Today veteran Plymouth Argyle forward Micky Evans has decided to decline the offer to renew his contract with the Pilgrims. Evans was a fundamental member of Paul Sturrock’s team that got promoted in successive seasons from division 3 to division 2 to division 1 as it was at the time. But I think that he has realised that after 15 years at the club, he can’t keep up with the pace these days, so I applaud the man for stepping down and giving some up and coming talent a chance to play for the general good of the team. I have been very vocal that Evans shouldn’t be played as much as he has been, because he doesn’t have the height to compete in the air, nor does he have the pace to run at defenders, and wasn’t exactly at his peak during this past season, so it’s good that he has declined the renewal of his contract with Argyle. The Plymouth born player came through the youth ranks to feature in much of Argyle’s history over the past 15 years, which is some achievement, but the time is right for a new direction for the 33 year old striker. Reports don’t say what his plans are; but whatever his plans, I wish him the best of luck and thank him for his services to the football club I love. Tony Pulis has also offered renewal contracts to defender Matias Doumbe and midfielders David Norris and Lilian Nalis, hopefully all three will re-sign for the club as I feel that all three hold the key to the future of Plymouth Argyle; and hopefully stop the rot, Plymouth Argyle shouldn’t be languishing in 17th position, on paper Argyle are a top 10 team, but that hasn’t been apparent this season.
Something I skipped over in the last update; the grand prix at Imola in San Marino, and the disappointment for Jenson Button over another blunder by his Honda team. The Briton was on for a solid podium finish when his ‘lollypop’ man signalled him to go when the refuelling hose was still attached to the car. As Button sped away several of the team were pulled over and the nozzle snapped off the hose, so Jenson had to stop the car and wait for the nozzle to be removed from the car before continuing. This obviously destroyed any chance of a good result dropping him back to 8th position. Jenson managed to gain a further position to finish 7th, but is left to wonder what could have been if it wasn’t for the teams pit lane blunder. Michael Schumacher went on to win his first race since the farcical race at the Brickyard in 2005. Fernando Alonso followed the German home to extend his points tally to 36 points after just four races. Montoya, Massa, Raikkonen, and Webber were 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. The British disappointment continued with the lacklustre Red Bull Racing car of David Couthard retiring after 47 laps. It seems that RBR have taken a big step back this year, it also seems that it was a mistake to use Ferrari (or Petronas as they are badged) engines over the Cosworth engine that they used last year, albeit the more powerful V10, but Cosworth have a proven track record with V8’s so I don’t understand why they changed after the successful first season they had after taking over Jaguar, I fail to understand some decisions that team principles make sometimes, they really seem to make no sense whatsoever; I think Ferrari must have offered some sort of cash incentive?