Gary's Maths

WITH the season well into its final straight and Argyle fighting to stay in the Football League, most of the Green Army will at some point have reached for the calculator.

And whilst Argyle manager John Sheridan is not one to study the standings too hard, coach Gary Owers does all of his worrying or him.

“I do it,” admitted Gary. “’Til my eyes are blurred, but what’s the point?

“You can’t predict what will happen. You can guess as much as you want, we’ve just got to try and do our jobs and get the points we need.

“I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the figure that is mathematically certain (barring a sizeable shift in gold difference) which is 55 points.

“Nobody talks about, they talk about a number of points but there is a number that will see us safe.”

Last season, the Pilgrims survived relegation with a total of 46 points.

The points required for safety this campaign, however, could well break the division’s record.

Oxford United were relegated to the conference on 49 points in 2006, the highest amount since two relegation places were introduced.

Argyle are currently on 49 points with four games yet to be played but still find themselves looking nervously over their shoulders, something which Gary has noted is happening in Leagues across the country.

Gary said: “It’s incredible, but all of the leagues are the same.

“The bottom of the Championship, the bottom of League One, the top of League One...

“It just shows that below the Premier League everything seems to be levelling out.”