h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE FC

Manager – Paul ‘Luggy’ Sturrock. He encourages his nickname, having brought it with him and told us what it was... Needs no introduction as a player, but managerially did great work with St Johnstone, building a young team and raising the club from mid-table Division 1 into the SPL. Couldn’t resist the vacancy at Dundee United when it came up, but struggled on limited resources and resigned due to stress – was carried away from one game in an ambulance with heart trouble. After a few months out, he applied for the Argyle job and turned the club round – we were fifth from bottom of the Third Division when he arrived in November 2000, and he said his objective was to avoid relegation and build for next season. He did exactly that: we were safe by Easter and he used that rest of that season to try out several short-term signings – rejecting half of them and only keeping the good ones. He also cleared out the dead wood from the squad he inherited, with the end result that we broke the Third Division record on 2001-02 to clinch the Championship with 102 points.

After a season of consolidation last year, Luggy spent a lot of time experimenting with the squad towards the end of the season, and cleared out the dead wood again - so we're hoping for a repeat of the 01-02 season...

How we play:
Sturrock believes in trying to play good passing football, although we’ve probably erred more on the side of defence than attack, and occasionally get accused of being boring. But there’s a bit more skill in the team than your average bunch of honest triers - yet we’ve still got plenty of bottle and the ability to roll our sleeves up and battle for a point. In contrast to the likes of Swindon, we don’t have a prolific goalscorer to win us matches, and our goals tend to come from all positions – there isn’t an obvious man to mark to neutralise the team as a whole.

Our classic tactics are easy to sum up. 4-4-2 at home, a counter-attacking 4-5-1 away, and trying to build up the play from the full-backs forward. Ironically, promotion to the Second Division has forced us to abandon this and play an uglier style of football pitching the ball straight into the midfield and defending further up the pitch, as more tactically astute sides have pushed forward and closed down the full-backs thus cutting off our supply line. As the season has progressed, various experimental tactics have been tried - the most effective ones have been wingless - a sort of 4-1-3-2 with Steve Adams sitting in front of the back four, or a 4-3-3 / 4-4-2 at home with Ian Stonebridge flitting between attack and left-midfield as required.

THE SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS
1. Romain Larrieu - signed by Sturrock as a free agent after failing to land a contract with Hibs, the Frenchman's last club was ASOA Valence in the French Second Division. Has become one of the club’s heroes and certainly one of the best keepers we have ever had – he has no less than four terrace chants to his name, the best being “He’s French, he’s great, he’s David Friio’s mate - Larrieu!”. Has become pretty strong on crosses after a shaky start, and is a fantastic shot stopper - stops one or two certain goals in most games. Leicester and Arsenal in particular have had a look at him, and it’s generally accepted that if we don’t get promotion to the First Division soon, a bigger club is likely to come in for him.

23. Luke McCormick – ex-youth team goalkeeper in his third year of professional football. We don’t yet know if he’s up to it... played a couple of games when Larrieu was injured last season, did well and kept a clean sheet at Brentford, but let in a couple of nightmare late goals when we lost 2-1 in the following game at Tranmere. Luggy elected to get in a loan ‘keeper rather than play him in the following game, so the jury's still out. There is a suspicion that a not-completely-fit Larrieu has been played at times, rather than gamble on playing Luke.


CENTRE-BACKS
5. Graham Coughlan - an Irishman signed by Sturrock from Scottish football, and probably his best signing after Larrieu. Fans' favourite at Livingston and instrumental in their rise into the SPL, we snapped 'Cocko' up at the start of last season on a free after he fell out with their manager. He’s been a colossus at the back, gets forward effectively at set pieces, and was the club’s leading scorer in the 01-02 season. Seems to be allergic to the BBC cameras – had a mare at Whitby in 01-02, and another shocker at home to Dagenham & Redbridge in the Third Round last season.

15. Paul Wotton - current captain (although Coughlan is the team’s real leader) and also former youth-team captain. Has a thunderbolt of a shot and is without question the club’s no. 1 dead-ball specialist – scored a couple of 30-yard screamers in the Cup last year, and nearly decapitating the Stockport 'keeper in the Second Round. Always gives 100% and had a great 01-02 season last year - didn't initially convince at Second Division level but just about won the doubters around by May. Has occasionally been played at right-back and central midfield to accommodate him.

