Luggy

Frank Bullitt wrote:

When he took over at Southend they had a transfer embargo and he struggled to get a first team squad together. In his second season they lost in the play offs. In his third season they had another transfer embargo but he took them to Wembley in the JPT (he was sacked just before it).

His record at Southend was a remarkable one given the circumstances within which he worked including having only 7 players on the first day's training at the start of the season. In the 2011/2012 season when they lost in the play-offs to Crewe, Southend finished fourth on 83 points and scored 77 goals (the second highest in the division). Ironically, Southend lost to Crewe in the play-offs who went up after finishing 7th with 72 points! The following season as stated above he got Southend to the JPT final at Wembley before parting company with the club preferring to sit in the stands with the fans rather than lead the team out.

Anyone listening to him on Tuesday would certainly feel he still had his finger on the pulse of lower League football and he is still coveting a job in the Football League or Conference. His perceptive and penetrative analysis of why Argyle are not higher in the League was the best I have heard and was routed in facts and statistical analysis. He was supportive of John Sheridan and what he had achieved but merely pointed out how, in his view, the team could do better with better ball retention and playing higher up the pitch based on the experience of how his teams had played in League 2 over the years and their scoring record.

He did say, interestingly, that he thought the standard of player playing in League 2 now was better than a decade ago. He remains as canny and wily as ever which were often the characteristics that were the hallmark of his tenure at Home Park.

Graham Clark wrote:

Frank Bullitt wrote:

When he took over at Southend they had a transfer embargo and he struggled to get a first team squad together. In his second season they lost in the play offs. In his third season they had another transfer embargo but he took them to Wembley in the JPT (he was sacked just before it).

His record at Southend was a remarkable one given the circumstances within which he worked including having only 7 players on the first day's training at the start of the season. In the 2011/2012 season when they lost in the play-offs to Crewe, Southend finished fourth on 83 points and scored 77 goals (the second highest in the division). Ironically, Southend lost to Crewe in the play-offs who went up after finishing 7th with 72 points! The following season as stated above he got Southend to the JPT final at Wembley before parting company with the club preferring to sit in the stands with the fans rather than lead the team out.

Anyone listening to him on Tuesday would certainly feel he still had his finger on the pulse of lower League football and he is still coveting a job in the Football League or Conference. His perceptive and penetrative analysis of why Argyle are not higher in the League was the best I have heard and was routed in facts and statistical analysis. He was supportive of John Sheridan and what he had achieved but merely pointed out how, in his view, the team could do better with better ball retention and playing higher up the pitch based on the experience of how his teams had played in League 2 over the years and their scoring record.

He did say, interestingly, that he thought the standard of player playing in League 2 now was better than a decade ago.  He remains as canny and wily as ever which were often the characteristics that were the hallmark of his tenure at Home Park.

Just a shame he was so out of his comfort zone in the higher leagues

steveinspain wrote:

The game may have moved on but it hasn't at this level. It's just as crap as it's always been.
It doesn't matter how you play in this league, it's about winning games and getting promotion.

In a nutshell that is it.
When Dave Kemp took over (and TP in a way) it was a simple message. ''What we are about to do is win games with unattractive footy but we will win games and stay up''. Achieved.
We MUST get out of this league.

I will only believe Sturrock did well with Southend when I have access to the budget he spent in comparison with other clubs.