Plymouth Argyle 1 Ipswich Town 1: Cracker from Carl Cancelled By Sawyer Stupidity

A point. Not three but one. However, I don't know about you but i was very happy with the Pilgrims' performance. It was committed, it was full of effort and it almost ALMOST paid off.

I was literally jumping for joy when i saw Plymouth Argyle had taken the lead! And what a goal it was an absolute stonker, from all of 25 yards. It's fantastic to see the midfielders scoring like Fletcher and Judge, I just wish the strikers would do it too. We have to score more goals than one each game if we are going to win, its just fact.

And it showed as Jon Stead, on as a substitute for Counago, ran on to a terrible back pass from Gary Sawyer and slotted past "Le Keeper" to level the score.

BUT for one I am happy. a point is better than none, and though this is not the rejuvanation i wanted to see with a win IT IS a change! Paul Mariner has already had an impact on the team as everyone gave their all and all we have to do now is work on getting rid of all "zany moments" and we have a real chance of getting out of the bottom 3 and staying in the Championship

THANK YOU PAUL MARINER!

Plymouth Argyle vs Ipswich Town: Make Or Brake!

Two teams. Two under pressure managers. One crucial match. This is going to be a good'n!!

It is looking good for our team going into Saturday's game. Kari Arnason has recovered from a chest infection that meant he missed the Bristol game on Tuesday. This is excellent news as he does a sterling job in midfield or can always sure up the defence as he showed in previous games.

We have Rory Fallon, Darcy Blake and James Paterson all available if Sturrock wants to change it up a bit, especially Fallon whose one of the only strikers to have scored for us so far this season. and his aerial threat is always a danger.

Im saddened to hear that Bradley Wright-Phillips is still struggling with a knee injury and hope he is able to be back soon, as we really need someone to start scoring plenty of goals.

Then to Ipswich; Roy Keane is waiting to hear if Jon Walters is available for the game. The top scorer for Ipswich with 4 goals is having treatment on a sprained ankle so could miss out. But Ipswich have plenty of attacking options with Jon Stead or Tamas Priskin upfront.

Plymouth starting 11 i would like to see:

1 Larrieu

18 Sawyer

37 Lawry

5 Timar

39 Gray

8 Mackie

11 Arnason

2 Duguid

6 Clarker

14 Fallon

24 Barnes

Score Predictions:

Me: Well i think it will be tight both teams will be giving it their all, but this is the turnaround for Argyle I think, at Home Park, i would love to see a win so I predict 2-0

Jon Parker, my friend and Ipswich Fan: 1-3 win to Ipswich

SO...........let "battle of the bottom" commence!!!

Steve MacLean: All Washed Out

I think you can all agree it was coming.

Steve MacLean, was in the form of his life......during his time at Sheffield Wednesday between 2004 to 2007 scoring a brilliant 33 goals in 84 appearances and though suffered set backs with a couple of injuries, was loved by the fans and by Paul Sturrock.

Then things went slightly pear shaped at Cardiff. More injuries and Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to contend with MacLean found himself game after game on the bench.

But things looked up for the Scottish player with a 500,000 pound transfer to Plymouth Argyle a record signing fee at the time. This was his chance to rekindle the form he had had under our Sturrock at Wednesday.

............This didn't happen, as during the past 3 seasons with 41 appearances to his name, he only managed 5 goals. And though the start of the season looked good for MacLean as Sturrock tried a new formation with the striker heading the line, which seemed to work against Romanian champions FC Unirea Urziceni as he grabbed the winner in the pre-season friendly. He even started the first 3 games of this season in the Championship.

But, I think it has been increasingly apparent that he is a waste of space, which is a real shame as he cost a very pretty penny and his return was very poor. He vanshied from the squad not even getting on the substitutes bench showing that Sturrock lost faith him too with him stating:

"It is appropriate for both us. Steve obviously wants the ideal move and I am appreciative of it...He has come here and there are all sorts of opinions and thoughts on the reasons why, but it just hasn't worked. We all have to be man enough about the situation and move on."

Therefore todays news that Steve MacLean can leave the club is not a surprise. It means less waste of wages and hopefully some sort of return on that half a million pounds, though im predicting not much at all.

On another note, has anyone seen BWP??? what has happened to him.....please don't say he is another Mpenza!!!

A "zany" moment too far??

Bristol City 3 Plymouth Argyle 1

As new head coach, Paul Mariner has a serious amount of work on his hands after the only thing keeping Argyle off the bottom of the Championship was Ipswich's failure to get their first win for the 13th time of asking.

Though there is plenty of anger towards Sturrock at the moment from other blogs, declaring his removal, as well as questions over the new board, I for one feel that Mariner and Sturrock can be a winning formula with Sturrocks knowledge of the English leagues and Mariner with his legendary status and years of experience as an assistant manager. And the board have implemented their plans well, and if we can stage a game at home park for the world cup bid then the better!!



But like you, I was left frustrated by the amount of goals we conceded in such a small amount of time. And though there was a small dawn when Mackie equalised after Danny Haynes had volleyed bristol infront, it was a false one as further goals from Jamie McCombe and Nicky Maynard, city's top scorer finished off the poor pilgrims.

Paul Sturrock put it down to "zany moments" and said that "there were a lot of good performances tonight, yet we end up 3-1 losers. Saturday's game with Ipswich is now absolutely huge.

And he is absolutely right, if we can't get a win against the worst team in the league, then what else can we do apart from be positive.......... Saturday awaits!!!!

And So It Begins........

Hello and welcome to my new blog "The Green Army Gab". My name is Liam McGrath, I am a second year sports journalist studying at Staffordshire University. I live in Kingsbridge, Devon and have always followed Plymouth since i moved down to the nicest place in the U.K in 1999, but now they are my keenest interest which is the reason I have set up this Blog.

With this blog I hope to keep all the budding pilgrims out their, up to date with the latest news from Home Park, my opinions on it and hopefully, yours as well on the best football club in the entire South West of England.

I will be looking forward and previewing Argyle ahead of their games in the Championship, discussing the results, and all the in between "Gab" as well. Through the lows (as you will agree there are a lot of them at the moment!) and the highs of Plymouth Argyle Football Club.

At some point this year I will also be getting an insight into PAFC, as I am in the middle of securing work placement at the "Theatre of Greens", so I will be keeping you posted on my day in day out working, keeping a diary as I go.

I hope you enjoy this blog as much as i am going to enjoy writing it.

Liam McGrath :)