1armedboxer

Thanks Nick. I don't know where the Pellici signing came from. I saw a few Italians going for free and then being worth £5m so I signed 2. Makes it sound a bit like going to Ikea that, doesn't it!?

retired_vbrazon

again, great read. With strikers like pellici you won't be worrying about defence if he keeps rattling them in.

What version of the game are you using fm or cm?

Looking forward to the next installment. :thup:

1armedboxer

I'm playing FM, Fergus. I'm a veteran of the original no-real-players 1991 or whatever it was CM but I can't help updating! Yeah, Pellici had a screamer. Don't remember having a hattrick last season so it was a real shock.

1armedboxer

The Times report
Sunday 21st August, 2005

Back With A Bump

Plymouth Argyle were brought back down to Earth following their win on the opening day of the season tonight, seen off 3-0 by a superior Tottenham Hotspur side. Having started well, Argyle missed chances and Spurs’ experience and class began to tell. Keeper Roman Weidenfeller had already saved a Pedro Mendes penalty when Robbie Keane put the home side in front on half time. Unfortunately for Mike Rogerson, his midfield largely didn’t come out for the second half. Whilst David Friio was his usual busy and creative self, Cristiano Agnelli, Paul Ifill and substitute Rodrigo Taddei all disappointed as Tottenham over-ran the Pilgrims in the centre of the park to take the points.

Middlesbrough 1 (Viduka 18)
Plymouth Argyle 0

1armedboxer

Evening Herald report
Wednesday 31st August, 2005

Liverpool, picked by many in the game as serious contenders for the Premier Division title, game to Home Park tonight and demonstrated the gap perfectly between Championship and the top flight. Although the Reds only won the game 1-0, a Djibril Cisse goal on the half hour being enough to settle the match, the ability to bring players of the class of Fernando Cavenaghi off the bench must have been a real eye-opener for Plymouth boss Mike Rogerson.

The home side fought bravely against the odds and, despite creating little, forced two world class saves out of the opposition keeper, a performance good enough to earn Chris Kirkland the Man of the Match award. At the other end, Roman Weidenfeller held his own, saving a penalty from Jamie Carragher late on to keep his side in contention.

Plymouth Argyle 0
Liverpool 1 (Cisse 30; Carragher missed pen 79)

Saturday 10th September, 2005

Following a round of international matches, Argyle resumed their fight to stay in the Premier Division with the visit of Norwich City. Mike Rogerson knew that it was the sort of game that needed to be won if the Greens are to stay up.

Things did not bode well then when Shaun Barker capitalised on panic in the home defence to put the visitors a goal up. The lead did not last for long, however, as Joleon Lescott rose magnificently to power a header beyond the despairing keeper from a Fabrizio Pellici corner. Four minutes later Quincy Owusu Abeyie, whose presence and pace terrorised the away defence all game long, steered in a Paul Ifill throw-in on the right hand side to give the Pilgrims the lead. Five minutes before the break Roman Weidenfeller pulled off his third penalty save in four games, denying Micahel Proctor from the spot. And on the stroke of half-time Ifill made it 3-1 with a penalty kick of his own.

Norwich City barely came out for the second half. Just after the hour mark Ifill converted his second spot kick of the match to give Argyle a 4-1 lead, and minutes later DaMarcus Beasley sliced a clearance into his own net to put the icing on the cake and give Mike Rogerson’s side their second win of the season.

Plymouth Argyle 5 (Lescott 10, Abeyie 13, Ifill pen 42, pen 62, Beasley og. 66)
Norwich City 1 (Barker 8)

1armedboxer

Evening Herald report
September 2005 Round-Up

Saturday 17th
Plymouth Argyle 1 (Pellici 22)
Southampton 0

Tuesday 20th
League Cup 2nd Round
Plymouth Argyle 3 (Abeyie 21, Ventola 74, Friio 79)
Swindon Town 0

Monday 26th
Plymouth Argyle 2 (Abeyie 10, Lescott 60)
Nottingham Forest 2 (King 7, 22; King s/o 83)

October
Saturday 2nd
Fulham 1 (Cole 84)
Plymouth Argyle 2 (Abeyie 28, 83)

Premier Division
Wednesday 5th October, 2005

PosPldGDPts

6thLiverpool8+314
7thEverton8+413
8thPLYMOUTH ARGYLE8+313
9thBolton Wanderers8+013
10thNewcastle United8+712

1armedboxer

Evening Herald report
October Round-Up

Premier Division, Wednesday 5th
Plymouth Argyle 3 (Abeyie 63, Pellici 65, Ifill pen 83)
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Johnson 67; Albrechtsen s/o 29)

Premier Division, Saturday 15th
Manchester United 1 (Smith 28)
Plymouth Argyle 0

Premier Division, Saturday 22nd
Plymouth Argyle 0
Arsenal 2 (Reyes 37, Ljungberg 39)

Premier Division, Wednesday 26th
Charlton Athletic 0 (Jeffers s/o 69)
Plymouth Argyle 1 (Ifill pen 36)

Premier Division, Saturday 29th
Everton 4 (Cahill pen 11, Chadwick 41,46, Gravesen 58)
Plymouth Argyle 2 (Abeyie 29, Marzeglia 90)

1armedboxer

Evening Herald report
November 2005

Plymouth Argyle went into November in the doldrums after their most difficult month in the Premier Division so far. Boosted by the form of striker Quincy Owusu Abeyie the Greens began the month with a 1-0 win at home to Portsmouth thanks to an early Jacques Faty goal.

