2005–06 Plymouth Argyle F.C. season

Plymouth Argyle competed in the Football League Championship in the 2005–06 season, having finished 17th place in the season prior. They underwent a change in their manager, replacing Bobby Williamson with Tony Pulis in the hope of seeing an improvement to the previous season. The "Green Army" finished 14th in the league and made it to the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Plymouth Argyle

2005–06 season
Chairman	Paul Stapleton
Manager	Tony Pulis
Stadium	Home Park
Championship	14th
FA Cup	Third round (eliminated by Wolves)
EFL Cup	Second round (eliminated by Barnet)
Highest home attendance	17,726 vs Leeds United (2 January 2006)
Lowest home attendance	13,308 vs Peterborough United (23 August 2005)
Home colours Away colours
← 2004–05 2006–07  →

Season summary

After a poor start to the season, which made relegation a likely outcome, Argyle fired manager Bobby Williamson and brought in Tony Pulis.^[1] Argyle regrouped under Pulis and regained a solid place in the middle of the league standings. The team's performance was one of contrasts. Argyle conceded only 46 goals, which made it the fifth (tied) best defense in the league although they only scored 39 goals, which made it the third (tied) worst attack in the league. It meant a lot of 0–0, 1–0, and 0–1 games – results that are synonymous with Pulis' style of football.^[2] However, under new manager Pulis, Argyle were never in any significant danger of relegation.^{[citation needed]}

Notable events

• In August, Argyle opens the season by defeating Reading 2–1 at the Madejski Stadium. It would be Reading's only home loss in the Championship all season. Victory at Reading is followed by a draw and four losses in the Championship.
• 6–23 September, manager Bobby Williamson is fired. Jocky Scott is named caretaker manager. Tony Pulis is named as the new manager.
• September–October, Pulis's first shores up the Argyle defence and achieves a record of one win, one loss, and five draws in first seven games under his management.
• 22 November – 18 February, young central defender Elliott Ward comes to Argyle on loan from West Ham. He stays for three months and proves successful on the field and popular with the fans. In 15 games with Ward, Argyle concede only 15 goals and achieve a record of 6 wins, 5 draws, and four losses in the Championship. Argyle move up to mid-table and while not safe from relegation, it seems very unlikely.
• 18 February, striker Vincent Pericard, on loan from Portsmouth, scores a hat trick against Coventry City in a 3–1 victory. This was the biggest win of the season by low-scoring Argyle.

Squad

Squad at end of season^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FRA Romain Larrieu 2 DF  ENG Anthony Barness 3 DF  ENG Rufus Brevett 4 MF  FRA Lilian Nalis 6 MF  SCO Keith Lasley 7 MF  ENG David Norris 8 MF  HUN Ákos Buzsáky 9 FW  IRL Mickey Evans[a] 10 FW  FRA Vincent Péricard[b] (on loan from Portsmouth) 11 FW  ENG Nick Chadwick 13 DF  FRA Mathias Kouo-Doumbé 14 DF  NIR Tony Capaldi[c] 15 DF  ENG Paul Wotton 16 DF  ENG Hasney Aljofree

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  WAL Anthony Pulis (on loan from Stoke City[d]) 18 FW  ENG Leon Clarke (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers) 20 MF  ENG Lee Hodges 22 DF  ENG Paul Connolly 23 GK  ENG Luke McCormick 25 DF  ENG Ryan Dickson 26 FW  ENG Chris Zebroski 27 FW  ENG Reuben Reid 29 MF  ENG Luke Summerfield 30 GK  ENG James Debbage 32 MF  SWE Bojan Djordjic[e]

Left the club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF  NGA Taribo West (released) 10 FW  ENG Scott Taylor (to MK Dons) 17 MF  ISL Bjarni Guðjónsson (to ÍA) 18 DF  POR Nuno Mendes (released)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  ENG Matt Derbyshire (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) 21 DF  ENG Elliott Ward (to West Ham United) 27 MF  ENG Jason Jarrett (on loan from Norwich City) 28 MF  ENG Marcus Martin (to Truro City)

Transfers

Out

Date	Player	Transfer	To	Fee	Source
June 2005	Matthew Villis	Sale	Torquay United	£0	[4]
July 2005	Gary Sawyer	Season-long loan	Exeter City	N/A
July 2005	Graham Coughlan	Sale	Sheffield Wednesday	£100,000
July 2005	Peter Gilbert	Sale	Leicester City	£200,000	[5]
6 October 2005	Taribo West	Released	Free Agent	N/A	[6]
January 2006	Matt Derbyshire	Recalled from loan	Blackburn Rovers	N/A
January 2006	Jason Jarrett	Recalled from loan	Norwich City	N/A
17 January 2006	Scott Taylor	Sale	Milton Keynes Dons	£100,000	[7]
31 January 2006	Nuno Mendes	Released	Free Agent	N/A	[8]
31 January 2006	Bjarni Guðjónsson	Released	Free agent	N/A	[9]
February 2006	Keith Lasley	Short-term loan	Blackpool	N/A
February 2006	Elliott Ward	Recalled from loan	West Ham United	N/A
27 February 2006	Rufus Brevett	Short-term loan	Leicester City	N/A	[10]
June 2006	Rufus Brevett	Released	Free agent	N/A
June 2006	Keith Lasley	Released	Blackpool	N/A