18. Hasney Aljofree - came on a free from Dundee United at the beginning of September 2002. Weird name, but actually a white English bloke who started his career at Bolton. Can play anywhere on the left or in the middle of defence or midfield. Started out at Argyle as a left-back, but lost his place there to the rejuvenated Lee Hodges, but has done well at centre-back in the reserves, and made his first team comeback there last December against Notts County - and was man of the match. Was given a few more outings there towards the end of last season and looks to be a classy alternative at centre-back to Wotton - another corner and free-kick specialist, his left foot also gives us an alternative to Wotton’s right.

RIGHT-BACKS
2. David Worrell - Ex-Under 21 International for Eire, and Sturrock’s first signing - came from Dundee United after a successful loan spell. Good on the ground, not the best in the air. Last season he looked like the best right-back we've had for years, and was expected to go from strength to strength the Second Division – but he hasn’t. Has been exposed as being not as quick as we thought he was, and has shown a couple of worrying lapses of concentration against players with the capability to exploit this. Probably a lack of confidence as much as anything – but he’s kept his place as the only specialist right-back at the club. Paul Wotton has deputised when Worrell has been injured or suspended.

30. Paul Connolly - first-year professional, has only made a few first-team appearances so far. Looks a great prospect, speedy and committed, and there have already been calls for him to be given his chance ahead of Worrell.

LEFT-BACK
14. Lee Hodges - There’s only two Lee Hodges... the other one is a lot shorter and plays for Bristol Rovers. Ours is the ex-Spurs youth team striker, came to us via Barnet and Reading having been converted to a left-sided midfielder on the way. Very good ‘shape’ player and one of the senior figures in the squad: solid but unspectacular and gets through a lot of work. He was slated early in the season for his lack of attacking contributions down the left, but has been a revelation since being switched to left-back. Gets a lot of headed goals at set-pieces popping for far-post headers, useful left foot for corners and free-kicks, and is second choice for taking penalties.

3. Brian McGlinchey - left-sided midfielder signed on a free from Gillingham in December 2000. Was converted to left-back and became first-choice there in the promotion season, but injury towards the end of that season and again just after the beginning of this season has meant he’s featured mainly as a substitute ever since. Looks to be on his way out of the club, to be honest.

Peter Gilbert - speedy youngster signed on loan from Birmingham City. Has played one reserve game so far, didn't pull up any trees in that, so we don't really know.

MIDFIELD
David Norris - nicknamed ‘Chuck’ for the obvious reason. Super Dave started out at Boston United, from where Bolton bought him for £50,000. He came on loan to us last season having been told he wouldn’t get a game at the Reebok while they were in the Premiership. Has been a great signing – a nippy midfielder who’s always wanting the ball and has the ability to take defenders on, and shoots on sight. He scored a great individual goal on his debut as Crewe, and we made the loan deal permanent just before last Christmas. He can play left, right, or centre mid, and has a fantastic engine.

12. Steve Adams - another former youth-team captain, Sturrock converted him from a ball-playing centre-back into a defensive midfielder. Still young, but has become virtually an automatic choice over the last two seasons. Doesn’t provide much in terms of flair or creativity but does the simple things well. Positionally very astute - protects the back four well and does a great job of breaking up the opposition’s attacking play. Another 100%-er and has the potential to go far, and is one of Luggy’s favourites. Can also fill in central defence at right-back if required, which means we can pick an attack-minded subs bench. Is a dead ringer for that bloke that plays the oldest son in that BBC1 family sitcom with Robert Lindsay.

20. Jason Bent - Canadian international, signed from Colorado Rapids in October 2002 after his work-permit appeal was won with references from the likes of Roy Hodgson and Bobby Robson, looks like the singer Terence Trent D’arby. Fast, skilful, creative, and can play wide either side but probably most effectively down the middle. Looks a great signing but a year on we’re still not sure as he’s had a couple of serious injuries and has never had more than about a month in the side. Definitely has the class to play at higher level though. Another great chant – “Who the f*** is Edgar Davids – when we’ve got Jason Bent”.

11. Martin 'Buster' Phillips - skilful left-footed winger, usually deployed on the right - historically this was due to his perceived defensive weakness and the fact that we used to have ‘Taxi for’ Jon Beswetherick as left-back. One of the stars of the promotion season, he got stuck in defensively and was unstoppable going forward providing most of our attacking impetus with his runs and crosses. Took a long time to be accepted by the Argyle fans – partly by looking a bit lightweight when he arrived but probably because he’s from Exeter… He started out there and Alan Ball predicted he’d be Britain’s first £10 millon player - Ball later took him to Man City for £500,000, and then to Portsmouth for £50,000 but he failed to make an impact at either club. Impressed against us in a pre-season friendly on August 2000 and we bought him for £25,000. Was injured last November and injuries have limited his first-team comeback. Has had to have an operation and will miss the start of the season.

