Edd Moore

A message to the Plymouth Argyle board "The club has its priorities wrong - it's time to speak up and call for better"

"We now must collectively speak up and call for better"

Brilliant and honest opinion piece by former Club President Chris Webb on Argyle's downward spiral and what needs to happen to reverse it before it's too late
www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/footba...

14 years ago today.

Bottom of League Two - but full of hope and optimism, because we had our club back.

Plymouth Argyle have been on some journey since that day - but that hope and optimism is now sorely missing.

How has it all gone so wrong, so fast?

#pafc

EXCLUSIVE: Multiple bodies have been found in a woodland in Cornwall, @cornwalllive.com can reveal
www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwal...

Enough is enough - we won't stand for having our posts hijacked by homophobes Today we take the unusual step of naming and shaming some of the worst offenders - WARNING - article contains offensive language

Today we take the unusual step of naming and shaming some of the worst offenders - WARNING - article contains offensive language

I remember this well and speaking to you at the time Andy 👏 “Nervous laughter”!

Some have accused Hallett of being too picky about who he allows to invest in the club; the saga that almost drove Argyle out of existence in 2011 shows why he is absolutely right to be

Hallett is under similar pressure today and has always been clear that his resources can only take Argyle so far. He is also acutely aware of the responsibility he has in choosing the next custodians of the club

Argyle’s local owners backed the wrong horse when they came under pressure from fans to seek investors who could take the club to the next level in the noughties

Argyle’s Japanese misadventure being highlighted in Parliament all these years later is a sobering reminder of what can happen when the wrong people are allowed

But secrecy over the individuals and money behind the consortium, a seemingly deliberate leak to the press and its use of Bale as a front must raise alarm bells with fans

There are numerous examples of very good foreign investors in the Football League - including several from the US - and there may well be perfectly reasonable grounds for the group in current talks with Argyle to stay anonymous for now

It would be unfair to lay the blame for Argyle’s 2011 collapse solely at the feet of Kagami and Synan - or ‘foreign investors’ more generally. Others played equally damaging roles in the club’s demise (that’s another story for another day)

Plymouth Argyle ex-investors labelled "vultures" amid takeover talk 'English football clubs such as Argyle should never become cash cows for vultures'

Lib Dem Cameron Thomas warned MPs debating football governance reforms that clubs “should never become cash cows for vultures such as Kagami and Synan” as moves to introduce an independent regulator recently took a step forward
www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/footba...

It seems timely that as foreign investors circle the club again - this time in the form of an anonymous US private equity group who have seen fit to use Gareth Bale as a public frontman - Argyle’s darkest days were recounted in Parliament

It took 13 years and a brush with relegation out of the Football League for Argyle to return to the Championship, now in the safe hands of current owner Simon Hallett, who has put financial sustainability and community at the heart of the club

In 2011 Argyle went bust. They were relegated from the Championship and spent 8 months in administration before finally being rescued from what seemed certain extinction by local businessman James Brent

Unpaid tax bills, transfer embargoes and chronic failure to pay its staff and players followed as the club’s finances spiralled out of control. Kagami and Synan promised £2m to keep the club afloat, then went AWOL

Emile Mpenza arrived at Home Park but the £3m did not. Over the course of the next couple of years the club over-spent and under-performed while its largely absent board were seduced, and then distracted, by a pipe dream of hosting World Cup football at Home Park

It took them a few months to visit the city but they plotted Argyle’s ascent over fish and chips at Platters and some drinks at The Three Crowns with Synan declaring: “The more positive everybody is, the sooner we’ll get into the Premiership” (spoiler alert: it didn’t work out)

In 2008 Kagami bought 20% of the football club and promised £3m to buy the players Argyle would need to get to the Premier League. He later upped his stake to 38%, making him the club’s single biggest shareholder

Kagami was a food importer who dabbled in property development. His right-hand man, Synan, was an American who ran coffee shops and restaurants. They had a shared passion for “soccer” - specifically Yokohama FC - but had never even been to Plymouth

Back in 2006 a chance meeting between Kagami and an Argyle fan in the Far East led to the Tokyo businessman being talked into investing in an English football club he knew nothing about

Remember Yasuaki Kagami and George Synan? Almost two decades after the pair turned up at Plymouth Argyle with their Premier League ambitions their names have come up in Parliament - and it couldn’t be more timely

The unglamorous meeting between Gareth Bale and Plymouth Argyle It was not a classic

This was a bit of a mad game all round, in fact. Here's the story behind it - thanks to an excellent @chriserrington1.bsky.social match report (which you can read its original form here too) that's helped refreshed the memory
www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/footba...

New Year's Day 2007: Dan Gosling's first start for Argyle at the age of 16. He made the young Southampton lad he was up against look bang average

Tom Cleverley tipped for Argyle job as 'betting suspended' Fans have been quick to notice the suspension

Tom Cleverley tipped for Plymouth Argyle head coach job as 'betting suspended'

Insider gives verdict on style of football under Jack Wilshere Jack Wilshere, the bookies' favourite to be named the next Plymouth Argyle head coach, honed a distinct philosophy on-and-off the pitch while developing some of Arsenal's brightest young talents

What does a Jack Wilshere team look like and how would it fit with Argyle's current playing squad?
🟢 Possession-based
🟢 Play out from the back
🟢 Line-breaking balls from defensive midfield
🟢 Using wide areas to create chances
🟢 Aggressive high press
(via @tomcanton.bsky.social)

Why Schalke was too hard to resist for Miron Muslic "Muslic is going to a true sleeping giant of German football"

Love, loyalty and hollow words: Why Schalke is too hard to resist for Miron Muslic 👇
www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/footba...

Great read by Stuart James on @plymouthherald.co.uk on Miron Muslic, the pull of Schalke and why Plymouth Argyle are now searching for their fifth manager in less than two years

Shanty band blasts ‘hate campaign’ amid modern slavery probe Six men have been arrested and 'potential victims of exploitation' identified

Popular shanty band The Old Time Sailors is at the centre of a modern slavery probe in which six men have been arrested. An extraordinary exclusive by @cornwalllive.com and our team in the South West
www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwal...