Torquay United Fans Forum

Southampton Gull wrote:
Some people will never see the value of Zebroski. The best performance I've ever seen by any Torquay player (and I've seen quite a few in my time) was last season away at Crewe where he played that lone forward role and gave the Crewe defence a torrid time. They literally couldn't deal with him. He's a fine player and even when most fans think he's had a poor game he's usually put a decent enough shift in.

He was phenomenal that day. Scored a cracker too. He's averaged about a goal every three games in his seperate spells down here which is a splendid record when you consider he's played about 80% of those matches out wide. He never looks to be in complete control of the ball, which draws some criticism, but that's just his unorthodox style. He can also never be accused of not giving 100% - there's a reason why Buckle rarely subs him. He would have made my top five if he hadn't ballsed up the penalty.

Tricky to name just five:

1: Stanley
2: Stevens
3: Robinson
4: O'Kane
5: Branston

Couldn't feel my feet, but would have happily stood on the Popside for another hour to watch that. So much more positive. We really are an excellent team when we pass the ball to feet. The second half was so one-sided. We were helped by the red card, but up to that point we were troubling Stevenage who failed to force Potter into a single save.

First half was quite scrappy at times. Very stop-start due to a whistle-happy referee. Both teams struggled to gain much momentum. We created a few of half-chances, Robinson testing the keeper from 25 yards, Stanley shooting off target from the edge of the area and Zebs dragging one wide on the angle. Stevenage's best efforts came from individual mistakes. Stevens sloppily lost possession when trying to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick, but the final shot was scooped over. Nicholson was then rinsed, but again Stevenage couldn't capitalise once in our box. The early sub came as a surprise. Kee headed straight down the tunnel, but Davey remained rooted to the bench so it must have been a tactical change. We went 4-4-2 with Robinson partnering Zebs up top, O'Kane out on the right and Stevens on the left. It didn't make much impact in the final 15 of the first half, but caused all sorts of problems for our opponents after the break.

Debutant Pringle fired against the crossbar from outside the area within 30 seconds of the restart, but before we had a chance to replay the shot in out heads, Stevens pounced, meeting the loose ball and rifling a 25-yard half-volley into the top corner. Stunning finish. Stevens sprinted over to the Popside and pointed to an area of the crowd while celebrating. I'm guessing he was sticking it back to the boo-boys who have been unnecessarily bugging him this season. He was then mobbed by every outfield player. It was all positive after that. Robinson's pace and trickery was asking questions of Stevenage's leggy defence, Stevens was a constant menace and a tireless Zebs fought for everything.

Then came the penalty and red card. Zebs intercepted a shocking backpass, rounded the keeper and was hacked down by the trailing defender. Easy decision for the referee. Zebs immediately picked up the ball and placed it on the spot, but it seemed that the instructions from the bench were for Robinson to take it. Jakey relayed this to Zebs after talking to Buckle, but Zebs ignored orders and smashed his spot-kick against the underside of the crossbar before Stevenage cleared. Buckle went absolutely livid. He seemed to be venting most of his frustration towards Robinson for not being more forceful with Zebs, but you have to blame the latter if indeed this is what happened (I'm sure a fan closer to the dugout will be able to give a more precise account).

Anyway, the missed penalty didn't knock us off our stride. Stevens almost scored his second after receiving the ball back from Robinson's neat flick, but he curled wide from 20 yards. Zebs then set up Robinson for a tap-in at the back stick, but he shot over after a last-ditch tackle which the fans in the Family Stand thought was a foul. But with five minutes to go, the deserved second goal finally arrived. Branston looked to have overhit a pass down the left, but Stevens controlled superbly, beat the defender and squared for Robinson who smashed into an empty net after his initial attempt was saved. I can't recall Stevenage carving out a clear chance.

Hard to pick a MOTM. The sponsors awarded it to Robinson who was brilliant in the second half. So was Stevens. Branston and Robertson were solid, O'Kane played really well on the right and now looks a lot stronger. Zebs was full of running and posed problems, but he put himself before the team for the penalty. However, my star man was Mr. Stanley. Very accurate passing and pulled the strings in the middle. Always wanted the ball and looked to quickly move it on. As for Pringle, he drifted in and out of the game. Showed some neat touches and passing, but was caught napping a few times. Still an encouraging debut and almost scored a cracker.

Moving on to Buckle, he gambled in the first half with the early sub, and it played out probably better than he could have imagined. We were much more daring than on Tuesday night. Obviously you have to consider the level of opponents, but today we were leaving three up while defending corners! Also in the 93rd minute we won a free-kick in the Stevenage corner. Buckle's response was to shout over to Branston and tell him to join the attack. Much more like it! Roll on the Shots...

