Gareth asks whether the Saints position is cheering me up any, given my latest moan about Argyle. Yes, it is.
If you remove the ten-point penalty saints had to overcome, then they'd be just outside the playoff places. The word is that Saints are starting to play with confidence, not to mention goals, and I'm no longer worried about their position at all: they look stable, with good players, and given the statement by the Chief Executive, it seems investment will continue to come as they build their way up the league.
Saints will be back in Prem in three to four years. I can't see it any other way.
Argyle, conversely, are in the league above Saints right now, and worked very very hard to get there. But, as has always happened before, they're looking like they're going to blow the position and go back down rather than use it as a base camp to launch an assault on the Premiership. It's frustrating because (1) I've seen it before (1986-1992 - and it's happened a lot in the past, 1975-77, mid-60's, late 50's, early 50's) but also (2) this board and set of owners seem to actually have some ambition. Sir Roy Gardner, along with the Japanese blokes, if they organise themselves and stop bickering, really could lead Argyle to great things.
That begins with having a stable management setup this season to really use the players Argyle presently have (and it's not a bad team, even without Seip, who's the best defender on the books but who won't come back while Sturrock is at the club). And from there, you stay up this season, then build in the summer and put together a team that's difficult to beat, and then a team with a goalscoring edge, and from there you make a run for the playoffs.
Going down seems a relatively small thing, but it generally results in any decent players leaving, the team fragmenting and the Premiership dream being pushed back about five years. Because then you have to build a team to get out of League One, and for that you need a good management team, etc etc.
And as wonderful as Sturrock's first spell was at Argyle, he really seems to have lost the dressing room, the fans and most importantly a LOT of football matches. If, as seems likely, Argyle go back to the bottom of the division this week, it's hard to see how things can be turned around without removing Sturrock and his team.
And maybe Paul Mariner - a well-respected coach in the US - will help. Maybe he'll be allowed to bring in his own people. Or - and here's my fear - maybe he's a replacement for Kevin Summerfield and he'll stay a while before falling out with Sturrock and leaving.
Something more major has to change than the assistant. If not, it's back to division three and the cycle begins again.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
18 October 2009: Coach
And it's confirmed: Paul Mariner is the new 'Head Coach' of Plymouth Argyle.
Following yesterday's defeat at Blackpool (and given the speed of the announcement this morning, you have to imagine the decisions were all made beforehand, irrespective of yesterday's result), Argyle have announced that 56-year-old legend Mariner is coming back.
Question is, of course, what exactly is his role?
Because the problem is this: Sturrock remains at the club. The official statement says that Sturrock will now be 'assisted' in his duties by Mariner (who, by the way, was a legendary player but as a coach has only risen to the dizzying heights of assistant coach to a Major League Soccer side), which at least explains Kevin Summerfield's departure earlier this week. But can it work? Will Mariner be coach/almost manager and Sturrock as Director of Football with less of a hands-on role? It hasn't exactly been a successful model in English football in the past, although it works ok in Europe.
Beyond the Mariner appointment, it seems there's been some kind of relationship built between Argyle and Mariner's former club, the New England Revolution. Argyle chairman Sir Roy Gardner said:
The two clubs have agreed a first step of a potential ongoing relationship with a plan that a number of the New England Revolution younger stars will join Plymouth for a few weeks for joint-training sessions later in the season.
So maybe it'll be a wonderful thing and Argyle will rocket up the league. But given that yesterday's first goal conceded was scored for Blackpool by Marcel Seip, there might still be a problem. Seip is an excellent defender who fell out with Sturrock recently - as a result he was sent on loan to Blackpool, and he was allowed to play against Argyle yesterday, and probably enjoyed scoring against us. Add to that names like Stack, Walton, Easter and several others I can't think of this early in the morning - the problem right now (at least, the reason for the problem, if you define the problem as being 8 points from 12 matches) is Sturrock.
Put simply, if Sturrock stays - in whatever capacity - Seip isn't coming back.
And maybe this is a long term plan to slowly replace Sturrock with Mariner but right now what Argyle need isn't a legend from the past (unless, possibly, he's going to get his boots on and play up front), and they don't need a youth feeder arrangement with an MLS side, and they don't need a reshuffle of coaching titles. They need points, they need clean sheets, they need confidence. And while I respect the board and think they actually do have both the ambition and the resources to match the ambition, this whole approach smacks of amateurism, or at least missing the point.
