desperate side at times.

But hang on we did and I reckon we'll win more than we lose from here on in and if we keep the clean sheets going we'll be right up there at the season's end.

And it's time for us to re-align our aspirations for the season. In recent seasons we have been happy, after a fashion, to stay up and this season maybe we were targeting a play-off spot... Well that won't be good enough now. A promotion spot is up for grabs and we're there in the running for it and even the title isn't out of reach.

The worry of course is that all runs come to an end and given that we've got 4Ws on our balance sheet right now the away game at Wimbledon on Tuesday looks like a tricky one but it's winnable and so is Cheltenham at home next week.

Right now confidence in the squad must be high. Right now the momentum might just be with us.

Let's kick on and win this bloody crappy league!

Good post...but I think I'd take 2nd or 3rd!

I disagree, Sam.

It's time for the under-achieving to stop.

It's time all this defeatist "I'd take 2nd or 3rd" to stop.

If that's where we end up then fine, and I'll be as happy as anybody else if we do, but it's there to be won so let's try, plan, strive and aim to win it because I genuinely believe we could.

I'm a bit hacked off with settling for less than best outcomes for the club. More than hacked off. I'm sick of it.

This club should NEVER EVER be in this division, and it is only calamitously bad, negligent, incompetent, quasi-criminal decision-making that has dumped us here, but we are where we are so given that let's just win it, move on and then set about forgetting the miserablism that has seeped through everything over the last few years. Promotion however it comes is essential and would be a great start but winning the title would be far, far better. Why even think of settling for less?

Tis the plymouth mentality

Tis the plymouth mentality

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

I disagree, Sam.

It's time for the under-achieving to stop.

It's time all this defeatist "I'd take 2nd or 3rd" to stop.

If that's where we end up then fine, and I'll be as happy as anybody else if we do, but it's there to be won so let's try, plan, strive and aim to win it because I genuinely believe we could.

I'm a bit hacked off with settling for less than best outcomes for the club. More than hacked off. I'm sick of it.

This club should NEVER EVER be in this division, and it is only calamitously bad, negligent, incompetent, quasi-criminal decision-making that has dumped us here, but we are where we are so given that let's just win it, move on and then set about forgetting the miserablism that has seeped through everything over the last few years. Promotion however it comes is essential and would be a great start but winning the title would be far, far better. Why even think of settling for less?

You're a bit contradictory !!!!!
1st = promotion and a nice silver pot
3rd = promotion and no silver pot.
I can live without a pot.

Not really.

Aim for top and miss out. 2nd or 3rd is OK.

Aim for 3rd and miss out. Play-offs. Great if you win but...

Aim for 7th and miss out and you're nowhere.

So accepting anything less than the title at this stage isn't for me.