Pilgrim's Progress
The beginning...
Forum Discussion
@JustinCase0110
Absolutely right...you should be a detective!
Plymouth has very little money and a very average squad, so freebies are really the only way to go at this point.
There is a bit of transfer money, now I have sold some players, but none of them fetch great amounts.
I've had to be creative with the youth scouting, too, because I can't afford expensive scouts. It'll be interesting to see what the team puts forward as potential recruits, as I have a challenging youth development objective and what the game puts in the academy at the start of the career is woeful.
@CO88LER5 wrote:Absolutely right...you should be a detective!
You're not far off mate. I've been employed in the police for 16 years 😉
Alvarado is one I've scouted too, he is/was also available for free in my save. However, I find it to be a too fast and easy way to the top, so I decided against it.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:You're not far off mate. I've been employed in the police for 16 years 😉
A Cop?...
... <leaves this portal immediately, never to be seen again>
Youngsters Recruited
Plymouth have recruited more players; this time in England and from the under-20s category.
Facundo Buonanotte has joined the club in a £2 million move from Brighton. The young striker (18) is keen to start games and was therefore happy to drop down a division.
Manager Bobby Stones has also raided Manchester United's academy for two promising midfield stars in Dan Gore (£500,000) and Kobbie Mainoo (£750,000). The latter was a particular surprise in that it was thought Eric Ten Hag was keen on the midfielder, but a cheeky enquiry yielded results. Mainoo does arrive with a hefty sell-on clause and it is thought that Manchester United have also negotiated a buyback clause, which can be triggered after Mainoo has been at Plymouth for 18 months.
The recruitment of these three young raw talents balance the experience gathered in the Mexican raid.
"We are really satisfied with the business we have done and do not expect much more in the way of incomings," said manager Bobby Stones. "Facundo is a big investment for this club, but the sale of three players last week made it possible.", the manager added.
@Danimal5981 wrote:A Cop?...
... <leaves this portal immediately, never to be seen again>
Beating the old gaffer is a massive result. 6-0 at Bristol the same. Almost looks a bit too easy already. Which difficulty do you play?
- @JustinCase0110 This is only the start. I haven't played anyone 'big' yet, and there are plenty of those in this division.
I will tweak the sliders at some point, too. Note: This latest signing comes from the winnings from Plymouth's pre-season friendly tournament (£1.2 million), which they managed to win.
Limbo for Argyle Loanees?
L-R Azaz, Kesler-Hayden, Cundle and Warrington are in limbo?
The transfer activity at Argyle since Manager Bobby Stones was appointed leaves the question of what is going to happen to the loanees?
Before he left for Hull City, Steve Schumacher had secured the season-long loans of four players. Kaine Kesler-Hayden (21) a left-back, and Finn Azaz (23) a right midfielder, both from Aston Villa, together with Luke Cundle (21) a midfielder from Wolves and Lewis Warrington (21) a CDM from Everton. With the incomings secured by Stones, there is a question mark as to how much playing time any of these players will get. So far, we have seen Kesler-Hayden start and complete most matches, and Azaz feature several times from the bench, but little has been seen of the other two. Left-back is seen as a problem area for the club and Stones has not brought in any new players at that position, which probably explains Kesler-Hayden’s often-used experience to date.
When asked about their circumstances, Stones said “our loanees will need to fight for their place, just as every other player does. This is a meritocracy, after all.”
When it was suggested to him that limited playing time might lead to recalls in January, Stones was not fazed. “If that happens, so be it. We are here to drive Plymouth forwards and we will do what’s best for the club, long-term.
“I am certain these players will get game time. The Championship is very resource-hungry and we will need everyone, but I pick the side that I think will win us the match, and keep everyone fresh and not over-worked.”
It remains to be seen what will happen, and how the big sides thse players are from will react.
Massive win at the Stadium of Light. Well done, especially after the defeat at Rotherham.
I'm curious though - you say the cup win vs Burnley is 'historic'. How?
