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Hello, Plymouth Argyle fan coming in peace.
After 2 points in 3 games, some of our ridiculous so called fans are calling for Paul Sturrocks head..
A loss against Gillingham (Fair play to you, they are a good side) didn't help but he's a fantastic manager and should be given a proper chance..
I was wondering what opinions you held on the man and was he good for you, did he have any sticky patches.. etc etc..
Many Thanks
Sean  :)

Yes Sean

Came into a very troubled club with wages not being paid etc (including his)

Left when his girlfriend came courting and whilst it hurt at the time, upon reflection I for one cannot blame him.

Never gave us pretty football, but he got us out of the godforsaken Northern Division.

You will have rough patches, fuck me we all do, but you have got yourself an honest good manager there with a solid backroom staff.

I would be shocked if he was dismissed.

Good luck you fucking Janner



"Green Arrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"

Thank you, I say I say thank you.  ;)

No problem, you will still get the cries of "judas" here, but deep down most of the fans respect him and are thankful for the work that he and his backroom staff achieved here

I agree with Fred. Also I once nearly scared him to death by trying to shake his hand.

Sturrock is one of the best in the business.  Southampton's demise immediately commenced when Sturrock left, although George Burley did a decent job.

Sturrock was not only a great manager for Swindon Town, he was an incredible communicator.  His rapport with the fans was second to none.

If Plymouth are daft enough to part with Sturrock, there will be thirty-seven clubs finding excuses to part with their current manager, an exception would be Swindon Town.  Danny Wilson could not be better suited to a job where he has to punch above his weight.

If you part with Sturrock, prepare for the shitter, Div II beckons.

What the rest all said.

I liked Luggy, and was upset when he left us - but we couldn't blame him - our club was going down the pan at that time.

:D

Hes past it,his teams play long ball and hes a pretty loathsome individual who left Swindon no better off than when he came.

i second that, football  was shocking when he was here, fucked off at the first opportunity. fuck him.

Thinking about it he actually left the club in a worse state,I heard it took 6 coats of paint to cover that fucking orange office..

I lost respect for him after he didn't bother showing up at the friendly last summer and played a shite team. So much for his "I follow all my ex-clubs's results" etc etc bollocks. In terms of management here he did well. Got us promoted from League Two without too many alarms. Didn't play the best football but it suited the players we had at the time and it worked. Just a shame he jumped ship at the first chance he got. I can understand him wanting a more secure job in terms of getting paid and going back to a club he was very successful at a few years previous but I was dissapointed he didn't at least wait to see what the new owners had to say for themselves. He'd probably still be here now if he had stayed at the time.

this is my favourite sturrock memory.

i like(d) him and wish him well given his health problems but his departure does leave a sour taste in my mouth (or it could be the lime and honey tea i'm drinking)

Good manager at the level we were at and would have done a job for us in League 1 as well. Shockingly naive off the field though and too keen to play the people's hero to see it. Which ultimately led to his own position becoming untenable via the Portugeezers. Don't blame him for the friendly no-show as in hindsight that may have been around the time his illness was coming to the fore. He clearly loves Plymouth and wants that to be the job that takes him into retirement - hope it works out for him

i rate the bloke,and his backroom team were spot on too.
his way of playing wasn''t always the most attractive but was effective.
i dont blame him for going back to plymouth in the slightest.

This.

I'd have him, Summerfield and Blackley back here in a shot.

I'd even go and pick them up from Plymouth.

The bloke is on his last legs.

Arent you enjoying our pacy wing trickery? That would never have been allowed under Sturrock.

Flat 4-4-2 was all Sturrock could play.

But we had roberts and zaaboub on the wings under sturrock? And if rumours are to believed it was him who earmarked mcnamee.

He had a simpe system of play - big men up front, get the ball out quickly to the wide men to cross it in, and have 2 combative midfielders in the middle, which is why we got shot of weston.

It's proved to be a very effective lower league tactic

He was always out to draw a game first and win it second. If the other team werent giving way then the games could just descend into a stifling match, each team seeing who could sit on the game more.

That said, if we went a goal up, or the other team didnt really fancy it then we did play some really good stuff.

I respect him and Im very grateful for our promotion back to this league, but I can understand why Plymouth fans are getting fed up with the same turgid style of football. Sturrock likes to stear a steady path. He wont get as far in the Championship as a Gary Johnson or a Roberto Martinez. Both of those managers had spells at Swansea and City where they were shite for quite some time, then came good and kept improving. Sturrock tends to start and finnish on a simmilar standard.

