Welcome Simon Hallett.

#SHITARTIST wrote:

Funniest afnoon ever that one was.  
More to come Fatso.

It's obvious Hallett can't slate Brent 'yet' with the deals in the air - reading between the lines he has a totally different outlook from the b(w)anker. Hope he's keeping his powder dry ready for a bang when the other one slings his hook!!

Bandwagon wrote:

It's obvious Hallett can't slate Brent 'yet' with the deals in the air - reading between the lines he has a totally different outlook from the b(w)anker. Hope he's keeping his powder dry ready for a bang when the other one slings his hook!!

Halletts comments re. whether Brents Ice Shack will even ever come to fruition at all are hugely telling, and Brent will have been squirming reading that in the Herald from the guy who's taken his baton from him.

Brent's personal financial situation is quite possibly at the stage whereby he has no choice but to cash in a big chunk of shares, along with selling part of the HHP land. Saltrock - his last remaining credible business on the face of it has gone down the pan.

It's almost beautifully ironic that Argyle are now possibly benefiting from Brent being in deep shit financially....as Brent once benefited reluctantly hugely from the club being on its knees.

#SHITARTIST wrote:

Funniest afnoon ever that one was.  
More to come Fatso.

Comedy gold that afternoon a absolute corker over a 1000 posts
In the end I couldn’t sleep the other night for some reason so I read it through again after it was
Reposted the other day simply brilliant if you’ve got the time on hands and you want a laugh it’s well worth a read through

lol have a look at the comments two from here mentioned me naturally being one. Nool you're seeing shadows me ole fruit in your paranoid frail dotage
Accept it me old china brent has been shown up for the incompetant buffoon that he is and no amount of attempted deflection will alter the truth
Hes been well and truely sussed big boy now sling your hook

harvetheslayer wrote:

lol have a look at the comments two from here mentioned me naturally being one. Nool you're seeing shadows me ole fruit in your paranoid frail dotage
Accept it me old china brent has been shown up for the incompetant buffoon that he is and no amount of attempted deflection will alter the truth
Hes been well and truely sussed big boy now sling your hook

geddon harve

P.O.I wrote:

I think we (ATD) just need to take a breath for a moment.

I, along with the vast majority welcome SH as our new Number 1.

What's been said, comprehended, misinterpreted or skewed beyond our tiny minds via SH's limited press appearances seems to have been taken literately.

Stop. Nothing apart from SH gaining the majority share holding, and a few throwaway two-bit local news interviews has happened yet.

Lets just give the guy a chance. Can it really be any worse than the Brent?

It's way to early to judge the guy.

If he turns out to be a Brent doppelganger then dive in. But, come on FFS, the abuse he's receiving already is disappointing. Even for ATD standards.

PS: If you want a fight, I will meet up with you, and I WILL kill you.

Well said that man.


What time length do we give SH ?

I don't think there is any predetermined length of grace it's actions we need to judge the man on, car park re grab is good start but other than that I think now it's next season to really judge him and maybe saving us in the January transfer window although that is a twat for a team like us trying to get anything decent then.

Peter Jones said this on the farm on Thursday, obviously missed by most as we don't read that vile site, echoes my sentiments almost exactly, core business is football that will take some getting used to by the bend over and take it gang,


Brussels Bureaucrat wrote:
Happy days. Keep up the good work.

What would Blackpool or Charlton supporters give for such eminently sensible blokes to run their clubs? Win lose or draw, our club is in good hands, and that's all that matters.



Well yes. But as ever, there are shades of grey with that line of argument.

One could equally ask how Burnley fans feel about being a regular fixture at the right end of the Premier League. That's a town of 75,000 people, and it's close to the Liverpool/Manchester conurbation. So there's plenty of competition around.

Or Bournemouth. Twice the size of Burnley, admittedly - but still half the size of Plymouth, and basically little more than a resort town.

Plymouth is the 14th biggest city in England. And arguably deserves better than top 68 status when it comes to its place in the football pyramid.

The interesting debate here is the "chicken or egg?" one.

There's a lot of talk about Argyle taking its lead from the recent rise of the Exeter Chiefs.

The Chiefs have of course done amazingly well. But not on the back of development and hospitality alone.

