The comings and goings at Home Park over the last 10 days has pleased some and baffled others. But the bottom line is that Argyle again failed to produce a victory, this time against basement club Rotherham. Following Nick Chadwick's £250,000 move from Everton, popular Frenchman David Friio jumped ship to join fellow championship strugglers Nottingham Forrest, while Stewart Yetton joining Tiverton Town. Directors Peter Jones and Michael Foot resigned, to be replaced by local businessmen Damon Lenszner and Tony Wrathall. The final surprise was reserved for 3pm at the Rotherham match, when it was announced that skipper Paul Wotton, who was rumoured to be a target of other Championship clubs, had been handed a new three and half year contract. Once the dust had settled, Argyle fans were treated to another display and formation that was difficult to understand. There was no place for £100,000 striker Scott Taylor, or Northern Ireland international Tony Capaldi. With no wide men to provide the new striking partnership of Nick Crawford and Dexter Blackstock, it was left to a superb performance from Akos Buzsaky to give the fans something to cheer about. Argyle's defensive formation proved to be their undoing for Rotherham's goal, as Andy Monkhouse was given the freedom of the park to pick up a defensive header from Graham Couhglan and shoot past Luke McCormick. The two strikers performed well. Blackstock earned a soft penalty, leaving Wotton to celebrate his new contract by converting the spot kick. Chadwick then smashed a terrific overhead kick onto the crossbar for Blackstock to head what should have been the match winner. Unfortunately the assistant, as confirmed by television, made a howler by flagging for offside. If the goal had stood and Argyle had moved up a couple of places, then the fans would have gone away reasonably happy. The problem now is that Argyle need to pick up something at West Ham United this weekend and again in Tuesday's visit of Sheffield United under former manager Neil Warnock. The cornerstone of Argyle's success with manager Paul Sturrock was to get the ball wide, and to get it into the penalty area so giving a number of players the opportunity to score. Argyle tactics of late have the play going through the midfield or straight up the field, a tactic that is beginning to worry the fans, who again showed some anger at the final whistle. It is clear they have yet to come to terms with the different tactics being used. With Wotton suspended for the visit to West Ham, the manager has a problem of who to pick in midfield from limited options. Will striker Scott Taylor find himself warming the bench alongside Mickey Evans? Lee Hodges is still injured and David Worrall could be replaced by suspension free Paul Connelly. What must also worry fans is that the contracts of Mickey Evans, David Norris, Romain Larrieu, David Worrall and Marino Keith run out at the end of the season, although the immediate concern is that Graham Coghlan, Mathias Doumbe, Peter Gilbert, David Worrall, Tony Capaldi and Mickey Evans are all one booking away from suspension.
Argyle attempts to run a Pilgrims express to Millwall match has been thwarted by engineering works on the line between Plymouth and Exeter. Argyle's 2,500 ticket allocation at West Ham have almost gone. Fans are reminded that the ticket office will stop selling at noon today (Friday). Fans are also reminded that Argyle's last match of the season against Leicester City will now kick off at 1pm and not 3pm.
Fancy a meal with the players, then contact the club quickly, as tickets for the players inaugural Marquee Lunch Club on Thursday (Feb 24) are fast running out. The tickets priced at £16.99 per head, or £150 for a table of ten, will allow fans to dine and have convivial conversation with Bobby Williamson and the players, as well as having their photographs taken. In view of the heavy demand fans are asked to contact Andy Budge or Lesley Morley on 01752 302204.
Argyle ladies will be looking for fair weather when they defend their Devon Cup in a semi-final tie at Dawlish Town after last week's visit of Clevedon Town fell foul of the elements. The club's U18 team start their Southern section Division Two Merit league campaign on Saturday at Brighton. Fixtures - Coca-Cola Championship: Sat Feb 19 West Ham United (A) 3pm; Tue Feb 22 Sheffield United (H) 7.45pm. U18s: Merit Table Sat Feb 19 Brighton & Hove Albion (A) 11am. Argyle Ladies: Sun Feb 20 Dawlish Town (A) Devon Womens Cup semi-final 2pm.