Plymouth Argyle F.C. season 2006-07

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1886/87 - ... - 2001/02 - 2002/03 - 2003/04 - 2004/05 - 2005/06 - 2006/07

League Championship
win-loss-draw
Goal for-against
points (%)
Position
Top Scorer
17-13-16
63-62
67 (49%)
11
Barry Hayles (14)
FA Cup Quarter finals vs Watford 0-1
League Cup 1st Round vs. Walsall 0-1
Manager Ian Holloway

Contents

[edit] Summary of the 2006/07 season:

After only eight months as manager, during which he was credited with saving Argyle from relegation, Tony Pulis returned to Stoke in mid-June. Two weeks later, former QPR manager Ian Holloway, was appointed manager.

Holloway quickly added the team's only striker, Nick Chadwick, with veteran Barry Hayles from Millwall and 20 year-old Sylvan Ebanks-Blake from Man United who became the leading scorers of the season with 14 and 10 goals respectively. The addition of Dutch defender Marcel Seip, ultimately displaced Aljofree in central defence. In goal, Luke McCormick got first team action with Romain Larrieu out sick and kept his place.

Several young players established themselves in the first team especially Gary Sawyer who became a regular on the left of defense, especially after Tony Capaldi appeared set to leave at the end of the season. Luke Summerfield and Dan Gosling also impressed.

The first third of the season saw a fairly good start, where Holloway's signings, enthusiasm and more attacking style appeared to be lifting team performances from the previous season and to 6th place after 15 games. The possibility play-off and even promotion began to be talked about. However, the lack of depth showed mid-season as the accumulation of suspensions and injuries (including Paul Wotton out for the season with a knee injury) forced Holloway to draw ever deeper into reserves, and with a slide in results and position.

Holloway moved aggressively during the January transfer window, bringing in loanees Kevin Gallen (striker, QPR), Hungarians Peter Halmosi (midfield) and Krisztián Timár (defense), and 17-year old Scott Sinclair (left wing, Chelsea) and permanent signing Rory Fallon (Halmosi and Timár became permanent signings at the end of the season). Settling the new players in took time and though performances improved, it was not sufficiently to boost Argyle far up the table.

However, Argyle had an excellent FA Cup run making it into the Quarter Finals before losing 0-1 against Watford, the farthest any non-premiership team made it. It was, however, a game that they should have won and the lack of killer instinct showed in this game and others. The team seemed to go into a funk after the Watford loss with a string of mediocre results which saw them drifting in mid-table. However, the team rallied at the end of the season with five successive wins and its best finish in 50 years.

In its third season in the Championship, Argyle had become an established team, with a solid and stable line up of players, highly regarded management, and optimism for the next season.

Season Wins Losses Draws Points Position
2006/7 17 13 16 67 11
2005/6 13 16 17 56 14
2004/5 14 21 11 53 17

Midfielder Lilian Nalis was voted player of the year and defender Gary Sawyer young player of the year.

While Argyle ended the season with no financial troubles, a big question remains over the ability of the team to attract the investment likely needed to lift the team to the Premiership with investments in players, stadium, and training facilities.

[edit] Team

The 2006/7 Plymouth Argyle first-team squad:

No. Position Player
1 Flag of France GK Romain Larrieu
2 Flag of England DF Anthony Barness
4 Flag of France MF Lilian Nalis
5 Flag of Hungary DF Krisztián Timár (on loan from Ferencvárosi TC)
6 Flag of England DF Hasney Aljofree
7 Flag of England MF David Norris
8 Flag of Hungary MF Ákos Buzsáky
9 Flag of England FW Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
10 Flag of Jamaica FW Barry Hayles
11 Flag of England FW Nick Chadwick
12 Flag of Earth Green Army
13 Flag of France DF Mathias Doumbe
14 Flag of Northern Ireland DF Tony Capaldi
15 Flag of England DF Paul Wotton (captain)
16 Flag of Hungary MF Péter Halmosi (on loan from Debreceni VSC)
17 Flag of England FW Kevin Gallen (on loan from QPR)
No. Position Player
18 Flag of England DF Gary Sawyer
19 Flag of the Netherlands DF Marcel Seip
20 Flag of England MF Lee Hodges
21 Flag of England FW Cherno Samba
22 Flag of England DF Paul Connolly
23 Flag of England GK Luke McCormick
24 Flag of England GK Josh Clapham
27 Flag of England FW Reuben Reid
28 Flag of Scotland DF Scott Laird
29 Flag of England MF Luke Summerfield
30 Flag of England MF Dan Gosling
31 Flag of Ireland FW Anthony Mason
32 Flag of Sweden MF Bojan Djordjic
33 Flag of New Zealand FW Rory Fallon
34 Flag of England FW Ashley Barnes

12 Green Army is not a real player, but was registered by the club as a tribute to the supporters. The idea behind assigning the number 12 was that the great support from fans gives Argyle a similar advantage to having an extra (twelfth) player.