The main driver was the (frankly inspirational) performance of the team on the pitch. From nowhere to the absolute elite in a decade.

The off-pitch offer kept pace, of course. But it couldn't have happened without the sporting success.

I don't pretend to have the answer to this conundrum in the Argyle context; I'm really pleased that Simon Hallett now has the opportunity to do his bit for Argyle, with David Felwick's help.

What I do feel is that the right approach will be an appropriate hybrid.

Yes, the old Mayflower had become exhausted. And with virtually everything around it having deteriorated to the point where it had become an embarrassment.

So it's highly desirable that the refurb should be executed, to a decent standard. Which it will be.

But Plymouth Argyle (both words are central to the branding) is a football club. Its core business is football, and it's the quality and success of the football that will be the main driver of a successful future.

My Plymothian grandmother had an expression: "if 'ifs and ands' were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers".

We will never know for sure. But I just wonder what would have happened to Argyle if England had become host nation for the 2018 World Cup.

Some feel that much would have been unlocked for the good of the club; my sense is that the enormous stadium that had been promised would have become something of a millstone. Who knows.

What I do know is that the opportunities now exceed the threats again.

Plenty of people deserve much credit for that. Rightly, there's been much talk about James Brent here over the past week; but not enough about the City Council. A classic "without whom..."

Also many who just kept working for the club, and did their absolute best. Some in prominent roles (Carl Fletcher is a great example), many behind the scenes.

We have an exceptional, committed manager. That's proven, and recognised. (Nice to see Gareth Ainsworth nodding to that in his post-match on Tuesday).

Let's make sure we give Derek the best chance of realising his full potential.

OK, matching Burnley or Bournemouth may be a little over-ambitious at this stage. One step at a time, and all that.

But for me, just as Audi is about cars, Cadbury is about chocolate and O2 is about mobile communications, Argyle is about football.

That's the core business, that's where the DNA lies; and that has to remain the very heart of the brand going forward.

It's nice to see Jones giving a nod to all the people that have worked so hard for no credit or acclaim for the last seven years. The JBSOTI mantra that it's only JB that has led to any of our success must not only stick in the craw of these people but also the thousands of fans that stick by the club through thick and thin to be not only ignored but relegated to turnstile fodder who should Shaddap and be grateful that Jimmy has managed to fill his pockets at our expense.

And Lancaster Green showing ingrained arse licking behaviour whilst not actually taking any notice of what fans have been saying. I haven't heard anyone saying that Brent should have mortgaged the club to the hilt in a shit or bust drive to the prem just that our budget should reflect the amount of fans that we have at matches.

A stable football club with gradual progression is one thing everyone would have been praying for back in our darkest uncertain days.

Why now is it a problem?

No one wants to see Argyle return to those days again so throwing millions in the hope of success and elevation to the premier league is nothing short of greed on behalf of the fans demanding it.

We are currently ( I assume) one of the most stable football clubs in the top four divisions, with everything evolving around us on a sound foundation, so why are we berating the board for not throwing their money at the club?

I too, regardless of my love for my club, would not throw millions at it in the hope of premier league football, my money (if I had it) would remain in the bank and used only when needed, not for the benefit of keeping greedy fans happy.

Enjoy the club for what it us, be grateful we are secure and moving forward. It is only football, it is a pastime and one to be enjoyed.

are we moving forward though?

Earwegoagain wrote:

And Lancaster Green showing ingrained arse licking behaviour whilst not actually taking any notice of what fans have been saying. I haven't heard anyone saying that Brent should have mortgaged the club to the hilt in a shit or bust drive to the prem just that our budget should reflect the amount of fans that we have at matches.

A stable football club with gradual progression is one thing everyone would have been praying for back in our darkest uncertain days.

Why now is it a problem?

No one wants to see Argyle return to those days again so throwing millions in the hope of success and elevation to the premier league is nothing short of greed on behalf of the fans demanding it.

We are currently ( I assume) one of the most stable football clubs in the top four divisions, with everything evolving around us on a sound foundation, so why are we berating the board for not throwing their money at the club?

