Plymouth Argyle

Boss calls for Fallon consistency
Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock has challenged striker Rory Fallon to find consistency after he impressed in the 2-1 win over Watford on Tuesday. Fallon was one of seven players brought into the side after the 2-1 defeat by Norwich, as Argyle claimed a first win. "Rory was immense tonight," Sturrock told Radio Devon. "But some weeks Rory doesn't come to the show with that kind of tenacity and that kind of spring. At the end of the day we've got to get a consistency." Sturrock also praised a number of the other players who were brought back into the Argyle fold for the club's first victory of the season, which lifted them off the bottom of the Championship table. Among those winning were plaudits were loan signings Paul Gallagher and Craig Cathcart, as well as Jamie Mackie. "I thought the boy Gallagher was tactically astute and showed a want and a will to win. "Mackie did his job and I thought the three midfield players churned it out. "But you've got to give accolades to the boy Cathcart. To come in in a very difficult circumstance and play the way he did tonight ," Sturrock said of the Manchester United defender who made his debut in place of the suspended Kriztian Timar.

Bolasie back from Daggers trial
Plymouth Argyle winger Yala Bolasie has returned to the Devon club after a spell on trial at League Two side Dagenham and Redbridge. The 19-year-old joined the Greens during the summer but has yet to make an appearance for the first team. It was hoped that he would go out on loan to Dagenham in order to get some Football League experience. He began his career at Rushden & Diamonds and played for Floriana in the Maltese Premier League last season.

Walton 'still has Argyle future'
Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock insists record signing Simon Walton is still in his thinking after making his first appearance in over a month. The midfielder, 21, who signed for £750,000 from QPR in the summer, came on as a 62nd-minute substitute in the 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. "I haven't cut anybody off," Sturrock told Radio Devon. "They've been given the offer of coming in and doing what I want them to do and most of them are coming round." A number of the club's big money signings, such as Walton, Steve MacLean, Graham Stack and Jason Puncheon, have been frozen out of the squad after failing to make an impression in the opening few matches of the season. The club were rock bottom of the Championship until Sturrock made seven changes to his starting line-up for the trip to Watford which saw the club get their first win of the season in September. The side have since hit a rich vein of form in the following eight matches, seeing them win five times, meaning there have been few opportunities for the players to get their place back. But Sturrock says Walton will play, despite not having the best of starts in Tuesday's game. "Simon came on and had a torrid first four or five touches, but he's just a nervous lad at this minute in time," he said.

Sturrock wants more from Mpenza
Plymouth boss Paul Sturrock has urged striker Emile Mpenza to force his way into the starting line-up by showing his commitment in training. Mpenza scored a late equaliser, his first goal for the club, against Charlton on Saturday but has yet to start a first-team game for Argyle. "Whether he plays next Saturday will depend on how he trains in the next few days," Sturrock told Radio Devon. The Former Belgian international joined Plymouth as a free agent in September. Sturrock added: "Emile's come on and been in the right place at the right time, he's a clinical finisher, he's assured and every time he comes on he does bits and pieces."

Mpenza in Belgium for treatment
Plymouth Argyle's former Belgium international striker Emile Mpenza is back in his native country to get treatment for a hamstring problem. The 30-year-old has missed Argyle's last three Championship matches with the problem and has gone back to Belgium to try and rehabilitate. Manager Paul Sturrock expects Mpenza will be out for the next two weeks. "Emile is back with his old physio who he's been under at all the clubs he's been at in the past," he said. "We've got to decide what we do with him as to whether we leave him in rehab over there or we bring him back. That'll be decided after the Birmingham game," Sturrock added to BBC Spotlight.

Puncheon does have Argyle future
Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock says midfielder Jason Puncheon does have a future at Home Park, despite being sent back out on loan to MK Dons. Puncheon, 22, joined Argyle last summer in a £250,000 move from Barnet. But he has found his chances in the Argyle side limited since the arrival of Craig Noone and will join the League One side until the end of the season. Sturrock told BBC Radio Devon he is hopeful that Puncheon will develop his game by playing first-team football. "I don't want to stagnate either of their development and I felt if the two of them were here at the same time their playing time will be halved. "If I had Puncheon playing somewhere regularly and the boy Noone playing here he's getting his development and we'll watch for next season. "I've got high hopes for the two of them and the quickest way they'll develop is the way we've done it and I think we'll be a better team for having two players who'll be better off with the work we're doing with them," Sturrock said. And despite having two similar players on his books, Sturrock says he can see a time when he will be able to accommodate both Puncheon and Noone. "I think Puncheon brings three or four positions to the table, he could develop into a player off the front and he's proved that playing for MK Dons. "They'll both be better players for it, then we'll take pre-season to see what the story is and then make a decision from that."

Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock admits his side are now in a relegation fight after losing 2-0 at home to Bristol City on Tuesday night. The loss leaves Argyle four points above the drop zone after taking only five points in their last 10 games. "It's a dogfight with about another seven or eight teams," Sturrock told Radio Devon. "I certainly did not expect us to go through as bad a spell as we have been through lately." And Sturrock's frustration at his side, who rose as high as fifth in the table back in October, is compounded by his feelings that his team have been worth more than they have achieved. "We've played 10 games and taken very little points and I would say in six or seven of those games we've merited something out of the game and that's how cruel football can be," he said. "It's an evil game - football. It can kick you in the teeth and it's kicking us in the teeth at this minute." And he says the pressure is starting to get to his players in front of goal. "There are too many people thinking about it. Before it was just instinctive, they just went in the goal, finished, in the goal," continued Sturrock. "Now they're taking a touch, when they should hit, they're hitting when they're taking a touch, they're thinking about it all the time."

Defender White sacked by Plymouth
Plymouth Argyle have terminated the contract of defender Shane White. The 18-year-old is scheduled to appear at Plymouth Magistrate's Court this week to answer charges of drink-driving in the city last month. White had yet to make a first-team appearance for Argyle and had spent time on loan at Cornish side Truro City towards the end of last year. Argyle are refusing to comment on whether White's sacking is connected to the charges he faces. White was a first-year professional at Argyle who signed a 12-month contract at the club last summer.

Sturrock blames defensive lapses
Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock blamed defensive lapses for his side's 3-0 home defeat to Derby County in the Championship on Saturday. The defeat saw Argyle drop to 17th in the table, five points above the relegation zone. "You can't legislate for simple errors from the back four," Sturrock told Radio Devon after the game. "The back four has had to chop and change over the last three or four games and we've not been settled." He added: "The second goal should have been cleared. It's not cleared, then somebody else should clear it in the middle, and it's not cleared and it finished up lying in the back of the net. "The third one people are falling over all over the place. "I keep saying two things, it's simple in the game, if our front two can keep the ball and our back two can header it away, then you'll win more than you lose." And, according to Sturrock, Argyle's inability to score - they have only hit the net five time in their last 13 league games - is not helping them either. "The problem is getting that first goal," he said. "Any time we've got the first goal, like with the Blackpool game, we've gone on to win or draw. "But the problem being is that we seem at this junction in time that we can't get that elusive start."

Sturrock 'here for the long haul'
Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock says he is confident he can turn his side's fortunes around, despite the worst run in his managerial career. Argyle lost 2-0 to bottom side Charlton on Saturday and have not won a game since Boxing Day. They have picked up just two points in that time and have scored only one league goal this year. "I'm here for the long haul," he told BBC Spotlight ahead of Tuesday night's Championship match with Crystal Palace. "At the end of the day I've been through bad days and good days at this football club. "I was through bad days before when I came here and it took me a while to turn things around, it seems to be doing exactly the same thing again. "My job is to try and get this team structured properly and get the personnel into the football club that'll take us on." To that end Argyle chairman Paul Stapleton has pledged to support Sturrock with all the funds he needs to bring in a goalscorer to the club on loan. "We're looking at all sorts of additions at this minute in time, whether it comes quick enough for Tuesday I don't know," the Scot said. "I'm very hopeful that somebody this week will be coming into the football club." But Sturrock added that his first priority is Championship survival for Argyle. "The first and foremost hurdle I've got is to make sure we're in this league at the end of the season, then we'll take stock of the situation from there," he said. "The only way we can do that is to start winning football games."

Argyle after repeat performance
Plymouth Argyle will look to repeat the form they showed in recording a first league win of the season in midweek for Saturday's visit of Scunthorpe. Argyle ended a run of seven straight defeats to win 2-1 at Peterborough on Tuesday night, lifting Paul Sturrock's side off the bottom of the table. "Winning breaks the losing habit," Argyle boss Sturrock told BBC Devon. "Losing is as big a habit-forming thing as winning. Once you get in a rut it can cause you all sorts of concern." Saturday's visitors Scunthorpe have had an indifferent start to the season, winning just three of their first 10 league games. But, after winning 4-0 at Crystal Palace, then beating high-riding Preston 3-1, they then drew their next two league games before falling to defeat at Nottingham Forest last weekend - and stand 17th in the table, six points ahead of Argyle. Consequently, Sturrock sees Scunthorpe as something of an unknown quantity. But he is confident that, if his players stick to their game plan, they will be odds on to secure their first home win since April. "The secret is that if we're very solid and organised and get that first goal, then they are going to have to come and press us and then we can counter attack," said Sturrock. "We're going to have to go in and get at them from the first whistle and get the tempo of the game up." Another three points on Saturday would further ease the pressure on the beleaguered Sturrock, whose second spell as Argyle manager has been beset by criticism after a string of poor results. "There's always light at the end of the tunnel," said Sturrock. "The sun always comes up every morning, so the important thing for any football manager is to take it day to day. "At the end of the day we've won a football game. "We need to win another football game and then another football game. "That's when confidence is built and the things that we've been putting into practice start to show fruition."

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