Three league games, twenty-second position in the Championship. Plymouth Argyle are not looking good for a play-off place, on current form Argyle are looking more likely relegation candidates. Plymouth lost 1 – 0 at Home Park to newly promoted Swansea on Saturday afternoon. I’m still waiting for Paul Sturrock to prove me wrong about my opinion of his managerial skills at this level but it seems that he can’t do it at this time. Argyle need to be winning their home games at minimum if they are to have any hope of beating last years finishing position let alone gain a play-off spot. I think that Argyle are missing Luke McCormick between the sticks but I guess that was forced on Sturrock after McCormick’s stupid behaviour behind the wheel. For a former premiership keeper, Graham Stack has been poor between the sticks conceding seven goals in four games. The fans are already showing their disapproval with their feet, the first game of the season against Wolves, nearly 15,000 fans bought their tickets, the second home game of the season sees only 9,200 fans venture out. Not only has Sturrock failed to sign decent players to replace all the outgoing players sold or contracts not being renewed but he has said “selling the club’s best players could be the only way to make ends meet”. To be brutally honest, Sturrock doesn’t have what it takes, despite what Holloway did to the Argyle fans he still is the better manager signing such players as Ebanks-Blake and Halmosi for very little money. It seems that Sturrock’s scouting team really aren’t upto the job either, twice in six months has Sturrock turned to non-league sides for players. Jame Mackie, despite some early promise he has failed to shine. And as for Craig Noone; he wasn’t even a professional footballer before joining Argyle for more than 100,000 pounds. He left his job as a roofer in Merseyside to come to Plymouth from Blue Square North side Southport! Sturrock was impressed with Noone after he featured in a reserve game against Swindon which Argyle lost 5 – 2, so the team loses badly and he praises his players for playing badly, hmm, At least we’ll have a shiny new stadium for when we start next season in League One.
At least my second team Liverpool are doing the business currently sitting in second in the Premiership on six points after two league games. Chelsea top the league on goal difference. Although Liverpool did have to pull the result from out of the fire against Middlesbrough when they found themselves behind in the 70th minute courtesy of substitute Mido’s 30 yard drive. Jamie Carragher’s drive from the edge of the box got a fortuitous deflection off Emmanuel Pogatetz wrong-footing the keeper to level the scores in the 86th minute. Middlesbrough looked like walking away with a point from Anfield but the point was snatched away from them by a angled hit and hope drive from Steven Gerrard which managed to find the back of the net through a mass of players. I wouldn’t say that Liverpool are on top form just yet as both their wins have been less than convincing but it’s the final score that counts at the end of the day! It may not be pretty football but it’s very effective!