I too, regardless of my love for my club, would not throw millions at it in the hope of premier league football, my money (if I had it) would remain in the bank and used only when needed, not for the benefit of keeping greedy fans happy.


Enjoy the club for what it us, be grateful we are secure and moving forward. It is only football, it is a pastime and one to be enjoyed.

I personally just want someone in charge who has good intentions for the club,do what you need to make a little bit of money back for yourself long as your investing a bit of money but doesn't send us nosediving into a cliff like before,
A stadium that doesn't look like a shit tip and has the space to expand more if ever we need it,
Maybe we will never make the premiership, I just want to be proud of saying I support argyle, instead of feeling like our clubs a joke,

But what do I know I'm a freak who isn't entitled to his opinion,

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

And Lancaster Green showing ingrained arse licking behaviour whilst not actually taking any notice of what fans have been saying. I haven't heard anyone saying that Brent should have mortgaged the club to the hilt in a shit or bust drive to the prem just that our budget should reflect the amount of fans that we have at matches.

A stable football club with gradual progression is one thing everyone would have been praying for back in our darkest uncertain days.

Why now is it a problem?

No one wants to see Argyle return to those days again so throwing millions in the hope of success and elevation to the premier league is nothing short of greed on behalf of the fans demanding it.

We are currently ( I assume) one of the most stable football clubs in the top four divisions, with everything evolving around us on a sound foundation, so why are we berating the board for not throwing their money at the club?

I too, regardless of my love for my club, would not throw millions at it in the hope of premier league football, my money (if I had it) would remain in the bank and used only when needed, not for the benefit of keeping greedy fans happy.


Enjoy the club for what it us, be grateful we are secure and moving forward. It is only football, it is a pastime and one to be enjoyed.

I personally just want someone in charge who has good intentions for the club,do what you need to make a little bit of money back for yourself long as your investing a bit of money but doesn't send us nosediving into a cliff like before,
A stadium that doesn't look like a shit tip and has the space to expand more if ever we need  it,
Maybe we will never make the premiership, I just want to be proud of saying I support argyle, instead of feeling like our clubs a joke,

But what do I know I'm a freak who isn't entitled to his opinion,

And just to set the record straight Argyle have never invested millions in the football side, maybe if we had when Olie was here then maybe all the fans, staff and managers wouldn't have deserted like rats from the sinking ship. The most important factor in the demise of the club was and still is property FOOKIN speculation, it's was a curse for stapes and Brent. The glory years of Stapes and Luggy was built on football success, no car parks, no ice rinks, no HHP1 2 or 3 just football.

I just love a bit of stability and sound foundation in my football clubs. Sobriety never hurt anyone.
I reckon newell should rent out his pasoti bots to the  Stalingrad St Petersburg IRA for the American mid terms.  He must be at it 24/7. Probably offering his new campaign to Hallett and Felwick as I type.

beesrus wrote:

I just love a bit of stability and sound foundation in my football clubs. Sobriety never hurt anyone.
I reckon newell should rent out his pasoti bots to the  Stalingrad St Petersburg IRA for the American mid terms.  He must be at it 24/7. Probably offering his new campaign to Hallett and Felwick as I type.

Agree, stability is needed and hope this time Simon Hallett has either the cash or contacts to create a realistic platform to grow from. It must be encouraging for him and Felwick to see that gates are relatively good during the topsy turvy ascent to div1 and a 20k stadium build with correct infrastructure might achieve utopia - albeit coupled with on the pitch uplift. It is unfortunate we have the pisspot dividers hanging around and I've said on FC, I hope the bosses don't favour either of the 3 social media options and just play it straight in the boardroom. As a young buck introduced to the likes of Piper & Bickle at the second tier, all I will hope for is one day getting back there.

Just look at the fantastic state Mr Brent has left the club in as he passes the baton on to Simon Hallett. Losing 5-1 at home to Peterborough is a feckin disgrace which leaves us bottom of the league. feck off Newell Errington Postcode and all the others who think Brent has done a great job. If Simon Hallett reads this site I hope he understands how badly Derek Adams has had his hands tied by Brent up to now. His statement this week that nothing much is going to change is worrying. A shiny refurbished grandstand will look great in division 4. The team needs funds and pronto

I'v got faith that eventually the team will gel and/or Derek will find a loanee in the January window again to maintain League 1 status.

