Torquay United Fans Forum

Don't like him anymore now.

Bobby said in a programme interview that he thinks of himself as Polish. His Dad was a goalkeeper for Poland and Bobby hopes that one day he will also be the Polish goalkeeper.

Wisconsin_gull wrote:As spirited and confident the squad is, some reinforcements in the shape of a loanee or 2 will be necessary (with shooting boots please)
46games on a squad as small as ours is a big big ask
And we need Bobby to stay healthy and fit. That man is a rock at the back make no mistake - signing of the season by Emporer Ling

You're not wrong there WG. Bobby is Austrian so he is obviously better than everybody else but even so, he has been an absolute colossus between the sticks this season and is definately Championship level as we speak. Ling's finest signing by a country mile and it won't be long before he leaves us sadly. I just hope it won't be another zillion years before we see another Austrian in a torquay shirt though i suspect it will be.

As spirited and confident the squad is, some reinforcements in the shape of a loanee or 2 will be necessary (with shooting boots please)
46games on a squad as small as ours is a big big ask
And we need Bobby to stay healthy and fit. That man is a rock at the back make no mistake - signing of the season by Emporer Ling

Interesting to see that in our last seven games we have conceded only three goals - from Plymouth, Morecambe and Macclesfield - all conceded after we built up two goal leads, and from teams who are hardly setting League Two on fire this season. It's good to see that we've kept a few recent clean sheets and hopefully that will continue.

Apart from occasional blips such as Accrington (1-3) it is our defence which has been the basis of our success this season. If our strikers can step up a gear (and if we can avoid suspensions and injuries) there's no reason why we should not aim for an automatic promotion place.

The big fear of course is more suspensions and injuries. So I'd love to know what Martin Ling's thoughts are right now to guard against these possibilities and to improve our 'goals for' tally. A loan signing or two in the near future? Billy Bodin? Or will our current squad be good enough?

We have tough fixtures, but theres no reason why we cant do well in them. We shouldnt fear anyone and we are where we are on merit. If im honest i think Swindon and Crawley have the top two. The last Automatic spot is wide open in my eyes. I dont think our side is much different to Southend, Cheltenham and Shrewsbury. No reason why we cant challenge, we have made it so far already no reason why not.

But.... On the other hand our current form has put bigger expectations on us. The two games last week we didnt play to badly and everyone got fustrated, this is down to the new big expectations on ourselfs. Everyone is proud of where we are but this will be an exciting few months ahead.

Where ever we finish; Autos, play offs or out of the play offs we can be proud of our side. We have come a long way this season and lets enjoy the rest of the season. If we finish with promotion then happy days.

Between Swindon, Crawley, Cheltenham and Southend I think an automatic place is a very tough ask. We've had a nice run of fixtures and have taken full advantage of them, but maintaining that for another 4 months is another matter.

7th would be a dream really, and much better than any of us hoped for.

I think the first line of your post is the key, Wisconsin (your mum had a sense of humour, giving you a name like that).
Realistically, we're not going to do any worse in the last 18 games than we did in the first 18. This will leave us with a minimum of 77 points, which was good enough for an auto place last year. I'd like to see us take 36 points (an average of 2/game), which'll give us the same number (86) as Champions Chesterfield got last year.
Make no mistake kids, an automatic promotion is WELL within our grasp.

Matt.

NB, I've not checked the numbers, I'm going from memory, but they're close enough.

Our first 18 games this season yielded 27pts and included the darkest hours of the Ling Dynasty to date
Think we will keep going ok, we have got into the habit of winning, and may shock ourselves with an auto spot
If we could get a loanee with shooting boots that would make things very interesting on the run in and could win us a Ling vase

Well if the world DOES end on Feb the 1st then at least we secure a play-off spot!

austrianandygull wrote:

what a profound prediction usa! Where is Nostradamus when you need him?! Only kidding, no malice intended. You are right though, if we are still in the mix come March it is squeaky bum time!

well the world will end on Feb 1st. Well we seem to be getting carried away.

usagullmichigan wrote:If we are still in the play offs after Feb then I would be more than happy. All games are winnable but also they are drawable and loseable.

what a profound prediction usa! Where is Nostradamus when you need him?! Only kidding, no malice intended. You are right though, if we are still in the mix come March it is squeaky bum time!

If we are still in the play offs after Feb then I would be more than happy. All games are winnable but also they are drawable and loseable.

I reckon will get 10 points from these.
Win at rotherham, draw with gills then both home wins against shrews and bradford. Obv not in that order

7 points would do for me. Draws all round except for a win against Bradford. At least that way, it will stop Shrews, Gills and Chelt all gaining ground on us if we draw with them. On the strength of that, if we have to lose one I'd accept Rotherham, providing that we pick up a win at say Gillingham to put more distance between us and them.