Next three tests could be crucial

I AM sure Paul Sturrock will be drumming into his Plymouth Argyle players the need to get a result at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.The manager will want his team to come home with at least a point from the Keepmoat Stadium, against a Rovers team desperate for a result themselves.Form-wise, Argyle should go to Donny with lots of confidence, but, as we know in this Championship, particularly this year, there are no givens.Rovers may be bottom going into the match, but they won’t want to get cut off from the others around the relegation area.It’ll be a scrap for Argyle, but, as we know away from home, they are as good as anyone in the league.

The problem this season has been their home form and with Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers coming to Home Park next week, it puts more pressure on Argyle to get something on Saturday.Last weekend, Argyle lost to Blackpool when they looked to have the match won, and that’s always hard to take.Argyle hadn’t played at their best but seemed to be heading to their fifth unbeaten league game, after a good goal from Paul Gallagher.Then Blackpool hit them with two goals from Liam Dickinson to leave Home Park with a 2-1 win.But that’s football, especially in the Championship. If you take your foot of the accelerator pedal, there’s always the chance you’ll get beaten.I know it’s often easier said than done, but Argyle really must try to make Home Park a fortress, as they did so successfully a couple of seasons ago.You don’t want managers looking at trips to Plymouth and telling their players, ‘Look, so-and-so got a result there, so this is one game we can get something from’.
Sturrock will want to make sure Home Park is somewhere teams hate to visit – knowing it’s a long way and they’re not likely to come away with anything.But, on the positive side, Argyle are still in the top 10 and not far away from a play-off place.But these next three matches coming up – Doncaster, Birmingham and QPR – could end up being one of the key sequences in the league for Argyle this season.There are a lot of matches to come for the players before the FA Cup tie at Arsenal on January 3, but that’s when Paul will use his squad to its maximum.The Gunners game, I know, is something Argyle fans will be looking forward to, but there’s a lot of football to be played before then.But it would be nice to travel to the Emirates in a good bit of form, wouldn’t it?

THERE’S a fair bit or pressure starting to gather on Premier League managers, particularly those with Manchester United links.The futures of Old Trafford old boys Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Steve Bruce and Mark Hughes appear to be uncertain – if you believe all you read in the national tabloids.Ince’s Blackburn and Keane’s Sunderland are both in the bottom two, with only West Brom below them.To a certain extent, I can understand the interest that surrounds those two, because their teams are having a rotten run of form, particularly Keane’s.But Hughes’ Manchester City and Bruce’s Wigan Athletic are not in the same boat, so I think it’s premature to start counting down the clock on them.I’m sure with the money Hughes will have at his disposal in the new year, he’ll bring in two or three top signings to add to what I think is already a pretty good squad.I’ve watched Robinho and while he can be frustratingly anonymous, when he comes to life, he’s so talented it’s frightening.The Brazilian can turn a game on its head in a blink of an eye and has done several teams this season.

While one player doesn’t make a team, I’m sure Hughes, with mega-money to play with, is already envisaging a City side with more world-class players joining in January.Wigan don’t have that wealth, but Bruce is moving them in the right direction.Keane really does look like a manager who needs a bit of luck to go his way.Losing 4-1 at home to Bolton last Saturday was probably the final straw for Sunderland fans – particularly after Keane spent a lot of money on players in the summer.Funnily enough, I think Keane comes over well as a manager. He’s honest, forthright and takes failure on the chin.I expect the knives will be out for Arsene Wenger as well after losing to Burnley in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.And that’s despite beating Chelsea last weekend.
I watched the game against Burnley on TV and, to be honest, a fairer result would have been 5-2 or 5-3 to Arsenal.Nicklas Bendtner, in particular, could and should have had a hat-trick.Still, that’s football and good for the Championship with Derby County also in the semi-finals. Burnley looked like a really good team. They played to a plan and kept to it, even when Arsenal were running them ragged.