When you look at the hard facts, Kevin Summerfield has been replaced by Paul Mariner as Sturrock's assistant. That's the sum total of what has happened. And now everything's fixed and solved, right?
That's what I thought.
Following yesterday's defeat at Blackpool (and given the speed of the announcement this morning, you have to imagine the decisions were all made beforehand, irrespective of yesterday's result), Argyle have announced that 56-year-old legend Mariner is coming back.
Question is, of course, what exactly is his role?
Because the problem is this: Sturrock remains at the club. The official statement says that Sturrock will now be 'assisted' in his duties by Mariner (who, by the way, was a legendary player but as a coach has only risen to the dizzying heights of assistant coach to a Major League Soccer side), which at least explains Kevin Summerfield's departure earlier this week. But can it work? Will Mariner be coach/almost manager and Sturrock as Director of Football with less of a hands-on role? It hasn't exactly been a successful model in English football in the past, although it works ok in Europe.
Beyond the Mariner appointment, it seems there's been some kind of relationship built between Argyle and Mariner's former club, the New England Revolution. Argyle chairman Sir Roy Gardner said:
The two clubs have agreed a first step of a potential ongoing relationship with a plan that a number of the New England Revolution younger stars will join Plymouth for a few weeks for joint-training sessions later in the season.
So maybe it'll be a wonderful thing and Argyle will rocket up the league. But given that yesterday's first goal conceded was scored for Blackpool by Marcel Seip, there might still be a problem. Seip is an excellent defender who fell out with Sturrock recently - as a result he was sent on loan to Blackpool, and he was allowed to play against Argyle yesterday, and probably enjoyed scoring against us. Add to that names like Stack, Walton, Easter and several others I can't think of this early in the morning - the problem right now (at least, the reason for the problem, if you define the problem as being 8 points from 12 matches) is Sturrock.
Put simply, if Sturrock stays - in whatever capacity - Seip isn't coming back.
And maybe this is a long term plan to slowly replace Sturrock with Mariner but right now what Argyle need isn't a legend from the past (unless, possibly, he's going to get his boots on and play up front), and they don't need a youth feeder arrangement with an MLS side, and they don't need a reshuffle of coaching titles. They need points, they need clean sheets, they need confidence. And while I respect the board and think they actually do have both the ambition and the resources to match the ambition, this whole approach smacks of amateurism, or at least missing the point.
When you look at the hard facts, Kevin Summerfield has been replaced by Paul Mariner as Sturrock's assistant. That's the sum total of what has happened. And now everything's fixed and solved, right?
That's what I thought.
Monday, October 12, 2009
12 October 2009: Mariner
Rumours have been around for a fortnight, but it seems to be getting more credible by the day.
Paul Mariner, former England striker and Plymouth Argyle protege back around the time of my birth, might be coming back to Home Park at the age of 56. Not, sadly, as a centre forward but as a coach of some description.
He was first touted as being a 'Club Ambassador' in the attempt to get games in the 2018 World Cup, were England to be named hosts, played at Home Park. Then rumours surfaced that Paul Sturrock was to be sacked due to Argyle's astonishingly long winless run, and Mariner was the man to take over. Then Argyle won two in a row, so that rumour died down a little.
But then a news story came up that Argyle had approached Mariner's current employer, the New England Revolution, with a view to Mariner becoming 'Technical Director' at Argyle. So there was more to this than met the eye.
And so now, over the last few days, the UK news outlets are getting hold of it and it seems that some kind of announcement of some kind of change is imminent. One rumour is that Sturrock will move up to 'Director of Football' with Mariner coming in as Head Coach - just like Saints with Steve Wigley and Sir Clive Woodward. Which was arguably the biggest managerial screw-up and disaster of Rupert Lowe's tenure at Saints, and that's saying something.
The other, more substantiated rumour, is that Mariner will come in as Sturrock's assistant, replacing Kevin Summerfield. That one comes from the Plymouth Evening Herald and so might just have a grain of truth to it.
Hmm... I wonder what Billy Rafferty is up to these days?
Postscript: The Daily Mail version of the story lines up with the Herald's assessment of Mariner as new assistant, but stops short of making it clear whether his appointment will cause cancer or cure cancer.
Paul Mariner, former England striker and Plymouth Argyle protege back around the time of my birth, might be coming back to Home Park at the age of 56. Not, sadly, as a centre forward but as a coach of some description.
