Plymouth Argyle
Av Attendance 2019/20: 10338
Manager: Ryan Lowe
Preferred Formation 2019/20: 3-5-2
Last game v City: Plymouth 5-0 Imps 20th November 2013
Summer Ins: Luke McCormick – Swindon, Frank Nouble – Colchester, Panutche Camara – Crawley, Lewis Macleod – Wigan, Kelland Watts – Newcastle (loan), George Cooper – Peterborough, Ben Reeves – MK Dons, Jack Ruddy – Ross County, Ryan Hardie – Blackpool (loan)
Summer Outs: Antoni Sarcevic – Bolton, Alex Fletcher, Joel Grant, Tafari Moore, Michael Peck, Tom Purrington, Ryan Taylor
I tried to think of a single fond memory of games against Plymouth, and aside from my final game as Poacher, I couldn’t. Why? Because they’ve always been a good side and as far as I can tell, they will be again. Ryan Lowe is a good manager and he’s got a decent team on a bounce here. they play the game thr right way, they’ve kept much of their squad together and in my eyes, there are hints of us 12 months ago in their approach. I suppose I do question the signing of Nouble, he’s always looked average against us, whilst Panutche Camara has the potential to excel if he fulfils it.
My gut feeling here is that they’re going to be in the middle of the pack, especially with George Cooper pulling the strings and proving a point to Posh. If anything, the big concern is around goals. Only the departed Sarvecic bagged double figures in the league last season, but Ryan Hardie impressed in his loan spell and he’ll be hoping to kick on this season as, like Cooper, he has a point to prove.
Portsmouth
Av Attendance 2019/20: 17804
Manager: Kenny Jackett
Preferred Formation 2019/20: 4-2-3-1
Last game v City: Imps 0-2 Portsmouth 28th Jan 2020
Summer Ins: Sean Raggett – Norwich, Cameron Pring – Bristol City, Callum Johnson – Accrington
Summer Outs: Luke McGee – Forest Green, Brandon Haunstrup – Kilmarnock, Christian Burgess, Matt Casey, Oli Hawkins, Adam May, Brett Pitman (all released)
Portsmouth should, by rights, be up there challenging for the title. They’re a huge club, one rich in history and they’ve been around it for a couple of seasons now. However, the definition of madness is trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome and I wonder if that will be Jackett’s downfall. 4-2-3-1. That’s it. He’s played it since before we earned promotion to the division, and somehow it has led to some dour football and angry fans.
Ronan Curtis, Marcus Harness and John Marquis are all great players for this level, yet Jackett’s muddled approach to election often left them flattering to deceive. Little has really changed over the summer, a few fringe players have left, but it’s going to be very much ‘as you were’ this coming season. Portsmouth have a strong array of talented players capable of promotion, but I can’t help but feel they might have a man at the helm who runs out of ideas quickly. I’m not sure he has the guile to get the best from the squad and I wonder if a bad start might finally lead to a change in management.
That said, if he gets it right, then Pompey should be top six from start to finish. This is one of those rare situations where I believe success and failure is all about the manager, not the squad he has at his disposal.
You must be logged in to post a comment.