Match Thread: Plymouth Argyle v Lincoln City | Page 42 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Plymouth Argyle v Lincoln City

I accidently found this e-mail a couple of days ago. I had genuinely forgotten that I had ever written it (given the time I sent it, I am not sure how much I had drunk at the time) and needless to say I didn't get a reply. If you want to be frustrated and dejected about our club, perhaps this (from our relegation season 10 years ago) is a better place to start,

Tue 19/10/2010 00:31
To: steve.tilson@redimps.com


Dear Mr. Tilson,

I remember being taken to my first Lincoln match by my father 35 years ago (he died last month).

I was very lucky. Graham Taylor was leading his team to a record breaking season and there was a lot of success to support. However, one of the main reasons those years stick in my mind is that Graham Taylor and leading striker John Ward vistied both my Cub Scout Troop and my School on two different occassions to share their success with a bunch of little kids.

Now, 35 years later, despite having left Lincoln in 1979 and still living 150 miles away, I normally travel to between 6 and 10 away games a season. I have 3 sons and my 6 year old is trying to be a Lincoln fan. My 7 year old supports the town he was born in, Shrewsbury, and I can't blame him for that, but I really don't want either of them to support Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool et al. without at least trying to have some affinity for a reason other than success and peer pressure.

I say that Tom is trying to be a Lincoln fan because I have now taken him to 5 Lincoln games and in 450 minutes of football he has not seen Lincoln score a goal. He has seen us lose to Shrewsbury twice, watched a 0-0 draw at Sincil Bank against Norwich and seen us torn apart 4-0 at Elland Road and 3-0 away at Accrington Stanley. He has every reason to desert to a Premiership Club and I think his only reason for not doing so is that he shares his middle name with my town of birth,

I ask only one thing of you Mr. Tilson: please give my son some reason to continue to support Lincoln City.

I wish you all the best.

Neil

Neil Cole
Telford

i bet the bugger never replied!
 
I'm angry because I think that with such a young squad of players, a win having been 2-0 down inside 15 minutes would have been a huge boost, and would have spurred us on for the rest of the season after a relative dip in recent weeks. As it is, I fear that the way we capitulated in the last 15 minutes will hit them hard, especially with Grant's injury. Don't forget he's also one of our oldest and most experienced players.
Grant has played every game. Amazing he hasn’t been injured to this point really. 3 of the older players now injured, which is no coincidence to me.

I will be celebrating if we get to 2 minutes at 0-0 on Tuesday, with greater celebrations the nearer we get to the 15-20 minute mark. If we also score first the dream will be back on. Uti.
 
I think the problem here has been this season so far

they have set very high standards

when they don’t perform it shows up badly

we expect better

but at the end of the day they are just doing their best.

I hope we improve but I fear the worst
 
We really havent had a bad run and yesterday could have gone either way. Im sure ma and the players will be disappointed but will bounce back.
 
In our last 10 league games, we have conceded a goal inside 15 minutes in half of them Peterborough (10th min), Donny (15th), Accrington (6th), Swindon (2nd) and Plymouth (3rd & 13th). We only conceded once inside the first 15mins in our first 20 league games of the season. Is there something sides have specifically seen in us to exploit early on? Is this fatigue-related?
 
In our last 10 league games, we have conceded a goal inside 15 minutes in half of them Peterborough (10th min), Donny (15th), Accrington (6th), Swindon (2nd) and Plymouth (3rd & 13th). We only conceded once inside the first 15mins in our first 20 league games of the season. Is there something sides have specifically seen in us to exploit early on? Is this fatigue-related?

Clever managers will see a pattern. That pattern is that we start slowly and take time to settle into our game, coupled with an initial reluctance to press and a defensive attitude.

Therefore, attacking us early is a low-risk, high-reward strategy.

MA needs to address this.
 
A quick look at bookmaker odds suggests the following ...

  • A top 6 finish is rated as being between a 88.89-92.31% chance depending on your bookmaker.
  • Promotion (in any form) is rated as being between a 52.38-57.89% chance depending on your bookmaker.
  • A top 2 finish is rated as being between a 42.11-44.44% chance depending on your bookmaker.
  • Winning the title is rated as being between a 20-25% chance depending on your bookmaker.
 
i couldnt bring myself to sum up the game straight after. I've had my tea, and time to reflect.
Good and bad. we got off to an awful start. defence seemed to be asleep when that cross came into the box after 1 minute 20 seconds. the ball dropped to the floor, and was lashed in, so the way to deal was to get on it before it landed. Marking not good enough.
2nd goal, Mayer received the ball in bags of space Grant tried to close him down but was too late. Big hole in the central midfield.
After that, we played some lovely football. Back to the Lincoln we have seen for most of this season. No signs of the tiredness, but the pitch was in tip top condition, just right for our style of football. Great goal from McGrandles, put us right back in it. Grant scored 2 good penalties. we were cruising to victory.
Good games for Poole, Edun, Grant, Johnson, McGrandles, and Scully.
I thought Palmer was suspect. Distribution was bad at times again.
Rogers was quieter than usual. I would have taken him off after 60-70 mins for Archibald.
I felt our lack of fresh legs being introduced was strange. The fact Plymouth had 5 fresh players to bring on towards the end changed the game. We were totally on top until then, but the momentum switched. Plymouth had an extra yard and were able to attack us much more. Montsma glancing O.G- looked like he didnt see it as the attacker was in front of him and all happened in an instant. So give him the benefit. Eden was playing a bit too forward at a time when we should have been defending, and was noticeably ahead of his man a few times and was caught out for their 4th goal. Like he was playing attacking wing back instead of defensive left back.
So a win thrown away, a draw thrown away.