Sturrock has done so much at Plymouth that they will have to give him the respect of getting them relegated before they can replace him. A bit like the season everyone knew Brian Clough was going to get Forest relegated, but everyone accepted it had to happen before the club could move on.

So yeah, I think Sturrock will get the Janners relegated if not this season, then next season.

I would agree with most of that, he did a job and got us promoted but we stuttered over the line as it took us until the last game of the season. He wasn't here long enough to leave a lasting legacy so we'll never know how good or not he really was as he never really built 'his' team.

I definately think there were signs that his style of play was becoming outdated and he was struggling to adapt to modern football when he was here. I don't think his direct style of play really cuts it anymore and this seems to be evident at Plymouth now. He seems eternally loyal to players who have played for him at other clubs which at times can be good but at others having dressing room favorites probably causes some problems.

I think his main problem now is that he seems very naive to the modern business side of football and can be manipulated too easily as Diamandis did with him. He's a proper football man but I think his management is coming to the end of it's shelf life and his network of players are getting old now and retiring from playing. It happens with managers as football changes once successful managers can get left behind and I think this is the case for Sturrock.

Winning > Pacy Wing Trickery

Zaaboub had his moments, as did Roberts - just like McNamee...

He never had 4 attacking wingers at the club at the same time.

Zaaboub was about the only attacking midfielder he bought to the club. Roberts was only out there because there wasnt anything else we could do with him.

He would have loved Jonathan Douglas though.

Difference is McNamee "has his moments" at least 4 times in every game.Believe Deev!

I must have missed those 4 moments at home to Franchise...

Dan loves Sturrock because he was predictable.

Dan loves predictable managers because then he turns out to be right more often on football forums.

Dan loved Sturrock because we did well under him and we havent been the same team since.

Predictable winning is fine by me.

Well I dont think weve been the same since Dennis Wise left.

I don't think we've been the same since Hoddle left.

After Barnet away, Stockport away I could have predicted what was going to happen at Grimsby away. Fair play, after that he got Barry Corr to sign for us, and his signing got us over the line.

Im not saying Sturrock wasnt a good manager for us. But there is no way Id have him back now.

That was the flatest most depressing promotion season ever,it stunk and so does Sturrock.

we shouldnt have been in that division in the first place, when we crossed the finish line against walsall i dont even think i cheered that much, it was more like - what a waste of a year.

I dont remember this Sturrock antagonism at the time-methinks Yeovil and KOT are on a wind up

I remember people not being too impressed with him at the time

not at all adje, he did my head in.

Im not,I expect I hated Sturrock at the time.

 I pretend to hate all our managers when they first come so when they eventually fail I can say "I told you so" Its a tactic commonly known as doing a DV  8)

Talking about managers that fuck off at the first opportunity.

As soon as we stopped winning, he was off-ski.  He even did the same to Leeds(scum).
That said he did a good job of getting the players fit.

As for Sturrock, he came in, did a good job & left when he got a better offer.
Won't be remembered as a Great Manager for us, but wasn't the worst either.

Interesting that people complain about the poor football when he was here, but we were getting better crowds than we had for some time, because fans want first & foremost to see a winning team.

Plymuff lost today, could be a vote of confidence this week.

He's a brilliant manager.

He's lost his buddy at Plymouth and he's lost a fair chunk of the fanbase (from what I've read) too.

I believe Plymouth will struggle this season, by this I mean get relegated but I thought this last season too so shows what I know.

Paul Sturrock did what he was supposed to do at Swindon and I thank him for it.

Like your avatar Rich, I'm gonna knick if ya don't mind.

Actually I'm gonna knick even if you do mind.

Cheers.

Then it's settled :)

I clearly remember Yeovil being dead against him in fairness. Personally, I liked Sturrock a lot.

I agree 100% with BR when he says the club has not been the same since Hoddle left. Gorman did his best and then the heart was ripped out of the club by the Scouse Mafia. It has never recovered IMO.

I think he would have got us up either this season, or next.  We all know it wouldn't have been pretty.  Can't imagine him doing anything of note with Plymouth now, although that's not to say he's not a very competent manager.

If it was a straight choice between him and Wilson, at this moment in time I'd go for Wilson.  I think Hartlepool will rue getting rid of him in the next year or two.

