Friday, 30 December 2011

REVIEW OF THE YEAR #PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 2

Today, we look at Part Two of the review of 2011 for Plymouth Argyle.

As well as seeing players such as Joe Mason, Yala Bolasie and Jack Stephens leave for pastures new, nine players that were out of contract were also released, including Karl Duguid, Rory Fallon, Marcel Seip, Luke Summerfield, Chris Clark, Kristzan Timar, Steven MacLean, Ryan Leonard and Liam Head.

Kari Arnason also left the club after refusing to defer his wages, Bondz N'gala joined Yeovil Town and Damien Johnson and Rory Patterson agreed season-long loan deals with Huddersfield Town and Northern Irish side Linfield respectively.

One plus point for Peter Reid was that Carl Fletcher and Stephane Zubar agreed to stay at Home Park.

Reid now set about assembling a new squad mainly made up from free transfers and loan signings as players such as Jake Cole, Luke Daley, Conor Hourihane, Will Atkinson and Warren Feeney arrived at Home Park.

Amongst the uncertainty facing the club in the close season, the Pilgrims celebrated Romain Larrieu's ten years service at the club with a testimonial against QPR who, of course, are managed by former Argyle manager Neil Warnock.

After achieving a creditable 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury Town on the opening day of the season, with Fletcher scoring a last minute equaliser, the Pilgrims then went on a run of eight straight defeats in the league, which saw Reid relieved of his managerial duties.

Fletcher was promptly installed as caretaker manager with Larrieu as his number two. The change appeared to paid an immediate dividend as they recorded a 2-0 win over Macclesfield Town in their first game in charge.

Off the field, the takeover bid by Bishop International Ltd fell by the wayside, as they failed to provide the necessary funding, and Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle turned to James Brent's Akkeron Group who brought the club out of Administration officially on October 31st 2011.

This decision came weeks after Brent agreed a deal with the club's employees to pay back their wages that they had previously had to defer.

As part of the deal, the club agreed a deal to sell Home Park back to Plymouth City Council.

Once the sale of the club was confirmed, Fletcher was confirmed as manager on a permanent basis with Larrieu as his assistant.

Despite their FA Cup first round exit at the hands of non-league Stourbridge and their first league defeat against Devon neighbours Torquay United for the first time in 40 years, the Pilgrims are currently on a four match unbeaten run, which has included wins over Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers.

Since exiting Administration, Fletcher has been able to strengthen his squad with the loan signings of Nick Chadwick, who originally left Home Park in 2008, veteran defender Darren Purse and winger Ashley Hemmings, as League Two survival remains firmly in their sights as they enter 2012.