Plymouth Argyle went down 5-1 to Accrington at the weekend. The game to seal Derek Adams’ fate as Argyle manager was a truly miserable affair, with nobody covering themselves in glory either individually or as a team.

Starting XI:

Matt Macey – 2

The only reason his score is not even lower is the fact that it was such an awful surface to play on. However, it was the same pitch for both teams and that doesn’t excuse the continued atrocious run of kicks and non-existent command of area and poor positioning for the goals. Letheren or Cooper must start against Scunthorpe.

Oscar Threlkeld – 3

Whilst there were at least two goals for which he could have done better, he was a little let down for being left two on one on a couple of occasions. He still deserves a low rating as his attacking play was non-existent and was often forced back out of position, even if he wasn’t dribbled past during the game.

Ryan Edwards – 4

He was not uniquely at fault for any of the goals but his performance was still stodgy, often losing his man and slowing the pace of the game down with his attempts to play the ball out of defence. That said he was far from the worst offender.

Lloyd Jones -3

The loanee left far too much space for Accrington attackers to run into as well as badly directing headers and demonstrating a lack of communication with his fellow defenders. Winning a fair few headers is what prevents a lower score.

Gary Sawyer – 1

Sawyer has been a fantastic servant to the club but this game more than any other demonstrated why he needs to be put out to pasture. His lack of pace is painful to watch and he was bypassed time and time again without any redeeming features.

Yann Songo’o -4

The usual story for the number 4. Lots of enthusiasm without so much quality. He got his foot in and got dirty but didn’t do much to protect his defence or create anything serious going forward.

David Fox – 3

It’s becoming a common trend, sadly. Whilst he is capable of decent enough performances in his best position, in a 4-2-3-1 he is next to useless these days. Teams pour through our midfield like the opening of the Red Sea and even his passing was once again far from its best

Antoni Sarcevic – 3

As mentioned last week, he is so clearly and obviously playing with an injury that it’s become painful to witness. He can have touched the ball no more than a handful of times in the entire game after a bright first twenty minutes. Thereafter, he was anonymous.

Jamie Ness – 5 (Man of the Match)

A very lively first twenty minutes aside, his head seemed to completely drop after we went 1-0 down and he did little of any note thereafter. The midfielder was subbed off at half time accordingly. The fact he goes down as Argyle’s best player on the day says it all.

Graham Carey – 4

It’s very rare that a performance as subpar as his can be considered one of the better ones, but that says more about the other players on the pitch. He at least tried to create a few good things in the second half and showed some energy in closing down which is more than many did.

Ryan Taylor – 3

Like Sarcevic, he’s another one who tends to run as through his boots are dipped in treacle at the moment. Whilst not helped by poor refereeing, his touch was too heavy throughout and he didn’t make any kind of positive run forward.

Substitutes:

Freddie Ladapo – 4

Perhaps with a point to prove, Ladapo was one of the lesser offenders when he did come off the bench. The end product was still marginal and his hold up was poor, but he showed himself for an out ball which is more than most did barring Carey and Lameiras.

Ruben Lameiras – 4

The Portuguese came on at the same time as Ladapo and truthfully put in a similar display. A bit more spark and energy than we saw from the first half players, but a lot of heavy touches and balls overran saw a largely fruitless display.

Alex Fletcher – N/A

The young striker came on and showed lots of promise with no little enthusiasm and some good passing play but was not on for long enough to earn a rating.