But we aren't even getting a shiny refurbished grandstand - what's been put up so far is embarrassing and short-sighted, the new roof will fall short, the stand still won't be central to the pitch, there won't be corners, stalling plans for a shipping container supporters' bar, yet more for changing rooms, and yet we'll be paying for this for 30 years.

Dingle wrote:

I'v got faith that eventually the team will gel and/or Derek will find a loanee in the January window again to maintain League 1 status.

But we aren't even getting a shiny refurbished grandstand - what's been put up so far is embarrassing and short-sighted, the new roof will fall short, the stand still won't be central to the pitch, there won't be corners, stalling plans for a shipping container supporters' bar, yet more for changing rooms, and yet we'll be paying for this for 30 years.  

Point well made Dingle the very same people who praise the club for sustainable development fail to note the loan for the refurb' shorely all and any income from corporate will be swallowed up by the loan. Once the loan is repaid we will probably be ready to knock the Grandstand down and start again.

I know this sounds daft but we must be the only team that has racked up £17m of debt and not ever really over-spent and we certainly don't have anything to show for it if we did.

We didn't really ever splash the cash around, did we?

Others have gone down the pan because they built a huge stand or a new stadium. We did neither of those. Others have gone down the pan because they have paid ridiculous transfer fees and committed to paying enormous wages. We never did either of those.

And it wasn't long before our demise that Deloitte & Touche (was it?) was acclaiming us as being one of the best run clubs in the country.

Where it went wrong for us was that we actually built a competitive CCC team two divisions lower than its quality demanded and when it rocketed up the league the club couldn't keep up with it.

All of a sudden players who felt they were earning the going rate in lower league football realised they were just as good as their opponents and were being massively under-paid at CCC level and for one reason or another one-by-one off they went.

The gamble here was to up their wages and match what others were prepared to pay but in many cases that would have meant a 10x hike in pay. Instead the safe, sustainable route was to sell them where we could.

So in no particular order and for differing reasons we lost Gosling, Halmosi, Buszaky, Wotton, Nalis, Hayles, Capaldi, Norris, Connolly, Coughlan, Worrell, Friio, Evans, Adams, SEB. Basically the excellence in the squad that had taken us that far was filleted out and there wasn't enough depth in the squad or talent in the youngsters coming through so we had to go out and buy replacements that demanded a wage commensurate with CCC football or recruit cheaper from abroad (if Scotland counts as abroad).

And then it all went tits up. Folly was no Friio; MacLean was no SEB; Fallon was no Evans; Clarke was no Norris; Patterson was no Capaldi. Repeat ad nauseum. When we did sign a good replacement he got injured 10 minutes later.

We were still kind of OK financially. Even our biggest ever fees paid (£500k for MacLean, £400k for Fallon and Easter) were within budget at CCC level they just weren't good enough to keep us up.

Then given long contacts and fearful of collapsing income following relegation we panicked and got shot of Sturrock for Mariner. Mariner had his own ideas and brought in Kenny Cooper and Damien Johnson at great expense and we were relegated anyway, now we had even more long contracts and the wheels were truly off.

But none of that happened because we spent too much. It all went wrong because

a) we did not spend wisely on players
b) we did not develop the stadium as we went quickly enough
c) there was no escaping future commitments we were not going to be able to meet
d) it was almost as if the possibility of relegation was never even considered
e) once relegated our income completely collapsed

I know the prevailing wish here has always been for more investment in the team but that has never been my primary requirement. I just want us to be as good as we can be. If that turns out to be a CCC/Div1 yo-yo club then so be it but if we settle any lower that that then it isn't good enough.

VillageGreen wrote:

P.O.I wrote:

I think we (ATD) just need to take a breath for a moment.

I, along with the vast majority welcome SH as our new Number 1.

What's been said, comprehended, misinterpreted or skewed beyond our tiny minds via SH's limited press appearances seems to have been taken literately.

Stop. Nothing apart from SH gaining the majority share holding, and a few throwaway two-bit local news interviews has happened yet.

Lets just give the guy a chance. Can it really be any worse than the Brent?

It's way to early to judge the guy.

If he turns out to be a Brent doppelganger then dive in. But, come on FFS, the abuse he's receiving already is disappointing. Even for ATD standards.

PS: If you want a fight, I will meet up with you, and I WILL kill you.

Well said that man.


What time length do we give SH ?

I guess until I/we have something to judge him on. So far it's been a 100% improvement on Brent, I would say!

Dingle wrote:

I'v got faith that eventually the team will gel and/or Derek will find a loanee in the January window again to maintain League 1 status.

But we aren't even getting a shiny refurbished grandstand - what's been put up so far is embarrassing and short-sighted, the new roof will fall short, the stand still won't be central to the pitch, there won't be corners, stalling plans for a shipping container supporters' bar, yet more for changing rooms, and yet we'll be paying for this for 30 years.  

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

I know this sounds daft but we must be the only team that has racked up £17m of debt and not ever really over-spent and we certainly don't have anything to show for it if we did.

We didn't really ever splash the cash around, did we?

Others have gone down the pan because they built a huge stand or a new stadium. We did neither of those. Others have gone down the pan because they have paid ridiculous transfer fees and committed to paying enormous wages. We never did either of those.

And it wasn't long before our demise that Deloitte & Touche (was it?) was acclaiming us as being one of the best run clubs in the country.

Where it went wrong for us was that we actually built a competitive CCC team two divisions lower than its quality demanded and when it rocketed up the league the club couldn't keep up with it.

All of a sudden players who felt they were earning the going rate in lower league football realised they were just as good as their opponents and were being massively under-paid at CCC level and for one reason or another one-by-one off they went.

The gamble here was to up their wages and match what others were prepared to pay but in many cases that would have meant a 10x hike in pay. Instead the safe, sustainable route was to sell them where we could.

So in no particular order and for differing reasons we lost Gosling, Halmosi, Buszaky, Wotton, Nalis, Hayles, Capaldi, Norris, Connolly, Coughlan, Worrell, Friio, Evans, Adams, SEB. Basically the excellence in the squad that had taken us that far was filleted out and there wasn't enough depth in the squad or talent in the youngsters coming through so we had to go out and buy replacements that demanded a wage commensurate with CCC football or recruit cheaper from abroad (if Scotland counts as abroad).

And then it all went tits up. Folly was no Friio; MacLean was no SEB; Fallon was no Evans; Clarke was no Norris; Patterson was no Capaldi. Repeat ad nauseum. When we did sign a good replacement he got injured 10 minutes later.

We were still kind of OK financially. Even our biggest ever fees paid (£500k for MacLean, £400k for Fallon and Easter) were within budget at CCC level they just weren't good enough to keep us up.

Then given long contacts and fearful of collapsing income following relegation we panicked and got shot of Sturrock for Mariner. Mariner had his own ideas and brought in Kenny Cooper and Damien Johnson at great expense and we were relegated anyway, now we had even more long contracts and the wheels were truly off.

But none of that happened because we spent too much. It all went wrong because

a) we did not spend wisely on players
b) we did not develop the stadium as we went quickly enough
c) there was no escaping future commitments we were not going to be able to meet
d) it was almost as if the possibility of relegation was never even considered
e) once relegated our income completely collapsed

I know the prevailing wish here has always been for more investment in the team but that has never been my primary requirement. I just want us to be as good as we can be. If that turns out to be a CCC/Div1 yo-yo club then so be it but if we settle any lower that that then it isn't good enough.

You have left out one very important factor and that is we had a high volume of fans regularly watching the best team in years at HP. As soon as the players started to leave so did the fans so our turnover took a massive hit as well. Business is like dominoes it only takes the first one to fall.
I'm not blaming the fans for not turning up when the team didn't btw.

If we take Holloway's departure as the high water mark in his last home game as manager we beat Norwich 3-0 in front of an 11k crowd to go 5th in the CCC if my memory serves well.

We won the next game, away at Sheff Utd, to go 4th and that was as good as it got.

If the poor run continues like it did last season and Argyle are still rooted to the foot of the table (or in the bottom four) come the end of the year, will the new set up sack Adams ?.