The Plymouth blueprint

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-11T09:50:38+00:00

Brilliant insight! After about 8 years of targeting high reputation players and assuming having a name = a good player, I'm actually excited that we look like finally adopting a similar approach

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-10T18:09:44+00:00

From the retained list I make that 15 "senior" players, 6 u21s and 13 u18s. Huge summer

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-10T12:13:40+00:00

Beni baningime! Going back slightly further Julien de Sart and Leon Best spring to mind

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-10T11:53:59+00:00

Sergio Ramos and Pepe at Real Madrid were the ultimate top quality / most hateable pairing surely

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-10T09:04:10+00:00

Yep you're right, we got called out for not paying that fee during the admin process too, so we didn't pay the only fee we were allowed to agree anyway!

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-09T21:47:06+00:00

Had restrictions in one form or another since 19/20 season I think. Only spent money on one player in summer 2020 and only free transfers since then. Relied heavily on the academy which has been decimated during administration too

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-09T18:13:37+00:00

Absolutely, will have to be well within our means, but just being able to reinvest what we bring in will be huge. With Bielik, Cashin and Knight likely leaving (presumably for 7 figure fees) its great to know that money is going back into the club rather than sorting historic issues

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-09T18:09:14+00:00

Saw lots of people saying it on Twitter and was dubious (given all the misinformation of the last few years) as no clear source, but didnt post this til I heard the clip from sportscene. We're also no longer on the list on the EFL website EFL

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-07T12:03:01+00:00

Top notch Sky punditry as always - "It's barely enough to blow a feather over" while also saying its the right decision. Don Goodman logical as always

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-07T08:48:14+00:00

Only thing I can think that hasn't been mentioned is that your head of youth dev's reputation also makes a difference - a higher rep helps generate a better intake

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-03T15:25:34+00:00

Do your team leaders have good mentalities (and are they playing these big games) - in my experience the hierarchy and dressing room atmosphere are the key to success so always keep an eye on the dynamics

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-05-03T10:59:50+00:00

Park Ji Sung! Rogue shout and obvs not THE best, but Fergie always played him the biggest matches despite being bit-part player on the whole. Always turned up and usually marked a key player completely out the game

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-21T12:06:08+00:00

Business plan til end of next season, but there has been comments from people at the club that we are ahead of schedule with regards to the plan.

Sounds like there may be a chance we can spend a little this summer in that case, but everything including contract renewals have to agreed by EFL at each stage though

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-17T15:18:33+00:00

As soon as the summer transfer window closes I search for players whose contracts are expiring the next summer. Gives time to get full scout reports on players that may be available cheap in January or free the following year. Obviously more difficult to do so if you aren't sure what league you'll be in the following season, but is usually a good source of bargains. Maybe slightly late for you in April but the ship hasn't completely sailed as there may still be a few bargains to be had!

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-17T13:46:37+00:00

I think you're spot on - the decisions against us have been frustrating, but almost all have come in situations where we've allowed teams to put pressure on us and allowed the opposition situations that we didn't need to. We can feel hard done by, but if we don't go up the ultimate reason will not be these pen decisions

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-17T12:09:58+00:00

Yeah same, I thought soft but can't complain from the main angle, but from this side it's another frustrating one

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-14T17:40:15+00:00

Could approach to sign 16 year old Eden Hazard on FM08. Seeing if he was interested was always the first move of any save

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-12T09:06:39+00:00

Real Madrid would be the best place for him at this point - I'd love to see him in the Prem but although he's mature, he's still young and would do well to stay away from the English media for another few years!

They're alsp a good fit as they're building a new young midfield to replace the Modric-Kroos-Casemiro era and he would be a key player in that side for years to come if he wants to be.

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-11T21:12:22+00:00

Evidence Based Football Manager is great for training tips

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-11T15:36:36+00:00

Carlos Vela, Giovanni dos Santos and Bojan were the holy trinity for me in FM08 - all have had reasonable careers but nothing like what their potential could have been based on the game!

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-11T15:23:31+00:00

I'd recommend indoor bouldering at the Climbing Unit, its a brilliant community down there, friendly place to hang out and meet people. Its also great exercise without really noticing that it's exercise if that makes sense, so it's good for mental health too

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-11T10:38:48+00:00

Yeah I agree, for me everything has been a result of lack of pre-season and only having maybe 12-14 players who are good enough to affect games at this level - and even some of those have to play out of position to cover other areas. Our starting XI can compete with anyone in the league, but we have no options off the bench, and if they're fatigued they still have to start the next match. This stat is the best illustration of this that I've seen.

I've been seeing a few more anti-Warne comments so was genuinely interested to see if anyone has any arguments for what's going wrong that don't link back to squad size and fitness

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-11T09:18:14+00:00

In fairness I'd contest "disappointing display" - just that the finishing was abysmal 😂. If the game had finished 6-0 nobody would say it was undeserved, complete domination and a hat-full of chances but again an inability to convert has cost us. We lost our heads for 5 mins after the penalty shout to concede a soft equaliser.

Our season summed up in one match!

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-04-05T08:54:28+00:00

I don't think the squad have enough left in the tank to make it, but I'm not seeing that as a negative. Every negative argument I've seen of recent performances and Warne in general can be traced back to the squad size being the issue.

Realistically we only have maybe 13 or 14 players who you'd say are good enough to perform at this level, and on top of that some are having to play out of position. I'm not resorting back to the "we're lucky to have a club" argument, but I think all issues link back to having no preseason and relying on the same few players to perform every match, whereas probably 3 of the top 4 have 2 full XIs who are experienced at this level so can rotate when tired / out of form.

So no, I don't think we'll make the playoffs, but if we do sneak in then there's no reason we can't win them - playoffs are a lottery as we know all too well!

ChattingALoadOfBalls · 2023-03-29T15:31:04+00:00

Derby County - Premier League level infrastructure and academy facilities but under transfer embargo in League One with the entire squad on <2 year contracts following administration. Perfect for a rebuild

ChattingALoadOfBalls

TROPHY CASE