[edit] Transfers

[edit] Out

Date Player Transfer To Fee
18 August 2006 Chris Zebroski Released Free Agent Released after being found guilty of gross misconduct
18 May 2007 Josh Clapham Released Free Agent
25 May 2007 Tony Capaldi Contract Expired Free Agent Signed for Cardiff

[edit] In

Date Player Transfer From Fee
14 July 2006 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Buy Manchester United £200,000 + £100,000 if plays enough matches
19 July 2006 Barry Hayles Buy Millwall £100,000
4 August 2006 Josh Clapham Free Trial N/A
30 August 2006 Marcel Seip Free Heerenveen N/A
30 August 2006 Cherno Samba Free Cádiz N/A
11 January 2007 Kevin Gallen Loan QPR N/A
11 January 2007 Peter Halmosi Loan Debreceni VSC N/A
11 January 2007 Krisztián Timár Loan Ferencvaros N/A
17 January 2007 Scott Sinclair Loan Chelsea F.C. N/A
19 January 2007 Rory Fallon Buy Swansea City F.C. £300,000
16 March 2007 Ashley Barnes Free Paulton Rovers N/A
16 May 2007 Peter Halmosi Buy Debreceni VSC £400,000
16 May 2007 Krisztián Timár Buy Ferencvaros £75,000

