2006–07 Plymouth Argyle F.C. season
| League | Championship |
| win-loss-draw Goal for-against points (%) Position Top Scorer | 17–13–16 63–62 67 (49%) 11 Barry Hayles (14) |
| FA Cup | Quarter finals vs Watford 0–1 |
| League Cup | 1st Round vs. Walsall 0–1 |
| Manager | Ian Holloway |
Summary of the 2006–07 season
After only eight months as manager, during which he was credited with saving Argyle from relegation, Tony Pulis returned to Stoke in mid-June. Two weeks later, former QPR manager Ian Holloway, was appointed manager.
Holloway quickly added the team's only striker, Nick Chadwick, with veteran Barry Hayles from Millwall and 20-year-old Sylvan Ebanks-Blake from Man United who became the leading scorers of the season with 14 and 10 goals respectively. The addition of Dutch defender Marcel Seip, ultimately displaced Aljofree in central defence. In goal, Luke McCormick got first team action with Romain Larrieu out sick and kept his place.
Several young players established themselves in the first team especially Gary Sawyer who became a regular on the left of defense, especially after Tony Capaldi appeared set to leave at the end of the season. Luke Summerfield and Dan Gosling also impressed.
The first third of the season saw a fairly good start, where Holloway's signings, enthusiasm and more attacking style appeared to be lifting team performances from the previous season and to 6th place after 15 games. The possibility play-off and even promotion began to be talked about. However, the lack of depth showed mid-season as the accumulation of suspensions and injuries (including Paul Wotton out for the season with a knee injury) forced Holloway to draw ever deeper into reserves, and with a slide in results and position.
Holloway moved aggressively during the January transfer window, bringing in loanees Kevin Gallen (striker, QPR), Hungarians Péter Halmosi (midfield) and Krisztián Timár (defense), and 17-year-old Scott Sinclair (left wing, Chelsea) and permanent signing Rory Fallon (Halmosi and Timár became permanent signings at the end of the season). Settling the new players in took time and though performances improved, it was not sufficiently to boost Argyle far up the table.
However, Argyle had an excellent FA Cup run making it into the Quarter Finals before losing 0–1 against Watford, the farthest any non-premiership team made it. It was, however, a game that they should have won and the lack of killer instinct showed in this game and others. The team seemed to go into a funk after the Watford loss with a string of mediocre results which saw them drifting in mid-table. However, the team rallied at the end of the season with five successive wins and its best finish in 50 years.
In its third season in the Championship, Argyle had become an established team, with a solid and stable line up of players, highly regarded management, and optimism for the next season.
| Season | Wins | Losses | Draws | Points | Position |
| 2006–07 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 67 | 11 |
| 2005–06 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 56 | 14 |
| 2004–05 | 14 | 21 | 11 | 53 | 17 |
Midfielder Lilian Nalis was voted player of the year and defender Gary Sawyer young player of the year.
While Argyle ended the season with no financial troubles, a big question remains over the ability of the team to attract the investment likely needed to lift the team to the Premiership with investments in players, stadium, and training facilities.
Team
The 2006–07 Plymouth Argyle first-team squad: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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12 Green Army is not a real player, but was registered by the club as a tribute to the supporters. The idea behind assigning the number 12 was that the great support from fans gives Argyle a similar advantage to having an extra (twelfth) player.
Transfers
Out
| Date | Player | Transfer | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 August 2006 | Chris Zebroski | Released | Free Agent | Released after being found guilty of gross misconduct |
| 18 May 2007 | Josh Clapham | Released | Free Agent | |
| 25 May 2007 | Tony Capaldi | Contract Expired | Free Agent | Signed for Cardiff |
In
| Date | Player | Transfer | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 July 2006 | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | Buy | Manchester United | £200,000 + £100,000 if plays enough matches |
| 19 July 2006 | Barry Hayles | Buy | Millwall | £100,000 |
| 4 August 2006 | Josh Clapham | Free | Trial | N/A |
| 30 August 2006 | Marcel Seip | Free | Heerenveen | N/A |
| 30 August 2006 | Cherno Samba | Free | Cádiz | N/A |
| 11 January 2007 | Kevin Gallen | Loan | QPR | N/A |
| 11 January 2007 | Péter Halmosi | Loan | Debreceni VSC | N/A |
| 11 January 2007 | Krisztián Timár | Loan | Ferencvaros | N/A |
| 17 January 2007 | Scott Sinclair | Loan | Chelsea F.C. | N/A |
| 19 January 2007 | Rory Fallon | Buy | Swansea City F.C. | £300,000 |
| 16 March 2007 | Ashley Barnes | Free | Paulton Rovers | N/A |
| 16 May 2007 | Péter Halmosi | Buy | Debreceni VSC | £400,000 |
| 16 May 2007 | Krisztián Timár | Buy | Ferencvaros | £75,000 |
Results
All Championship League games, except for(1) = League Cup, and (2) = FA Cup
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Result | Scorers (for Plymouth Argyle in bold) | Attend. | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Aug | Wolves | Home | Draw (1–1) | Hayles 35, Doumbe 47 (og) | 15,964 | 9 |
| 8 Aug | Colchester | Away | Win (1–0) | Summerfield 30 | 4,627 | 7 |
| 12 Aug | Sunderland | Away | Win (2–3) | Murphy 1, Norris 8, Hayles 39, Elliott 67, Chadwick 82 | 24,377 | 2 |
| 19 Aug | Sheff. Weds. | Home | Loss (1–2) | Wotton 43, McAllister 52, O'Brien 83 | 14,507 | 9 |
| 22 Aug | Walsall (1) | Home | Loss (0–1) | Dann 85 | 6,407 | - |
| 26 Aug | Stoke | Away | Draw (1–1) | Sidibe 39, Hayles 78 | 11,626 | 8 |
| 9 Sept | QPR | Home | Draw (1–1) | Blackstock 17, Ebanks-Blake 31 | 12,138 | 9 |
| 12 Sept | Cardiff | Home | Draw (3–3) | Thompson 8, Chopra 29, 49, McNaughton (og) 69,Hayles 74, Purse (og) 88 | 11,655 | 11 |
| 16 Sept | Southampton | Away | Loss (0–1) | Rasiak 52 | 22,514 | 15 |
| 23 Sept | Norwich | Home | Win (3–1) | Doherty 14 (og), Seip 47, Norris 74, Earnshaw 94 | 11,813 | 9 |
| 30 Sept | Coventry | Away | Win (1–0) | Samba 82 | 19,545 | 8 |
| 14 Oct | Derby | Home | Win (3–1) | Wotton 45 (pen), Lupoli 45+2, Wotton 63 (pen), Seip 79 | 13,622 | 5 |
| 17 Oct | Barnsley | Away | Draw (2–2) | Kay 2, Ebanks-Blake 29, Hayles 34, Richards 50 | 9,479 | 6 |
| 21 Oct | Burnley | Home | Draw (0–0) | - | 12,817 | 7 |
| 28 Oct | Crystal Palace | Away | Win (1–0) | Chadwick 39 | 17,084 | 5 |
| 31 Oct | Ipswich | Home | Draw (1–1) | Legwinski 1, Wotton 22 | 12,210 | 6 |
| 4 Nov | Birmingham | Home | Loss (0–1) | Jaidi 75, | 17,008 | 7 |
| 11 Nov | Leicester | Away | Draw (2–2) | Hume 29, Nalis 31, Porter 75, Hayles 90 | 21,703 | 7 |
| 18 Nov | Southend | Away | Draw (1–1) | Djordjic 5, Gower 59, | 9,469 | 9 |
| 25 Nov | Leeds | Home | Loss (1–2) | Blake 3, Djordjic 40, Lewis 61 | 17,088 | 12 |
| 28 Nov | Luton | Home | Win (1–0) | Djordjic 61 | 9,965 | 9 |
| 2 Dec | Birmingham | Away | Loss (0–3) | Bendtner 21, Upson 30, McSheffrey 41 | 22,592 | 11 |
| 9 Dec | Hull | Home | Win (1–0) | Ebanks-Blake 71 | 12,101 | 10 |
| 16 Dec | Preston | Away | Loss (0–3) | Pugh 12, Omerod 41, Alexander 56 | 13,171 | 12 |
| 23 Dec | West Brom | Home | Draw (2–2) | Hayles 23, Nalis 40, Phillips 45+1, 45+3 | 15,172 | 12 |