In

Date	Player	Transfer	From	Fee
18 May 2005[11]	Ákos Buzsáky	Buy	F.C. Porto	£250,000
31 May 2005[12]	Bojan Djordjic	Buy	Rangers	£0
15 June 2005[13]	Anthony Barness	Buy	Bolton Wanderers	£0
5 July 2005[14]	Taribo West	Buy	Al-Arabi	£0
19 July 2005[15]	Nuno Mendes	Buy	CD Santa Clara	£0
July 2005	Rufus Brevett	Buy	West Ham United	£0
August 2005	Matt Derbyshire	Season Loan	Blackburn Rovers	N/A
22 November 2005[16]	Elliott Ward	Short Term Loan	West Ham United	N/A
24 November 2005[17]	Jason Jarrett	Short Term Loan	Norwich City	N/A
13 January 2006[18]	Lilian Nalis	Buy	Sheffield United	£0
10 February 2006[19]	Vincent Péricard	Short-term loan	Portsmouth	N/A

Competitions

Championship

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Championship

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
12	Southampton	46	13	19	14	49	50	−1	58
13	Stoke City	46	17	7	22	54	63	−9	58
14	Plymouth Argyle	46	13	17	16	39	46	−7	56
15	Ipswich Town	46	14	14	18	53	66	−13	56
16	Leicester City	46	13	15	18	51	59	−8	54

Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2011. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Championship match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A
1	6 August 2005	Reading	Away	W	2–1
2	9 August 2005	Watford	Home	D	3–3
3	13 August 2005	Derby County	Home	L	0–2
4	20 August 2005	Crystal Palace	Away	L	0–1
5	27 August 2005	Hull City	Home	L	0–1
6	29 August 2005	Brighton & Hove Albion	Away	L	0–2
7	10 September 2005	Norwich City	Away	L	0–2
8	13 September 2005	Crewe Alexandra	Home	D	1–1
9	17 September 2005	Burnley	Home	W	1–0
10	24 September 2005	Southampton	Away	D	0–0
11	27 September 2005	Sheffield United	Away	L	0–2
12	1 October 2005	Stoke City	Home	W	2–1
13	15 October 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	Home	D	1–1
14	18 October 2005	QPR	Away	D	1–1
15	22 October 2005	Luton Town	Away	D	1–1
16	30 October 2005	Millwall	Home	D	0–0
17	5 November 2005	Ipswich Town	Away	L	1–3
18	19 November 2005	QPR	Home	W	3–1
19	22 November 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	Away	D	0–0
20	26 November 2005	Reading	Home	L	0–2
21	3 December 2005	Coventry City	Away	L	1–3
22	10 December 2005	Watford	Away	D	1–1
23	17 December 2005	Crystal Palace	Home	W	2–0
24	26 December 2005	Cardiff City	Away	W	2–0
25	31 December 2005	Wolves	Away	D	1–1
26	2 January 2006	Leeds United	Home	L	0–3
27	14 January 2006	Norwich City	Home	D	1–1
28	21 January 2006	Crewe Alexandra	Away	W	2–1
29	24 January 2006	Leicester City	Home	W	1–0
30	31 January 2006	Southampton	Home	W	2–1
31	4 February 2006	Burnley	Away	L	0–1
32	11 February 2006	Sheffield United	Home	D	0–0
33	14 February 2006	Stoke City	Away	D	0–0
34	18 February 2006	Coventry City	Home	W	3–1
35	25 February 2006	Derby County	Away	L	0–1
36	4 March 2006	Brighton & Hove Albion	Home	W	1–0
37	7 March 2006	Preston North End	Home	D	0–0
38	11 March 2006	Hull City	Away	L	0–1
39	18 March 2006	Cardiff City	Home	L	0–1
40	25 March 2006	Preston North End	Away	D	0–0
41	1 April 2006	Wolves	Home	W	2–0
42	8 April 2006	Leeds United	Away	D	0–0
43	15 April 2006	Millwall	Away	D	1–1
44	17 April 2006	Luton Town	Home	L	1–2
45	22 April 2006	Leicester City	Away	L	0–1
46	30 April 2006	Ipswich Town	Home	W	2–1

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

FA Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
Third round	7 January 2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Away	L	0–1		11,041	[20]

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

League Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
First round	23 August 2005	Peterborough United	Home	W	2–1	Wotton 35' pen., Taylor 38'	5,974	[21]
Second round	20 September 2005	Barnet	Away	L	1–2	Buzsaky 19'	1,941	[22]

Notes

1. Evans was born in Plymouth, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Ireland in 1997.
2. Péricard was born in Efok, Cameroon, but was raised in France from the age of 4 and represented them at U-21 level.
3. Capaldi was born in Porsgrunn, Norway, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in March 2004.
4. Pulis was born in Bristol, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his father and represented them at U-21 level.
5. Djordic was born in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia (now Serbia), but also qualified to represent Sweden internationally and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level.