Pilgrim attention then turned back to the League Cup as the Greens visited the JJB Stadium to play Wigan Athletic. An early strike from Abeyie forced the home side to come out and play, and they wee hit on the break in the final minute by David Friio. Argyle’s 2-0 victory set up a Quarter Final tie at Norwich City.

Back in the league three goals in the opening half an hour (Abeyie 2 and Marzeglia) saw off Bolton at Home Park.

In the last game of the month Plymouth wontheir way into the League Cup Semi Final with a 2-1 win over The Canaries. Goals either side of half time by Adriano Marzeglia and Paul Ifill overcame a Shaun Barker strike.

1armedboxer

Evening Herald report
The December Round-Up

December was a month of draws and disappointment for a Plymouth Argyle side previously chasing a UEFA Cup spot. Beginning promisingly with a Quincy Osuwu Abeyie brace to see off Charlton Athletic 2-1 at The Valley, The Greens were then pulled apart 3-0 at Blackburn Rovers before grabbing a gallant 1-1 draw at home to title runaways Chelsea. Collapsing again to another 1-1, this time at Molineux in a game in which Argyle missed a hatful of chances. A 1-0 reverse at Eastlands thanks to a Nicolas Anelka screamer ruined manager Mike Rogerson’s Christmas, and Plymouth stumbled across the line at the end of the month with yet another 1-1 draw, this time against Champions’ League-chasing Tottenham.

The big news of the month, however, came with the opening of the transfer window. Following his huge dive into the market in the summer, Mike Rogerson had evidently assessed and reassessed his squad’s needs and January 1st came with an exodus of players surplus to Rogerson’s requirements.

Guillaume Rippert, Parma, £1.7m
Steven Milne, Ajax, £4.7m
Stephen Crawford, Sevilla, £4m
Kenny Schofield, Man City, £450k
David Norris, Fulham, £1.5m
Matthias Doumbe, PSG, £1.8m
Wilmer Kousemaker, Marseilles, £1.7m
Daniel Rose, RKC, £1.3m

Rogerson also made his 33rd signing of the season, bringing Real Sociedad left back in for £900k. With money in the coffers it is expected that Rogerson will now settle for a highly respectable mid-table position this season before bringing in a few new faces in the summer to push for a European spot next term.

1armedboxer

Evening Herald report
The January Round Up

Going into a nine-game January without a win in five, the early promise Plymouth Argyle had shown seemed to have been wiped away by the class of opposition in the top flight. Beaten 2-0 at Liverpool on New Years Day, Argyle were then put to the sword by a rampant Newcastle United, for whom four goals by the magnificent Patrick Kluivert in the first half an hour id for the Greens.

Looking on the slide, manager Mike Rogerson wuold have been relieved by the distraction of the FA Cup 3rd Round game at Preston North End. Plymouth attacked from the beginning and were rewarded two minutes in when Quincy Owusu Abeyie scored from close range. Preston were soon level, however, and try as Argyle might they could not open a sufficient gap to kill off the lower league side in an enthralling game that ended 4-4.

In the Semi-Final of the League Cup, Newcastle United visited Home Park and despite Abeyie opening the scoring for Argyle, the Magpies ran out 3-1 winners.

Back in the Premier Division, title-chasing Middlesbrough left Home Park with a 2-1 victory, a game that stretched Plymouth’s winless run in all competitions to ten games.

Replaying Preston in the FA Cup 3rd Round at Home Park, Argyle won 2-0 with goals from David Friio and Rodrigo Ferrante Taddei, a game followed up with a 3-0 4th Round win at Cardiff City.

The 2nd Leg of the League Cup Semi-Final saw Argyle go down 2-1 at Newcastle thanks to 2 Alan Shearer goals.

The final Premier Division game of the month saw Plymouth return to form with a 5-2 demolition of Norwich City at Carrow Road.

Plymouth Argyle go into a tricky February, including the FA Cup 5th Round at home to Coventry City, with fresh blood in the squad. Rarely a week goes by, it seems, without Mike Rogerson delving into the transfer market, and as the deadline beckoned this week Juan Pablo Sorin signed from Cruzeiro for £5.5m and Horacio Peralta joined having been released at the end of his contract by Uruguayan club Nacional.