[edit] Results

All Championship League games, except for(1) = Carling Cup, and (2) = FA Cup

Date Opposition Venue Result Scorers (for Plymouth Argyle in bold) Attend. Pos.
5 Aug. Wolves Home Draw (1-1) Hayles 35, Doumbe 47 (og) 15,964 9
8 Aug. Colchester Away Win (1-0) Summerfield 30 4,627 7
12 Aug. Sunderland Away Win (2-3) Murphy 1, Norris 8, Hayles 39, Elliott 67, Chadwick 82 24,377 2
19 Aug. Sheff. Weds. Home Loss (1-2) Wotton 43, McAllister 52, O'Brien 83 14,507 9
22 Aug. Walsall (1) Home Loss (0-1) Dann 85 6,407 -
26 Aug. Stoke Away Draw (1-1) Sidibe 39, Hayles 78 11,626 8
9 Sept. QPR Home Draw (1-1) Blackstock 17, Ebanks-Blake 31 12,138 9
12 Sep. Cardiff Home Draw (3-3) Thompson 8, Chopra 29, 49, McNaughton (og) 69,Hayles 74, Purse (og) 88 11,655 11
16 Sep. Southampton Away Loss (0-1) Rasiak 52 22,514 15
23 Sep. Norwich Home Win (3-1) Doherty 14 (og), Seip 47, Norris 74, Earnshaw 94 11,813 9
30 Sep. Coventry Away Win (1-0) Samba 82 19,545 8
14 Oct. Derby Home Win (3-1) Wotton 45 (pen), Lupoli 45+2, Wotton 63 (pen), Seip 79 13,622 5
17 Oct. Barnsley Away Draw (2-2) Kay 2, Ebanks-Blake 29, Hayles 34, Richards 50 9,479 6
21 Oct. Burnley Home Draw (0-0) - 12,817 7
28 Oct. Crystal Palace Away Win (1-0) Chadwick 39 17,084 5
31 Oct. Ipswich Home Draw (1-1) Legwinski 1, Wotton 22 12,210 6
4 Nov. Birmingham Home Loss (0-1) Jaidi 75, 17,008 7
11 Nov. Leicester Away Draw (2-2) Hume 29, Nalis 31, Porter 75, Hayles 90 21,703 7
18 Nov. Southend Away Draw (1-1) Djordjic 5, Gower 59, 9,469 9
25 Nov. Leeds Home Loss (1-2) Blake 3, Djordjic 40, Lewis 61 17,088 12
28 Nov. Luton Home Win (1-0) Djordjic 61 9,965 9
2 Dec. Birmingham Away Loss (0-3) Bendtner 21, Upson 30, McSheffrey 41 22,592 11
9 Dec. Hull Home Win (1-0) Ebanks-Blake 71 12,101 10
16 Dec. Preston Away Loss (0-3) Pugh 12, Omerod 41, Alexander 56 13,171 12
23 Dec. West Brom Home Draw (2-2) Hayles 23, Nalis 40, Phillips 45+1, 45+3 15,172 12
26 Dec. Cardiff Away Draw(2-2) Norris 34, Thompson 47, 52, Norris 59 17,289 13
30 Dec. Derby Away Loss (0-1) Bisgaard 81 25,775 13
1 Jan. Southampton Home Draw (1-1) Rasiak 5, Hayles 66 15,377 13
6 Jan. Peterborough (2) Away Draw (1-1) Aljofree 74, Mclean 78 6,255 -
13 Jan. Norwich Away Win (3-1) Safri 45+1, Hayles 59, Buzsaky 63, 57 23,523 12
16 Jan. Peterborough (2) Home Win (2-1) Mclean 13, Hayles 18, Norris 27 9,973 -
22 Jan. Coventry Home Win (3-2) Gallen 18, Birchall 22, Buzsaky 32, Hayles 48, Mifsud 70 9,841 11
27 Jan. Barnet (2) Away Win (2-0) Aljofree 67 (pen), Sinclair 83 5,204 -
30 Jan. West Brom Away Loss (1-2) Kamara 41(pen), 50, Fallon 70 19,894 11
3 Feb. Wolves Away Draw (2-2) Sinclair 27, Ward 33, Timar 36, Olofinjana 69 19,082 11
10 Feb Sunderland Home Loss (0-2) Stokes 69, Connolly 71 15,247 11
17 Feb. Derby (2) Home Win (2-0) Gallen 14 (pen), Sinclair 83 18,026 -
20 Feb. Colchester Home Win (3-0) Norris 12, Ebanks-Blake 59 (pen), Gosling 67 12,895 11
24 Feb. QPR Away Draw (1-1) Nalis 32, Cook 59, 13,757 12
3 Mar. Stoke Home Draw (1-1) Ebanks-Blake 40 (pen), Russell 55 12,539 12
5 Mar. Sheff. Wed. Away Draw (1-1) MacClean 21, Gosling, 56 19,449 12
11 Mar. Watford (2) Home Loss (0-1) Bouazza 21 20,652 -
14 Mar. Barnsley Home Loss (2-4) Nalis 15, Nyatanga 20, Devaney 31, Ebanks-Blake, Devaney 61, Ferenczi 93 10,265 13
17 Mar. Crystal Palace Home Win (1-0) Sinclair 48 11,239 13
31 Mar. Ipswich Away Loss (0-3) Garvan 9, Lee 15, Haynes 90 21,078 13
3 Apr. Burnley Away Loss (0-4) Duff 13, McVeigh 20, Jones 38, Elliot 61 9,793 13
7 April Leeds Away Loss (1-2) Halmosi 36, Healy 45, Michalik 87 30,034 15
9 April Leicester Home Win (3-0) Halmosi 15, Ebanks-Blake 46, Hayles 62 10,900 13
14 April Luton Away Win (2-1) Norris 4, Halmosi 40, O'Leary 51 7,601 13
21 April Southend Home Win (2-1) Ebanks-Blake 6, Clarke 25, Hayles 89 11,097 12
28 April Preston Home Win (2-0) Ebanks-Blake 77, Hayles 85 13,813 12
6 May Hull Away Win (2-1) Halmosi 45+1, Ebanks-Blake 59 Elliot 61 20,661 11

[edit] Results Summary

Month Wins Losses Draws Points/Possible Percentage
August 2 1 2 8/15 53%
September 2 1 2 8/15 53%
October 2 0 3 9/15 60%
November 1 2 2 5/15 33%
December 1 3 2 5/18 28%
January 2 1 1 7/12 58%
February 1 1 2 5/12 42%
March 1 2 2 5/15 33%
April 4 2 0 12/18 67%
May 1 0 0 3/3 100%

[edit] Pre Season Results

The pre-season saw wins over Tiverton (4-0), Grays Athletic (3-0), FC Gratkorn (5-1), and Yeovil (2-0) and losses to Real Madrid (0-1) and Bristol Rovers (0-1). A pre-season altercation between first-year Chris Zebroski and team captain, mid-fielder Paul Wotton in an Austrian bar resulted in 100 stitches to Wotton's head and the sacking of Zebroski. Wotton recovered for the first game of the season.Plymouth Argyle F.C. Season 2007-08