- @JustinCase0110
Well, it's not every day that a club like Plymouth gets to beat a premier league side...that's why 'the Press' (in this story) called it 'historic'. It's been a very long time since they beat anyone from the top division, if ever, in fact.
The Sunderland game was weird in that Sunderland were rubbish, which was quite a contrast with the experience against Rotherham, who were infuriatingly brilliant. I was lucky that the Rotherham match was only 2-1.
I can't understand how the game fluctuates so much at times. Meanwhile, Plymouth have agreed to sell central midfielder Matt Butcher to Arouca. The 26-year-old will move in January for a reported fee of £800,000.
Surprise leaders to some perhaps. The amount of free agents you brought in, I must admit that your current position isn't surprising to me. Good job winning 10 from 12.
- @JustinCase0110
The squad at Plymouth was really poor for the Championship. Quite a few players were quite old in football terms and therefore not likely to improve. The squad therefore needed to change to get anywhere. There is not much money available, so inevitably the free transfer market was the only way to go.
In real life, following their promotion from League 1 at the end of last season, Plymouth brought in 10 players. 4 were the loanees I have already talked about, two were bought for £1 million each, one for £175,000 and the other three were free.
On top of that, they promoted 4 players from the academy into the first-team squad.
Shoestring squad management; it's what happens in those divisions. Leicester City’s Stephy Mavididi leads the Championship scoring chart at the end of October, with 12 goals. The ever-present striker, a summer signing following the club’s relegation, is proving a shrewd buy, as last season’s shock relegation sufferers attempt to get back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
The best goal-to-games ratio, however, belongs to Plymouth’s Ryan Hardie, with 9 goals in as many games. The hat-trick against Preston obviously helped and keeps him at the top of Plymouth’s Championship scoring chart. Hardie’s value to the club is further underlined by the fact that he shares first place in the Championship assists table with his team-mate, Luis Chavez and Stoke City’s summer signing Wesley Moraes. In total, Hardie has 14 goal involvements in the Championship, which is impressive from the 9 matches he has played.
Plymouth players dominate the assists table, with no less than 5 players in the top 15, indicating the expansive attacking football they play and underlining how dangerous the side has become going forwards, when so many players create chances.Argyle Stretch Lead
November was a good month for Plymouth, as they extended their lead at the top of the table.
The month started with a good win in the Carabao Cup over Middlesbrough at the Riverside by 3-1, gaining revenge for the home defeat by the same scoreline earlier in the Championship season. Erick Sanchez started the Pilgrims on their way with a fine free kick.
A tight victory over Swansea followed, and then a signature away win over Stoke City, despite most of the Mexican contingent being missing, having arrived late back from international duty.
Erick Sanchez repeated his free kick performance in the 31st minute of the win over West Brom, to cement his position as the team’s free kick specialist.
The month was rounded off with a hard match against 10-man Leeds United, which Plymouth were lucky to escape with a draw.
All of which leaves Plymouth on top with 47 points, four ahead of Leicester and six in front of Leeds.
Good job getting the most from these free kick situations. I've scored a few myself, but it's definitely THE area of the game, where I struggle the most to learn what is what. So it always seems quite random, whether they go in or not. And in the other end it just seems to be a safe and sound goal every effing time.
- @JustinCase0110
Agree completely. No matter how careful I am, it either goes wide or the goalkeper easily gets it. I took one the other day; it went over the wall, dipped impressively and headed for the bottom corner. The goalie got it easily and the commentary said that it was a disappointment as a free kick. I reckon in real life, most keepers wouldn't have got it.
On the other side, I do find that if I make the wall jump, 99 times out of 100 the opposition player sends it well over the bar.
I don't think they have got free kicks right at all. Argyle Hang on to Top Spot
Argyle’s 4 point EFL Championship lead has all but evaporated in a busy December. It hasn’t helped that they are still involved in the Carabao Cup, although Pilgrim fans were treated to a fine cup Quarter Final match against Brighton and Hove Albion. Brighton for some reason did not field their full-strength first team for this important match, and Argyle took advantage, running out 4-2 winners. The margin flattered the hosts, the fourth goal coming in time added on, when the Brighton goalkeeper came up for a corner. Plymouth cleared and Roberto Alvarado ran the entire length of the pitch to walk the ball into an empty net. After the match, captain Cesar Huerta revealed an unusual team talk from manager Bobby Stones. “The manager walked into the dressing room. He put up the Brighton team sheet and said ‘this is what they think of you. Decide for yourselves what response you are going to give them’. He then left the room. It fired us up, of course.”
Plymouth’s reward for reaching the semi is a double header against Liverpool, starting with the away leg at Anfield.
Argyle otherwise slipped up twice in the league, going down 1-0 to Huddersfield Town in a limp opening performance in December, then losing at home to Birmingham City, after loanee Lewis Warrington was sent off in only the 6th minute.
The ever-relentless Laicester City have therefore closed the gap at the top to a single point, with a top of the table shootout at home to Leicester due in January.
Busy January For Pilgrims
Argyle played 8 matches in January; their busiest month so far and a real challenge for the squad. The month saw the match-up against second-placed Leicester City, which the Pilgrims lost 3-1 to a Kelechi Iheanacho hat-trick, despite taking an early lead through Samson Tovide. Coming just before the first Carabao Cup semi against Liverpool, Stones fielded the ‘second string’ against Leicester and probably regretted it in the end, as the Foxes’ victory took them to the top of the table until match results later in the month saw Plymouth regain the lead on goal difference.
Argyle bowed out of the Carabao Cup after two spirited displays against Liverpool saw them lose the tie 2-0 on aggregate. The team acquitted themselves brilliantly in both matches and Jurgen Klopp congratulated them on how hard they had pushed his team. “If they get promoted to the Premier League next season, they will be quite strong, on the evidence of these matches,”, he said. “I’m quite looking forward to seeing how they do the rest of the season, but well done to them.”
Argyle also negotiated two rounds of the FA Cup this month, with seemingly easy victories against lower-league opposition. The Derby match was notable for a 4-goal haul by young Samson Tovide. His goalscoring feats took him to the top of the Argyle scoring charts in all competitions – not bad for a cheap stop-gap purchase at the end of the window. The fifth round will see Argyle play Coventry City, who proved such difficult opponents in the league back in September.
Such a heavy month has been difficult for the whole club and the continued involvement in the FA Cup promises to weigh heavily on the squad in February. The question is whether the team can keep up the momentum, as they have been wound in by the chasing pack recently. It would be a shame for other competitions to derail what is now very definitely a promotion push.
FA Cup Quarter Finals Beckon
Argyle negotiated the 5th round of the FA Cup, thrashing Coventry City 6-2. The Pilgrims got off to a great start with early goals from Alvarado and captain Cesar Huerta, after which they never looked back. A Quarter-Final against Arsenal at the Emirates is the reward.
Meanwhile, in the league, Plymouth kept up the pressure on leaders Leicester with 10 points from 4 matches, the only blot being the draw against Birmingham City, where neither side looked like scoring.
Another academy promotee stamped his mark on the squad, as 16-year-old Spanish striker Mikel Gomez scored on his full debut against Blackburn Rovers.
The young lad had come on as a substitute in the West Brom game and impressed enough to get a start against Blackburn. His close-range finish was a composed effort and was his only chance in the match.
Leicester's Stephy Mavididi continued to lead the Championship scoring table (21 goals), with team-mate Kelechi Iheanacho (15) beginning to close the gap to Kamaldeen Sulemana (17) in second place. Ryan Hardie on 13 goals from 18 matches lies in sixth place.
A respectable exit vs Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. And a tie with Arsenal in the FA Cup now. Would be considered a respectable exit too, at least if you avoid a thrashing, but I wonder if this would match your board's expectations and you could risk the sack, if you didn't win it.
