Pilgrim's Progress

In theory, Plymouth would have a great, exclusive catchment area: lots of hinterland for themselves without any serious competition by a club of similar size - the whole southwestern tip for themselves.

@Danimal5981
I believe that's what the thinking was with the World Cup bid...

My story plays into that - how what looks like a small club could, with the right approach, become much bigger and successful because of where it is and what's around it.

What a pity, therefore, that EAFC doesn't do what it used to, in respect of crowd growth as you climb the league pyramid. I put in a bigger stadium with a 50,000 capacity and, now 'we' are winning the PL, I'd expect the crowd to reflect that - the stadium always shows as full, but the attendance fifure is stuck at 18,000 and the gate receipts matching that level.  It's pretty poor, really.

It can't be that hard to fix that, really, especially as it used to happen - about 10 years ago, I think. 

Argyle to Face Bayern In Champions League

The Champions League group draw pits Plymouth Argyle against Bayern Munich, in what will be a severe test for the Pilgrims.

The other group members will not be easy either, as Argyle will face Atalanta, who have been formidable opponents in the last few years, and Club Brugge, who have also proved difficult opponents for many clubs in recent seasons.

“It’s a tough draw, to be sure”, said manager Bobby Stones, “but nothing is easy in the Champions League.  We can’t wait to get started."

It will be interesting to see how the club manages a Premier League campaign, alongside such difficult matches.

Farias Hits Five Against Fulham

Facundo Farias shot to the top of the Premier League Golden Boot chase with a five-goal haul at Craven Cottage.  The Argentine striker was simply unplayable and registered a 100% hit rate in the match.  Kobbie Mainoo scored the other goal as Fulham simply crumpled, in a display that left manager Marco Silva lost for words.  “It’s back to the training ground tomorrow.  This is simply unacceptable.” 

Facundo enjoys Craven Cottage

Argyle opened the month with a 4-1 victory over Arsenal at Home Park, in which new boy Fabio Miretti hit his first goal for the club.  Bukayo Saka looked on from the stands in frustration, as he recovers from a broken toe injury, but he was very pleased with the win against his old club.  “I can’t wait to get back on the pitch.  It would have been great to face my old team, but that’s how football goes,” he said after the match.

A feisty opening Champions League match saw Argyle run out 4-2 winners against the dangerous Atalanta.  Adam Hlozek was the difference between the two sides, with his first two goals of the season as the Pilgrims raced to a 3-goal lead that they never looked like giving up.

A 2-2 draw against Liverpool followed, as Freddie Issaka continued his own fine scoring form, and a Farias opportunist finish put the Pilgrims in front, after which Liverpool equalised.

A largely academy side despatched Bolton Wanderers 4-0 in the Carabao Cup, with fine performances from Pepe Escobar and Victor Alves, as the youngsters and fringe players were given a run out by the manager.

At the month end, Plymouth sit in third place in the Premier League, behind Manchester City and Spurs.  They are the top scorers but the defence continues to leak goals; something the Manager is still trying to address.  “We are very entertaining, which the fans come to see, of course, but it would be really good if we could close the door at the back.”

The Premier League Golden Boot chase is, as mentioned, led by Facundo Farias, after his 6-goal haul in the month, 5 coming at Craven Cottage.

As long as he was at Sparta Prague, Adam Hlozek was always a must have for me; much like Farias is for you. But once he moved to the big leagues, Hlozek that is, he was no longer a realistic option for me (read: Ajax). Good to see, you make him work... and Farias as well.

---

@CO88LER5 wrote:
@Danimal5981
The great thing about Farias is that he's still unknown in Europe, and therefore relatively cheap...

---

Won't be long now, as he's been upgraded to become Messi's sidekick at the pink panthers of Inter Miami.

@Danimal5981
Unfortunately for him, he suffered an ACL in a preseason game and will miss the entire season...
Talk about bad luck.
Still, he's steaming in my career...!

Clean Sweep Of Victories in October

Plymouth Argyle achieved the landmark of winning every match in October – the first time they have achieved this during their stay in the Premier League.

They won four matches in the Premier League, and two in the Champions League, the most notable of those latter being the 1-2 victory in Munich against the German giants.  Despite going behind to an inevitable Harry Kane goal, the Pilgrims did not panic and managed to score with just two of their four shots.  Rayan Cherki equalised for Argyle and Laurenzo Battaglia capped a famous night with a counter-attack goal from a Bayern corner, in a match that Bayern dominated in terms of possession, passing and goal attempts.

The victory over Bruges placed Plymouth at the top of the table, after 3 matches:

Argyle have a healthy lead, after Bayern beat Atalanta to leave the other three clubs on 3 points.  A win at home against the Belgians next time will see Argyle qualify, and could even mean a group win, should Bayern and Atalanta draw their fourth match in the series, as the two more established clubs fight it out to qualify for the knockout stages.

In the Premier League, Argyle managed to go through the month without conceding a goal, vindicating the manager’s focus in recent months on improving the defensive performance.  A routine 0-3 win at the London Stadium was bettered by a 0-5 hammering of a below-par Spurs at their impressive ground.  A 2-0 home win over Wolves was then followed by a 0-3 victory at St James’ Park, for a 13-0 aggregate scoreline in the competition, in October.  Youngster and academy product Danilo Novak was the star of the show in the North-East, with a brace from the number 10 position.

Novak enjoys his outing

And to think that the Premier League wins were achieved with only one goal contribution from leading scorer, Facundo Farias.  Nevertheless, he remains the Premier League’s top scorer, with 10 goals from 6 matches, leading Erling Haaland, who has 8 from 10.

Plymouth’s Premier League clean sweep sees them move up to 2nd in the table, with only Manchester City ahead of them.  The Manchester club is on its own impressive run of form, having also won all four of their matches in October.  This is shaping up to be an epic battle at the top, with Manchester United and Spurs remaining within touching distance of the top two.