A loan again, or
By: Jim | March 13th, 2008March has not, so far, gone as planned. Of the four games played so far, Argyle have won one and lost three. The double disaster of the weekend and Tuesday, successive 1-0 defeats against the Blades and the Iron, has been compounded by the dismissal of in-form goalkeeper Luke McCormick for deliberate handball in the Scunny match. This is rendered especially challenging by the fact that, due to Romain Larrieu’s long-term absence, Argyle’s only cover for Super Luke is 17 year old youth team keeper Lloyd Saxton. Luggy needs to get jiggy with the loan market pronto, if Lloyd is not to make his debut in the cauldron that is Ashton Gate.
Saturday’s match was always going to be the away trip of the season. Given City, and Argyle’s unexpected promotion ambitions, it has assumed significance of epic proportions. Cast your eyes over the other fixtures now - Ipswich against Charlton; Burnley v Wolves; Watford v Stoke - this could be a criticial weekend in the Championship.
It’s telling that, despite losing three from the last four, Argyle remain in the hunt. Ipswich, Hull, Charlton all lost during the week and Palace could only pick up a point. Palace entertain Barnsley on Saturday and Hull host Southampton - if points are dropped there, we might still be in it come the end of the month. I’m revising my points total downwards - I now think 72 will be enough to get teams a play-off place. On that basis Argyle need 17 from their last 8, which is tricky but not impossible. What the last couple of games have shown is the need - which I have been going on about for a while here - for a new striker. We will not get a shot at the play-offs unless we can finish a darn sight better than we did on Saturday and Tuesday. Easter’s confidence has gone; Mackie is raw; MacLean is playing as the guy in the hole; and Fallon is underrated but still needs several chances to score once. A proven but currently benched Prem striker on loan is what we need if we are to be serious about having a right go. This is probably our best shot at the Prem for a generation. To fluff it for the sake of a few grand would be nothing short of criminal.
Category: Team News
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments are closed
Home 