| 26 Dec | Cardiff | Away | Draw(2–2) | Norris 34, Thompson 47, 52, Norris 59 | 17,289 | 13 |
| 30 Dec | Derby | Away | Loss (0–1) | Bisgaard 81 | 25,775 | 13 |
| 1 Jan | Southampton | Home | Draw (1–1) | Rasiak 5, Hayles 66 | 15,377 | 13 |
| 6 Jan | Peterborough (2) | Away | Draw (1–1) | Aljofree 74, Mclean 78 | 6,255 | - |
| 13 Jan | Norwich | Away | Win (3–1) | Safri 45+1, Hayles 59, Buzsaky 63, 57 | 23,523 | 12 |
| 16 Jan | Peterborough (2) | Home | Win (2–1) | Mclean 13, Hayles 18, Norris 27 | 9,973 | - |
| 22 Jan | Coventry | Home | Win (3–2) | Gallen 18, Birchall 22, Buzsaky 32, Hayles 48, Mifsud 70 | 9,841 | 11 |
| 27 Jan | Barnet (2) | Away | Win (2–0) | Aljofree 67 (pen), Sinclair 83 | 5,204 | - |
| 30 Jan | West Brom | Away | Loss (1–2) | Kamara 41(pen), 50, Fallon 70 | 19,894 | 11 |
| 3 Feb | Wolves | Away | Draw (2–2) | Sinclair 27, Ward 33, Timar 36, Olofinjana 69 | 19,082 | 11 |
| 10 Feb | Sunderland | Home | Loss (0–2) | Stokes 69, Connolly 71 | 15,247 | 11 |
| 17 Feb | Derby (2) | Home | Win (2–0) | Gallen 14 (pen), Sinclair 83 | 18,026 | - |
| 20 Feb | Colchester | Home | Win (3–0) | Norris 12, Ebanks-Blake 59 (pen), Gosling 67 | 12,895 | 11 |
| 24 Feb | QPR | Away | Draw (1–1) | Nalis 32, Cook 59, | 13,757 | 12 |
| 3 Mar | Stoke | Home | Draw (1–1) | Ebanks-Blake 40 (pen), Russell 55 | 12,539 | 12 |
| 5 Mar | Sheff. Wed. | Away | Draw (1–1) | MacClean 21, Gosling, 56 | 19,449 | 12 |
| 11 Mar | Watford (2) | Home | Loss (0–1) | Bouazza 21 | 20,652 | - |
| 14 Mar | Barnsley | Home | Loss (2–4) | Nalis 15, Nyatanga 20, Devaney 31, Ebanks-Blake, Devaney 61, Ferenczi 93 | 10,265 | 13 |
| 17 Mar | Crystal Palace | Home | Win (1–0) | Sinclair 48 | 11,239 | 13 |
| 31 Mar | Ipswich | Away | Loss (0–3) | Garvan 9, Lee 15, Haynes 90 | 21,078 | 13 |
| 3 Apr | Burnley | Away | Loss (0–4) | Duff 13, McVeigh 20, Jones 38, Elliot 61 | 9,793 | 13 |
| 7 Apr | Leeds | Away | Loss (1–2) | Halmosi 36, Healy 45, Michalik 87 | 30,034 | 15 |
| 9 Apr | Leicester | Home | Win (3–0) | Halmosi 15, Ebanks-Blake 46, Hayles 62 | 10,900 | 13 |
| 14 Apr | Luton | Away | Win (2–1) | Norris 4, Halmosi 40, O'Leary 51 | 7,601 | 13 |
| 21 Apr | Southend | Home | Win (2–1) | Ebanks-Blake 6, Clarke 25, Hayles 89 | 11,097 | 12 |
| 28 Apr | Preston | Home | Win (2–0) | Ebanks-Blake 77, Hayles 85 | 13,813 | 12 |
| 6 May | Hull | Away | Win (2–1) | Halmosi 45+1, Ebanks-Blake 59 Elliot 61 | 20,661 | 11 |
Results Summary
| Month | Wins | Losses | Draws | Points/Possible | Percentage |
| August | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8/15 | 53% |
| September | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8/15 | 53% |
| October | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9/15 | 60% |
| November | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5/15 | 33% |
| December | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5/18 | 28% |
| January | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7/12 | 58% |
| February | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5/12 | 42% |
| March | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5/15 | 33% |
| April | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12/18 | 67% |
| May | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3/3 | 100% |
Pre Season Results
The pre-season saw wins over Tiverton (4–0), Grays Athletic (3–0), FC Gratkorn (5–1), and Yeovil (2–0) and losses to Real Madrid (0–1) and Bristol Rovers (0–1). A pre-season altercation between first-year Chris Zebroski and team captain, mid-fielder Paul Wotton in an Austrian bar resulted in 100 stitches to Wotton's head and the sacking of Zebroski. Wotton recovered for the first game of the season.