He was first touted as being a 'Club Ambassador' in the attempt to get games in the 2018 World Cup, were England to be named hosts, played at Home Park. Then rumours surfaced that Paul Sturrock was to be sacked due to Argyle's astonishingly long winless run, and Mariner was the man to take over. Then Argyle won two in a row, so that rumour died down a little.
But then a news story came up that Argyle had approached Mariner's current employer, the New England Revolution, with a view to Mariner becoming 'Technical Director' at Argyle. So there was more to this than met the eye.
And so now, over the last few days, the UK news outlets are getting hold of it and it seems that some kind of announcement of some kind of change is imminent. One rumour is that Sturrock will move up to 'Director of Football' with Mariner coming in as Head Coach - just like Saints with Steve Wigley and Sir Clive Woodward. Which was arguably the biggest managerial screw-up and disaster of Rupert Lowe's tenure at Saints, and that's saying something.
The other, more substantiated rumour, is that Mariner will come in as Sturrock's assistant, replacing Kevin Summerfield. That one comes from the Plymouth Evening Herald and so might just have a grain of truth to it.
Hmm... I wonder what Billy Rafferty is up to these days?
Postscript: The Daily Mail version of the story lines up with the Herald's assessment of Mariner as new assistant, but stops short of making it clear whether his appointment will cause cancer or cure cancer.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
6 October 2009: Perfect Gift
1 October is the busiest day of the book retail year, I've read. All the Christmas books come out, essentially all those big pointless hardback ones 'written' by celebrities that mainly contain glossy photos and aren't actually about anything.
But it was also the release date for the most anticipated award-winning romantic fiction debut novel of the year, and as the author is my sis, it's time to remind everyone that it's a perfect birthday, hallowe'en, Thanksgiving or Christmas gift, all for only £4.99 (or £5.99, depending on where you buy it). Locations to buy include Your Favourite Book Shop (if you're in the UK) or, of course, online.
Good webby places to look presently seem to involve Play.com and, to a lesser extent (because they're already out of stock) Amazon.co.uk. One place you probably want to avoid is the US Amazon site because (as shown above) the book has been rather substantially marked-up. I'm thinking of writing to the seller and asking whether this novel is a Fair Trade product and a good percentage of the tag price actually goes to the producer. Somehow I doubt it.
The best bit is that the shipping still costs $3.99. So that's how much delivery costs, the rest is just all about the price of the book...
If you're in the US, bookstores will order it if you give them the ISBN number (ISBN-10: 0755352939, ISBN-13: 978-0755352937) and if you have friends at a library, maybe you can pull a few strings?
Meantime I just read this morning that there will be new rules in the US for bloggers endorsing products before too long, stating there must be full disclosure of any connection to the product maker or any benefits received. Therefore I'll take advantage of the currently opaque rules and just openly state:
BUY THIS BOOK, IT'S BRILLIANT!!!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
17 September 2009: Batcave
Don't wish to harp on about this blog getting hits from all over the world (mainly because it's not happening so much this week) but have to mention one hit that arrived earlier today:
"Batu Caves, Wilayah Persekutuan arrived from google.com.my on "This AKTing Lark: July 2007"
Now that intrigued me. Was someone really visiting my blog from a cave? And how coincidental could it be that it bears a name almost identical to that of an iconic 1960s TV show location?
Actually, a Google Maps search revealed it to be in Malaysia, in fact a location on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpar in what looks to be a fairly densely urban (not to mention foggy) area. Which is still quite exciting, although somehow disappointing given my probably unrealistic hopes that my blog was, in fact, being visited by Batman, or at least by some bored person in a cave with no running water but a decent broadband connection.
On a somewhat related note, nephew Jamie is four years old today and has proclaimed that when he grows up, he's going to be yellow bat. Puts all my ambitions to shame.
"Batu Caves, Wilayah Persekutuan arrived from google.com.my on "This AKTing Lark: July 2007"
Now that intrigued me. Was someone really visiting my blog from a cave? And how coincidental could it be that it bears a name almost identical to that of an iconic 1960s TV show location?
Actually, a Google Maps search revealed it to be in Malaysia, in fact a location on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpar in what looks to be a fairly densely urban (not to mention foggy) area. Which is still quite exciting, although somehow disappointing given my probably unrealistic hopes that my blog was, in fact, being visited by Batman, or at least by some bored person in a cave with no running water but a decent broadband connection.
On a somewhat related note, nephew Jamie is four years old today and has proclaimed that when he grows up, he's going to be yellow bat. Puts all my ambitions to shame.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
16 September 2009: Landscape
Back in the day, as the young people seem to have stopped saying now, I used to annoy my university housemates by insisting that we watch the Landscape Channel on cable TV.
(Actually, I used to annoy them by insisting we get cable TV, mainly so that Andy G and myself could watch Premiership and winter-tour cricket. I would also annoy them by making curry every saturday that stank the house out. On the upside, I tidied the garden and on one occasion cleaned the bathroom after making a mess during our 'chip the golf ball up the stairs and into the bathroom if you can manage it' game. The ceiling never recovered though. But I digress).
The Landscape Channel was, I insisted, music video television for classical and instrumental music. It helped me relax, I told them, from my busy lecture schedule (which during my final semester saw me have to go to classes on both Monday and Tuesday, with only a five day weekend in which to do my dissertation) and I also postulated the occasional strains of Mozart and Bizet would help all our brains function better, especially the engineers who had actual work to do.
Actually, I just enjoyed watching it, or having it on in the background while doing other things. It was wonderful for reasons I simply can't explain: there was just something captivating about seeing the boat cross the canal aqueduct really really slowly to the strains of Dvorak's Hovis symphony (I don't know it's real name and I'm not going to look it up, but UK readers know what I'm on about), or seeing the penguins survive the winter and hatch their eggs while Pachelbel played in the background. My favourites were a pastel-based animation to the strains of some panpipe music ('Incantation' were the band - I even bought their 'Panpipes of the Andes' album on the back of this) and the rarely-shown 'deserted coastal resort and pier' to the sax music of David Roach (turned out to be Great Yarmouth on investigation).
Anyway, I left university and never thought about it much again, until the all-encompassing power of things like Google and YouTube made me wonder if I could find it again. And a few weeks ago, I did: I discovered that the Landscape Channel folks have struggled for a while to find a place for their work, but now some Euro-wide satellites are beaming their stuff in HD around the place, and they even have a website now, from where you can purchase HD vids for download. Not sure about that, though... it was nice having it there in the background but I can listen to WFMT for free, and if I was going to buy something relaxing I might well choose to get some white noise MP3s instead (that site deserves its own blog entry, though - and you can try it here).
But then Google did another wonderful thing and turned up not only the official site and some YouTube rips, but actually an official podcast that the Landscape folks did not so long ago, where there are nineteen 20-minute Landscape Channel snippets available for download and viewing (therefore featuring four or maybe five vids per podcast). Podcast 2 features a couple of donkeys in a field listening to Mark Knopfler's 'Wild Theme' from Local Hero and number 15 features David Roach's 'Love Is' sax thing while showing the afore-mentioned deserted coastal resort (second vid on the podcast). The penguins are in there two or three times and even the boring canal boat features once. I don't see the panpipes one there, but then I have that CD anyway so it's just you who's missing out on that one.
Why do I say all this? No idea, it just struck me as something wonderful and timeless, and for those of us who remember the Landscape Channel (or the Art of Landscape on Channel 4, as it was even prior to the cable channel), it's a chance to detox your day just like we used to, without having to annoy housemates in the process.
Footnote: Listening to the music without the pictures is better for work purposes. I've discovered that I like some of the music more than others, even though I don't know it all. Twice I've thought 'oo, I like that, wonder what it is', and it turned out to be the Art of Noise; three times I thought 'hm, don't like that much' and it turned out to be Bach. Not saying there's any absolute comparison there, but I guess I just really don't like Bach.
(Actually, I used to annoy them by insisting we get cable TV, mainly so that Andy G and myself could watch Premiership and winter-tour cricket. I would also annoy them by making curry every saturday that stank the house out. On the upside, I tidied the garden and on one occasion cleaned the bathroom after making a mess during our 'chip the golf ball up the stairs and into the bathroom if you can manage it' game. The ceiling never recovered though. But I digress).
The Landscape Channel was, I insisted, music video television for classical and instrumental music. It helped me relax, I told them, from my busy lecture schedule (which during my final semester saw me have to go to classes on both Monday and Tuesday, with only a five day weekend in which to do my dissertation) and I also postulated the occasional strains of Mozart and Bizet would help all our brains function better, especially the engineers who had actual work to do.
