New Plymouth Argyle boss is tipped to use an attacking style of play
THE GREEN Army can expect attacking football from new Plymouth Argyle manager John Sheridan.
That is the view of Phil Tooley, who reports on Sheridan's former club, Chesterfield, for The Star newspaper in Sheffield.
Sheridan was the manager of Chesterfield until August 2012, when he was relieved of his duties after his side picked up only two points from their first three games of their League Two campaign.
He was appointed by the Spireites in the summer of 2009, three months after he parted company with Oldham Athletic.
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Sheridan led Chesterfield to the League Two title in 2010/11, but they were relegated last season.
Tooley told Herald Sport: "Sheridan is a complex character. He fully trusts only those closest to him.
"He will set up his sides to play attacking football. Defending was something that his Chesterfield sides were never overly proficient at. He regularly bemoaned 'sloppy' concessions.
"He frequently indicated his frustrations that players needed to 'listen' to him to learn, and he never really found the on-the-pitch leaders he always wanted."
Tooley explained that when Sheridan first took over at Chesterfield he inherited an expensive, ageing squad and he brought in a huge amount of loan players – of varying quality.
Many of his signings were people he had either played with or worked with before. Perhaps a point for Argyle supporters to note.
Chesterfield moved to a new stadium for the start of 2010/11 and crowds were at their highest level in 30 years. Success on the pitch followed, with Craig Davies regularly among the goals.
Tooley said: "The team was excellent at going forwards but, again, lacked solidity at the back.
"Later in the season he brought in Deane Smalley from Oldham and he started scoring freely as the team overcame its defensive frailties, with a few anxious moments, to win the title."
Chesterfield finished the season with their best goals tally in more than 50 years and Sheridan was rewarded with an extended contract.
Following promotion, Davies moved to Barnsley and Smalley did not sign for the Spireites, and a lack of firepower was a problem for them.
Key injuries to goalkeeper Tommy Lee and striker Jack Lester did not help, either, and a long winless run ended with Chesterfield in the bottom four and that led to their relegation from League One.
They did lift the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, though, beating Swindon Town 2-0 in the final at Wembley.
Tooley added: "Despite being backed in the summer, an average start to this season was enough for the board to remove Sheridan from the role."
Comments
by BigBoy2535
Wednesday, January 09 2013, 2:16AM
“He obviously hasn't done his homework yet. Unless he's going to get some new players in by the weekend, he's got no forwards to put the ball in net.”
by alabar1
Tuesday, January 08 2013, 6:17PM
“Would have thought his first priority would be to shore up the defence and stop leaking so many soft goals,Purse is going to be very difficult to replace at this stage of the season and a backs to the wall dogfight is our only real option for survival now. Until some quality is brought into midfield and a goalscorer is found attacking football is a non starter as far to much pressure will be put on the back four who have shown how vulnerable they are with thier attemps to hang on to a 1-0 or 1-1 only to collapse at the death.
But good luck to John,lets hope you turn it around.
Incidently back in August before being shown the door at Chesterfield,John was apparently put on GARDINING LEAVE,what was that all about I wonder?”
by churchwaybarwick
Tuesday, January 08 2013, 5:54PM
“How does he expect to play "attacking football" with the strikers currently at the club? Chadders and Feeno arent exactly a strike force for defences to fear.”
by DavidofLancas
Tuesday, January 08 2013, 9:36AM
“Pretty candid account of John Sheridan. I am sceptical about him, and he wouldn't have been my choice, but he's there now and we have to get on with it and hope he keeps us up. I am also a bit doubtful about how useful an attacking approach will be with this squad? The Wycombe game showed it doesn't seem to matter how much of the ball you have, or how many chances you create, our current crop of strikers are not up to the job.
Oh, and just an after thought, are sports Journalists the only ones that use teams so-called nicknames? Do Chesterfield fans refer to their team as The Spireites, or Argyle fans The Pilgrims? It's a pet hate of mine.”
by mjargyle
Tuesday, January 08 2013, 9:00AM
“Not exactly a glowing endorsement”