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Arsene Wenger has had a fair bit of criticism the last few seasons for losing ground on Premiership's elite clubs but come January every year the distraction of the FA cup always seems to bring out the best from his sides.

After beating Hull in last years competition Wenger has been in the final 6 times and picked up the Old Lady 5 times in 18 seasons and losing just the 1 final.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GIerbqFpx7374pbblY-6XCP7ICJYUt9thrqqtwr4Avc/pubhtml

Wenger only this week has...

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So after a great 0-1 win on the 6th September on Sky Sports against Luton at Kenilworth Road, September took a change for the worse. Going on to lose three of the next four games with only a 2-0 home win against Hartlepool the only points picked up in a dismal few weeks after Luton.

Since then Sheridan and Argyle have gone under the radar quietly creeping up the table picking up five wins out of seven and also progressing through the 1st round of the FA Cup against a tricky Conference North si...
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So a new season has crept up on us quite nicely, thanks largely to an entertaining World Cup in Brazil.

Considering England went home on the first flight back to London, which even for me was earlier than I expected.

I enjoyed the World Cup and was pretty happy to see the likes of Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia all putting in a good showing against the might of Brazil, Uruguay and Holland.

I think in the end German efficiency again showed what football is all about, CONSISTANCY.

Anyway enoug...
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Now the World Cup dust has settled in Brazil, it gives us a little over a month before domestic football returns.

I have been meaning to do a piece on the current state of finances within our football clubs for a while.

What I have found is long what I've suspected that for clubs like my club Plymouth Argyle, the dream of making the promised land of the Premiership are now further away then ever and the chance of ever getting there has never been so unobtainable than they are at the moment.

Unle...

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So mostly due to my twins George and Matthew being born three months early at the end of March and spending the last few months at work or in the hospital its not been the best start to my intentions of doing my blog weekly or fortnightly at the minimum.

Hopefully now the wife and the two boys are on the mend I can start to get this blog really coming thick and fast.

So argyle have added a full pre season schedule to get them ready to kick off with a bang on August the 9th.

These are the pre se...
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So with the campaign over I though it was about time I started getting some headway on the 14/15 campaign underway.

So far Argyle have two pre season games booked in:

Saturday 19 July - away to Weymouth, kick-off 3pm.

Tuesday 22 July - away to Torquay, kick-off 7.45pm.

Hopefully now the season is over we will get some more games booked in to have a look how we are shaping up.

Tuesday May 6th:

Argyle have released the following retained list which give us an idea of a big shake up,

New Contract Offe...

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Just over 8000 fans turned out to witness what turned out to be the end of our playoff hopes for another season.

Argyle had the chance to leapfrog an Oxford side who had lost the last three games and really put a statement of intent on making the playoffs.

It was not to be, The game was delayed to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy to a kick off time of 15:07.

A minutes silence was impeccably held to mark the 96 lives lost that day.

Though a good cause to show respect I've neve...

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The last few seasons the press and supporters have called for Wenger's head after every season has come and gone leaving Arsenal trophy less going into the 9th season without any silverware, But should we be surprised?

I've been backing Wenger to bring trophies and the glory days back to Arsenal since Vieira lifted the FA Cup after defeating United on penalties in Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in May 2005.

I've often tried deflecting criticism of Wenger by so called Arsenal and all football fan...
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Typically after my last visit and a bad result at home to York the pilgrims have gone away and had two away wins on the bounce.

First on the Tuesday after the York game away to Dagenham and a 2-1 victory thanks to a goal a piece from Reid and Alessandra.

Then on to beat promotion hopefuls Fleetwood 4-0 at The Highbury Stadium and in our 4th meeting against the newest tidy club to make its way from the Non League in recent years.

Anyway today it was Morecambe. Argyle have played Morecambe 5 tim...
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So after a few weeks of working Saturday's starved me of my football fix at Home Park I left at 5pm still in need of a fix.

The greens started the game with a quick tempo and on the front foot until 10 minutes in and the referee deemed Trotman to of caught the striker as he was about to pull the trigger.

Harsh was an understatement, Without the ability I only had one look at it but seemed Trotts got a solid foot on the ball.

Anyway as with the letter of the law the, The man in black pointed to t...

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After a decent Christmas and New Year period, Argyle was unbeaten in five games and saw this extended to six after the visit of The Shrimpers.

Phil Brown arrived with a decent team which started with no less than three former Pilgrims in the starting 11. Ryan Leonard, Will Atkinson and Conor Clifford all starting against there former employers.

The game itself didn't produce to much to shout about until the 65th minute when a Dominic Blizzard deflected shot looped over a young and impressive Da...

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Due to the fact we're now in a World Cup year it wont be long before the nation gets gripped in the usual excitement of world cup fever, Or will it?

Recent national tournaments have been a nightmare due to many factors, and the reasons for England's failures at the biggest stage in the world is often the cause of discussion before, during and after the finals.

I will try to give my opinion to why we are still waiting 48 years later since we lasted tasted glory.
The quarter final seems to be now ...
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Well as we enter 2014 what's a better way to start a new year and the second half of the season with a Devon derby at home.

After torrential rain the last week it was no surprise that no less then four league two games were called off in the morning.

Bristol Rovers v Cheltenham , Exeter v Wycombe , Newport v Oxford and Northampton v Chesterfield all becoming victims of the stormy conditions making pitches water logged and unplayable. 

No such problem at Home Park however after ground staff playe...
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So we left Plymouth about 1030 am with Big Tone driving and Dad in the front comfort seats and behind myself and Rob tightly packed in Tony's Kompressor C200.

Quick stop off to pick up the German Chris at the Barn Owl and have a quick hot drink for the road in Exshitter to make the back seat even more a tight fit.

The Coffee at the Barn Owl proved to nearly be a rookie mistake as getting to Richmond and being stumped by non moving traffic cost us the opening two minutes. 

Running across the main...
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So with the new years a couple of days away I have decided it was about time to commit to writing a football blog week in week out as opposed to previous attempts of one every month or so and then forgetting all about it.

Hopefully I can cover a range of football related topics from Plymouth Argyle in League Two and the England national team in a world cup year.

All levels of football will get mention from Premiership to the Skrill Premier.

As the new years about to turn we have Arsenal going in...
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