Potter
Zebs
Branston
Stanley
O'Kane

Rare home game for me - and a highly frustrating one at that. A satisfying first 45 was followed by a terribly negative second half. We left with a point but deserved to lose and could have only blamed ourselves as we were hanging on at the end and never looked like scoring after the break. I defended Buckle for his tactics at Accy, but today he should be blamed for the two dropped points. There is absolutely no way he can say we tried to win that game in the second half.

O'Kane took his goal well in a first half which I thought we shaded, but it quickly went downhill after the break. I was in the Family Stand so couldn't clearly see the decision for the penalty, but if it was a spot-kick, then Robertson was fortunate not to be sent off. However, he soon made a huge blunder for Rotherham's inevitable equaliser. He was excellent on Saturday, but had an absolute mare tonight. The final half-hour was so depressing. Rotherham, who had already rattled the woodwork in the first half, struck the post late on and should have punished us. We offered nothing going forward, poor Zebs was completely stranded on his own up top, but he put in one heck of a shift. Kee was on the right in the second half and Robinson on the left, but both drifted in and out and didn't offer much support. That said, we replaced our passing game with hoofball, which took most players out of the match. O'Kane barely touched the ball second half. Presumably that's why Buckle replaced him with Lathrope. There's no point of O'Kane being on the field if all the action is above his head. Macklin coming on was pointless. And why is Nico no longer taking most set-pieces, or even long throws? And while I'm discussing set-pieces, why is every free-kick and corner aimed at Branston's head? Just doesn't work for me.

No chance we'll make the play-offs on this evidence, we were scared to have a go and it felt very much like watching an away game. I'm not disappointed that we haven't won. I'm disappointed that we surrended possession so easily in the second half and played so negatively. We just never looked like we'd score after the equaliser. Attendances will dip below 1,500 if we carry on like that.

I do admit the TV angles don't help out Potter, but standing behind that Accy goal, the ball swerved at rapid pace. The highlights don't do the shot justice. Perhaps Bevan would have saved it, but then perhaps Bevan wouldn't have saved one of the other Accy efforts. I believe Bevan is the better keeper and is extremely unfortunate to be on the bench. but I was pleased with Potter's performance on Saturday.

Trojan 67 wrote: Thank f**k for that !

Well done Tommy, I always enjoy reading your matchday observations.

(I edited most of your original post to save space).

Always a pleasure, Trojan.

What I would also add is that despite the subs, we still kept to a 4-4-1.

Start of second half:

---------------Kee----------------

Robinson--Stanley--Oastler--Zebs

After 1st sub (Gilligan for Robinson):

--------------Zebs----------------

Kee--Stanley--Oastler--Gilligan

After 2nd sub (LRT for Kee):

--------------Zebs----------------

LRT--Stanley--Oastler--Gilligan

So although we had more defensive players on the field, the shape remained more or less the same throughout the second half.

Robertson
Branston
Potter
Nicholson
Stanley

Terrible game on a terrible pitch inside a terrible stadium in a terrible town. I do hate Accrington. It was bad last year, and no different a season on. The only positive was that it didn't rain.

I agree with almost all of Jeffrey's fine analysis. The surface made it impossible to get the ball down and play on the deck. Arsenal would have struggled to put a string of passes together on that mudbath. The ball rarely bounced, instead sticking to the surface like a bowling ball. But we scrapped well and were the better team in the first half, certainly creating the clearer chances. Potter had nothing to do, the defence were untroubled, the midfield battled well and Robinson was looking lively. Their keeper made a stunning save to keep out a Ellis header, while he also denied Robinson after a short headed backpass by Accy's right-back.

Then just as I thought it was safe to queue up for my Mars bar and hot chocolate, the referee waves a red card . I was 70 yards away, but didn't have any complaints. Naughty Ellis, whose batteries evidently still need recharging, gets the wrong side and pulls the chap down by the shoulder. It looked last man, but he was still a distance away from our goal. That's what they call a game-changer.

One man down for a half was tough enough, but we were also playing against a strong wind blowing towards the Yellow Army (minus the Army). Accy went on to dominate, exploiting the space in the middle vacated by Mansell who was now being targeted at right-back. Potter was called into action a few times, while we survived a few games of pinball inside our box and were let off by some wild finishing. We couldn't get the ball down and our only chance came out of nothing when Zebs raced clear, but shot at the keeper from the angle.

Then the only moment of genuine quality produced the winning goal. Mansell played the ball out for a throw midway in our half after Accy quickly cleared a free-kick. As we were light in numbers, Manse proceeded to kick the ball into the stands, therefore wasting time and letting us reshape. Very shrewd I thought, especially as our skipper only escaped with a warning. But despite everyone being back in position, we still ended up conceding from the bloody throw! Craney turned a yellow body and then spanked in super shot from 25 yards. One heck of a hit - blink-and-you-miss-it . I'm not sure if the giant Bevan would have got his fingers to it, so harsh to attach any blame to Potter, although I'll watch the FLS show tonight (please no Claridge :slap:).

