Ipswich vs Argyle: Welcome to the meltdown

Sometimes it's not your day. And it really wasn't ours.

Welcome to One Team In Devon after another unjust feeling defeat, this time at Portman Road.

It felt like if it could have gone wrong, it did – and the ramifications of defeat could be further reaching than the simple loss of a point (or three).

Potentially serious injuries to key players could have a much bigger impact than losing against one of the runaway league leaders. And we now have more questions than answers.

Now the rage has subsided, we take a look at Ipswich away, and what happens next.

Sometimes it’s just rotten bad luck

Taking some time to watch the game back – and calm down – Argyle were simply harrowingly unlucky. And it’s hard to be too critical in the aftermath of defeat.

My intention was to write something about how conceding three goals is a problem, despite the howlers the referee threw our way.

The first was a freakish own goal (one of the worst I’ve seen in green), and then the final was while we played with 10 men due to a second hamstring injury to Mustapha Bundu. And we still managed to remain the better team. It’s hard to be critical of the team’s defensive application, even if Scarr was left for dead by a piercing Leif Davis ball.

And the whole game comes with an asterisk after the scything down of Bundu early on, when Ipswich should be down to 10 men.

Argyle were the better team overall, and should have made more of slew of chances from the 65^th minute onward, where they dominated Ipswich, in the aftermath of the Chaplin goal.

That “foul”

A very random video from the official Argyle TikTok with a view of the “tackle on Bundu.”

That Whittaker screamer

Injury issues

With Hardie and Bundu succumbing to hamstring injuries sustained in the game, it leaves Argyle in a worrying position going into a tough run of fixtures.

We will be waiting most of this week for an update, and the only hope is that one or both injuries are not as serious as feared.

Bundu looked to try and play on, and Hardie walked off the pitch unaided – so the hope is that it’s weeks, not months.

It comes in a run of very tough fixtures – but perhaps that’s a blessing, as the outlook for points looks quite low even with a fully fit team.

Ben Waine copped some unfair stick after coming on – and he looked busy and could easily have scored with the last kick of the game.

It’s clear that Waine will struggle at this level – but he has scored when called upon. If used and serviced in the right way, I think he could contribute but it will be interesting to see how Schuey adapts the team, if at all. Playing him as a like-for-like Hardie 2.0 could make for a long month ahead, and top Championship defenders will likely pocket him with ease.

But Waine has something of a poacher’s instinct as evidence against Palace and Orient. We may need to adapt our style, possibly by giving him a strike partner (Whittaker?), and working the ball into the box with crosses and cutbacks, rather than playing him in the mould of Hardie and Bundu.

Shining lights from a dark day in Suffolk

This brings us nicely onto the question of Mumba’s form. And that of Miller and Kesler-Haydon.

The latter two arguably had the best games in an Argyle shirt at Portland Road. I was really impressed with Kesler Haydon’s application in defence in tracking his man down the Argyle right, and Miller looked really dangerous going forward. I think he will be of critical importance if we’re to get the best out of Waine.

While Mumba’s form has come under scrutiny for his lack of goals and assists, he provided an excellent cutback for Edward’s late goal.

I believe that Mumba’s form has been affected by the close attention of the opposition as he tries to cut inside, and I liked the look of Mumba/Whittaker swapping positions to outfox defenders. I’d like to see more of it.

Fans saying we’re the best team they’ve played this season (1 point taken)

Derek speaks

Kudos to Pilgrims Podcast for bringing their A-game and getting Derek Adams on for a two-part special diving into his tumultuous time as Argyle manager.

I absolutely loved Derek and was gutted his tenure ended as it did – both with the needless relegation and acrimony with the fans.

This is well worth a listen.