Another tough season looks to be in store for Paul Sturrock's Plymouth side that finished as close to League One as it is possible to get without having to set the Sat Nav for Hartlepool last season.

Last Season - 21st Plymouth survived by five points and one place after a poor campaign. Having lost Hayles, Ebanks-Blake, Norris, Buzsaky, Halmosi, Nalis, Connolly and McCormick from Ian Holloway’s attractive side the task facing Paul Sturrock at Home Park was always likely to be a difficult one and so it has proved. They played the loan market well, with Blackburn’s Paul Gallagher and Man Utd’s Craig Cathcart impressing, but the potentially club record purchase of Simon Walton did not work out with poor form, and then poor discipline in a match at Barnsley, incurred Sturrock’s wrath and saw Walton loaned out to relegation rivals Blackpool at the tail end of the season. Jason Puncheon also flopped after his £250k move and so Plymouth were left to muddle through with a mediocre squad with almost disastrous consequences. No wins from their first five league games had people writing them off but they clicked into gear with a 2-1 win at Watford, won three of the next four, and ultimately just about did enough to stay in the Championship.

Head to Head: At Home Park in December QPR snapped a run of nine matches on the road without a goal when Heidar Helguson gave them a first half lead. There then followed the traditional QPR second half when in front away from home as the defence sank deeper, and deeper and deeper until the back four was charged for tickets on the front row of the stand and eventually, with eight of the 11 QPR players holding hands on the goal line, Steve MaClean forced the ball in for an equaliser. The return fixture at Loftus Road was the worst game of football ever played with no exceptions and finished 0-0 with the ball making it out of the centre circle on only a handful of occasions.
Plymouth 1 QPR 1
QPR 0 Plymouth 0

Odds: Generally rated fifth from bottom by the bookies with title odds of between 100/1 with Boyle Sports and Paddy Power and 66/1 with Ladbrokes and Tote.

Manager: Paul Sturrock is back in the house that he built himself, but is finding the going tougher than he did first time around. A former Dundee United player and manager Sturrock took a risk when he moved down from north of the border to just about as far south as you can go without bumping into people with onions round their neck. At the time, November 2000, Argyle were bottom of the entire Football League but by the time he left for Premiership side Southampton just over four years later he had guided them to safety, into the third tier, and then onto the brink of the Championship with Bobby Williamson charged with the simple task of knocking them over the line following Sturrock’s defection. The transformation in the team, ground and club was quite remarkable but Sturrock was barely given a chance at St Mary’s and was sacked pretty swiftly by Sheffield Wednesday as well despite taking them up a division within six months of arriving there. Meanwhile Argyle had sacked Williamson, out up with Tony Pulis’ nonsense excuse for football for nine months and enjoyed success and then endured betrayal with Ian Holloway. When Olly upped sticks for Leicester Sturrock, fighting fires with Swindon by this time, was the obvious choice. Since returning he has seen the break up of Holloway’s entire team and has had to reassemble something capable of staying in the Championship on a small budget. He has just about managed it so far, but this season promises to be tough again and once or twice last season Sturrock was a little too forthright for his own good. He must keep cool, and keep the fans onside if he and Argyle are to make it through this season successfully.
Survival Chances – 5/10

Players: Plymouth have added Bradley Wright Phillips to their attacking line up this summer following Southampton’s relegation. His attitude obviously stinks like a fish dock in summer time and it really is about time he kept his arse out of night clubs and in the penalty area but if Sturrock can get him right he has the potential to be a decent striker in this league. It’s a big if though, because he has shown no inclination towards good behaviour so far in his career. The rest of the team is a little bit up in the air though. They have had an offer for Alan Gow accepted by rangers today and although he failed a medical at Wolves last January he showed enough on loan at Blackpool to hint at being a real danger man in this division for whoever gets hold of him first. Striker Steve Maclean may yet head the other way with Aberdeen interested (has a transfer of such distance ever taken place in the UK before incidently?) but as yet he remains at Home Park. Kari Arnason and Reda Johnson are unknown arrivals from abroad but Plymouth have enjoyed better success than most in that department with Krisztian Timar, Marcel Seip, Akos Buzsaky and Peter Halmosi all enjoying good success at Home Park. Carl Fletcher, distinctly one paced and average these days, is the other permanent signing this summer while former QPR men Chris Barker and Simon Walton are enjoying mixed south coast fortunes. Barker impressed at left back last season far more than he ever did at Loftus Road, Walton is desperate to leave and Sturrock is desperate to be rid of him with Millwall the most likely destination at the moment.
Likely Star Man – Alan Gow if he signs.

Transfers:
In:
Carl Fletcher from Crystal Palace – Free
Bradley Wright-Phillips from Southampton – Free
Kari Arnason – Free
Reda Johnson from Amiens – Undisclosed
Out:
Dan Smith to Eastbourne Borough – Free
Yannick Bolasie to Barnet – Loan
Jermaine Easter to MK Dons – Undisclosed

Prediction: Plymouth were fourth bottom last year and it is hard to envisage anything much better for them this time around. The budget they seem to be working with and the difficulty in attracting players to a far flung corner of the country seem to be hindering them and Paul Sturrock came across as increasingly angry and desperate last season. This term everything will be just as tough, and Plymouth must stay lucky and injury free if they are to survive.
Verdict: Relegation dog fight.

Photo: Action Images

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