Good manager, and did a job for us.  But I never really bought the 'returning to my spiritual home' argument when he went back to PAFC.  How many spiritual homes can one man have?

He was God to Plymouth fans when he went back...and now it sounds as if the story has taken a bad turn.  Best argument for not returning, in my view.  We should leave our idols as idols, and not give them the chance to show themselves for the mortals they really are.

You mean to sat that Mickey Hazard is not immortal?

I think the Championship is a league too high for him.  He did a job here but it seemed at the time that we had stopped dead once his old friend network players for league 1 level had dried up in terms of players.

I read some interesting comments from Boothroyd explaining why he used direct tactics, claiming that there just aren't enough affordable Emglish players at mid Championship and below level, that can pick a decent forward pass in the pressure situation of a game - essentially the quality of players technically is low, and so using the tactics he did at Watford was the only way he could get them above that level.  Keep it simple for the simple players.  I think he may have a bit of a point, as people like Sturrock show at this level that they get results.  It's a big challenge for a Manager to get a team playing decent football, more so it seems now than 15 years ago.  I don't see many teams in our league playing the way Crewe used to for example, or even us in the 90-96 period (give or take a few games).

It's unfortunate but some of the Plymouth fans seem out to get Luggy.  New manager poll already started, rumours of player unrest etc. 

I wish he and Cox had stayed at Swindon, although the Wilson/Shirtliff/Byrne management team subject to signing a few more players, are doing the business, giving the stability the club needs.

Think he's only got a few games to get Plymouth going or he's in trouble.

Only 8,703 fans watched Argyle lose 1-0 to Watford this evening at Home Park in The Championship.

5 years and 1 day after 20,555 fans watched Argyle lose in an evening home fixture with Leeds United in the same division.

Ouch.

I didn't say that.  Mickey Hazard is, obviously, God.  I just wouldn't want to see him playing along side Douglas any time soon.

Argyle are bottom now, the pressure on Luggy increases yet again.

I'm going to Newcastle vs. Plymouth this weekend - should be fun, I dislike Argyle.

Hasn't he started playing again recently, for his local non-league side? Sure I read that somewhere.

Micky Hazard, the finest player I have seen in a town shirt, had nine toes.  He lost the big toe on his left foot aged four when his father dropped a concrete slab on it.

The end is nigh for Luggy.

I'm inclined to agree - I understand him going, but there is the viewpoint "never go back" - its a shame he won't be remembered as fondly there anymore if he does go.

I have no sympathy for the guy he jumped ship at the first chance leaving us with a load of shit players on long contracts and then recommends his mate Maurice Cunt chops for the job.
Before anyone slates me dont forget he then promises to send a strong team pre-season then sends the kids and does not bother turning up himself after a lot of people had bought tickets a complete act of dis-respect.
The guy is an average League 1 or 2 manager he would not have taken us on as he is now proving at Plymuff.

Anyone have him as a death prediction?

Even for a football manager he does look exceedingly unwell.

Like a big white puffy sausage roll.

His days must be numbered there now.  I do actually like the fella although his jumping ship doesn’t sit easy.  I think Holloway changed the side and the supporters expectations to such an extent that Sturrock was always going to fail to match expectations with his style of play and preference of player.

I think the fact that Sturrock never managed Plymouth in the Championship says a fair bit aswell. He hardly did the business with Sheffield Wednesday in the 2nd tier either.

To be sent packing from your 'spiritual home' must be tough.

Oh hang on, though.  He's got another spiritual home in Dundee.  He'll probably move there.

Exactly, he's Dundee United through and through - the guy paints his office tangerine for goodness sake :)

Precisely.  So all the guff we had from Argyle fans when he went back there is now sounding hilarious.

'Luggy's coming home' etc.  There was even one toss pot giving progress updates on his drive down to Plymouth to meet their Chairman ('He's passing Ivybridge' etc.)

Well 2 years down the line, he's succeeded in returning them to approximately their correct place in the pecking order.  Job done, Agent Sturrock.  Congratulations.  You may now return home.

he settled in plymouth and the family home is there and it's where he'll retire.
although his management is open too question i suppose,his reasons for retuning there are perfectly reasonable.
i dont blame him for going back there at all

My point was that he's Dundee United through and through, he has an affection for Argyle no question.

I've got no major issues with his reason as to why he left Swindon. But Plymouth fans set themselves up for this as they were irrationally hating Leicester for taking their new messiah Ian Holloway from them at the time.

Ben thats sooo mean!