Actually, I just enjoyed watching it, or having it on in the background while doing other things. It was wonderful for reasons I simply can't explain: there was just something captivating about seeing the boat cross the canal aqueduct really really slowly to the strains of Dvorak's Hovis symphony (I don't know it's real name and I'm not going to look it up, but UK readers know what I'm on about), or seeing the penguins survive the winter and hatch their eggs while Pachelbel played in the background. My favourites were a pastel-based animation to the strains of some panpipe music ('Incantation' were the band - I even bought their 'Panpipes of the Andes' album on the back of this) and the rarely-shown 'deserted coastal resort and pier' to the sax music of David Roach (turned out to be Great Yarmouth on investigation).
Anyway, I left university and never thought about it much again, until the all-encompassing power of things like Google and YouTube made me wonder if I could find it again. And a few weeks ago, I did: I discovered that the Landscape Channel folks have struggled for a while to find a place for their work, but now some Euro-wide satellites are beaming their stuff in HD around the place, and they even have a website now, from where you can purchase HD vids for download. Not sure about that, though... it was nice having it there in the background but I can listen to WFMT for free, and if I was going to buy something relaxing I might well choose to get some white noise MP3s instead (that site deserves its own blog entry, though - and you can try it here).
But then Google did another wonderful thing and turned up not only the official site and some YouTube rips, but actually an official podcast that the Landscape folks did not so long ago, where there are nineteen 20-minute Landscape Channel snippets available for download and viewing (therefore featuring four or maybe five vids per podcast). Podcast 2 features a couple of donkeys in a field listening to Mark Knopfler's 'Wild Theme' from Local Hero and number 15 features David Roach's 'Love Is' sax thing while showing the afore-mentioned deserted coastal resort (second vid on the podcast). The penguins are in there two or three times and even the boring canal boat features once. I don't see the panpipes one there, but then I have that CD anyway so it's just you who's missing out on that one.
Why do I say all this? No idea, it just struck me as something wonderful and timeless, and for those of us who remember the Landscape Channel (or the Art of Landscape on Channel 4, as it was even prior to the cable channel), it's a chance to detox your day just like we used to, without having to annoy housemates in the process.
Footnote: Listening to the music without the pictures is better for work purposes. I've discovered that I like some of the music more than others, even though I don't know it all. Twice I've thought 'oo, I like that, wonder what it is', and it turned out to be the Art of Noise; three times I thought 'hm, don't like that much' and it turned out to be Bach. Not saying there's any absolute comparison there, but I guess I just really don't like Bach.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
15 September 2009: Sofia
Hello Bulgaria!
I'm a little curious as to the attention this blog has been getting recently from places as far flung as Vietnam, Jordan, Singapore, Poland and Finland. The stats reveal that not only are these the places people are coming from to read about this increasingly-mistitled AKTing Lark (as well as the usual suspects from Cheltenham, Salford, Redhill, Hemel Hempstead and Southampton), but it seems we've found a Google search that has taken over from Dietmar Van Nostrilboy.
Step up Google search for 'You're Not Signing Anymore' - the all-new popular anti-Chelsea football chant, and guess who's number one on Google when you search for it?
Reminds me of the time someone listed this blog as being an investment advice site due to the fact I linked to Southampton FC's page on the London Stock Exchange.
Footnote: Radio stations send QSL cards to distant listeners. I can't manage that but I'll happily send an email to anyone interested. Comments are open to anyone, O Wise Bulgarian Viewer...
I'm a little curious as to the attention this blog has been getting recently from places as far flung as Vietnam, Jordan, Singapore, Poland and Finland. The stats reveal that not only are these the places people are coming from to read about this increasingly-mistitled AKTing Lark (as well as the usual suspects from Cheltenham, Salford, Redhill, Hemel Hempstead and Southampton), but it seems we've found a Google search that has taken over from Dietmar Van Nostrilboy.
Step up Google search for 'You're Not Signing Anymore' - the all-new popular anti-Chelsea football chant, and guess who's number one on Google when you search for it?
Reminds me of the time someone listed this blog as being an investment advice site due to the fact I linked to Southampton FC's page on the London Stock Exchange.
Footnote: Radio stations send QSL cards to distant listeners. I can't manage that but I'll happily send an email to anyone interested. Comments are open to anyone, O Wise Bulgarian Viewer...
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