4. David Friio - another Frenchman snapped up from being a free agent (ex-ASOA Valence and Lorient). Classy midfield playmaker, good in the air and gets forward well – was an instant fans’ favourite (scored on his debut in December 2001 against Exeter) but looked less motivated last year, and was rumoured to have been tapped up by Cardiff to go there on a Bosman. However, he suddenly ditched his flashy white boots, bucked his ideas up and signed a new contract with us - make of that what you will. Lost one finger on his right hand in a childhood accident, and is apparently eligible to play internationally for San Marino.

7. David Beresford - diminutive winger signed from Hull on a close season Bosman at the beginning of 02-03. Was one of Luggy’s main pre-season targets then, but hasn’t made the side on a regular basis and the recent change towards wingless tactics means it looks unlikely he’ll become a regular in the near future.

22. Joe Broad – central midfielder now in his second year of professional football. Looked a great prospect in 01-02 and did well filling in for David Friio, but has fallen down the pecking order of late - has been told to find himself a club to go on loan to this year, if he wants a new contract.

27. Tony Capaldi - Northern Ireland U-21 international, and our only close-season signing so far, from Birmingham City. He actually put pen to paper just in time to play the last game of last season, where he looked quite classy on the left-hand side of midfield. Is already suspected in certain quarters of possessing flair and therefore lacking consistency...

'STRIKERS'
9. Mickey ‘Trigger’ Evans - nicknamed due to resembling the character from Only Fools and Horses. He’s a fantastic target man, leading from the front and terrorising opposing defenders with his combative style and aerial power – which means he normally only lasts 70 minutes. His link play holding up the ball playing the ‘Lone Ranger’ role in a 4-5-1 formation was the reason behind the transformation in our away form, bringing in the midfield to score the goals. Not outstandingly skilful or quick though, and he hardly ever scores himself. Some argue this is because the role he plays means he spends too much time with his back to goal, others say we need a striker who can do all that AND score goals. Another Argyle youth team product - sold to Southampton in 1997 for a club record £750,000 - he scored four goals in their last twelve games and kept them in the Premiership. They sold him on to West Brom, where injury and the likes of Lee Hughes kept out of the side and he moved on to Bristol Rovers, from whom Luggy snapped him up for £30,000, at Easter 2001 when they hit financial difficulties.

10. Ian Stonebridge – ex Spurs YTS striker, signed by Kevin Hodges as a 17 year-old, and nine goals before Christmas in his first season led to a few England U-18 caps, where he didn’t look out of place alongside the likes of Joe Cole and Michael Carrick. Not the quickest of players but uses the ball very intelligently and his positional sense often gives him the space he needs. Was overused in his first couple of years; placing the goalscoring burden on such young shoulders has meant he’s had the odd dry spell. Usually scores for fun for two months a season and can't hit a cow's backside with a banjo the rest of the time. Can also play wide-left, works very well as part of a 4-3-3 – has the sense to know when to switch back into midfield to make the extra man.

19. Marino Keith - known as ‘Dan’ at the club (after the American Football quarterback – allegedly named after him but I’ve not checked if their respective ages make this possible) and signed in the middle of last season on a free from Livingston. Averaged nearly a goal every other game for Livingston and Falkirk, and scores nine in 13 starts for us last season. Without doubt the best goalscorer on the club – nippy and combative and looks a bit like Keith Allen. Luggy thought he came back from the close season looking overweight and they had a bust-up and he didn’t make the side for the first few months of last season. We’ve been a lot better since he came back into the side. Plays on the right-hand side when we play 4-3-3. Had an absolute nightmare live on Sky in the FA Cup 3rd Round replay at Dagenham & Redbridge, where he missed three sitters as we were dumped out by the non-leaguers, but finished the season strongly.

8. Nathan Lowndes - our other big close-season Bosman signing for 02-03. Averaged a goal every other game in the SPL for Livingston and St Johnstone, where he was known as ‘Nat King Goals’. However, so far, he’s only shown himself to be a useless ginger Manc with an attitude problem, and lost his place soon after the start of the season. Hasn’t covered himself in glory in the reserves, either. Will start the season on his last chance to convince.

21. Blair Sturrock – son of Luggy, so has good pedigree. Can play as an attacking midfielder or a striker. Rarely starts at home, and often comes on as a sub for Trigger in the last 20 minutes away from home to run the ball into the corners.