After the goal, Accy had a couple more decent chances as we 'chased' an equaliser. By 'chased' I mean throwing our new targetman Branston up top. Yep, Guy Branston. We desperately need a big, ugly striker who does the donkey work, bullies defenders, wins headers and holds the ball up. I don't care if he doesn't score, just somebody who we can build a 'Plan B' around (Branston does actually boast most of these attributes - now I see what Bucks was trying to do 8/ ).

As for Mr. Buckle, I thought he had his hands tied today. Got his line-up spot on based on the conditions. This was not for your O'Kanes and fancy pink Macklin boots. He was badly let down by Ellis which obviously altered his second-half plans. We did our best to hold on for a point, but were undone by a fantastic goal.

The subs has no impact on the result. Robinson was our biggest threat in the first half, but the second half was a completely different game as we were against the wind, on the backfoot and had a numerical disadvantage. He barely touched the ball in the 15 minutes after the break and obviously Buckle thought Gilligan would give us a little more protection. LRT for Kee was a defensive change, but we were under a lot of pressure and it made sense. Kee was quiet and the ball wouldn't stick to him. LRT actually played in a left-central midfield position and looked sharp. It wouldn't have mattered whether we still had Robinson, Kee or Jean-Pierre Simb on the field, none of them would have prevented the goal. On that pitch, in the circumstances and conditions of the game, I'm not sure what Bucks could have done differently with the set of players at his disposal to try and get something from the game.

Robertson was my MOTM. Calm and assured both at right-back and in the centre of defence. Distribution not great, but then not many were able to pass their way through the game. All of the defence played well, though, including Potter who had an excellent second half. Worth mentioning that the sponsors' MOTM was the Accy keeper...

How frustrating. Our inability to hold on to leads will be the difference between a promotion push and mid-table mediocrity at the end of the season. I'm not complaining with 12th, I've said all season I'd be happy if we finish around there, but if we could protect a lead we would be hunting for the title.

The facts back it up:

- Scored the first goal in 20 of our 30 matches (66.6% - higher than any other side), but only gone on to win half of them.

- Dropped 23 points from a winnng position - only lower than Cheltenham (24) who have played two extra games.

We just seem to hit the panic button and self-destruct. It's happened too many times to blame officials and the damn woodwork. I'm not sure if it's a mental thing, inexperience, bad tactics etc, but we are constantly putting ourselves in a winning position and then shooting ourselves in both feet.

As for tonight's team selection, you can't blame Buckle for keeping the back five as it was given our recent run, but Macklin? Where did that come from? I don't know how he performed but I don't understand how 'the odd one out' can leap above O'Kane, Gilligan, Stevens and even Halpin in the pecking order. He hasn't even been on the bench lately. I don't mean to criticise the player, but it was just a bizarre decision by Buckle.

This is probably a knee-jerk reaction (I wouldn't have said this at 9.20pm), but I would like to see us go back to basics on Saturday. Bring back Bevan, Nico and maybe Ellis and O'Kane. The players that have come in have performed well, but that's four points dropped from two games which we should have won.

andygull wrote:Don't quite think there will be 9000 fans at their next home game somehow. I think its another case of,"ooh lets go and support our local team in the cup cos they are at Old Trafford / Stamford Bridge / Anfield / Emirates but at home to Eastbourne Borough we will not bother". Yeah Crawley don't need the money as much as some clubs but if you are gonna support your home town club then do it when it matters you morons!!! Hate plastic fans and hangers on!!Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's the same everywhere else though, Andy. All clubs, even our little one, has 'morons'. Where are the missing 10,000 that were at Wembley against Cambridge?

As for the game, Crawley played very well and deserved at least a draw. Can't stand them and delighted they didn't force a replay, but they did put in a very good performance.

forevertufc wrote: Thats excatly it HRG,there is no easy solution to fixing this,the one that should not be forgotern however,is it was us and Hereford who broke the rules,niether of us should be given the chance to gain an advantage from it,to me the only way forward is no points no goals for us both,which will upset set Hereford no doubt,but if the boot was on the other foot and we had won,then to me there would be no difference.

The F.A in this case must be fair to the rest of league 2 who it seems have not broken any rules there for should not suffer a diss-advantage by this game being re-played.

That's what I think will happen and seems to be the most sensible option. Who won the match should be irrelevent when the FA look at this as both teams broke the rules and so it wasn't a fair game. Therefore, all points and goals attained should be taken away and the result declared void. Effectively, both sides will be playing a 45-game season. Unfortunately for Hereford, this impacts them more than ourselves, but I would say exactly the same if we had won. A replay won't happen.

andygull wrote:I don't quite understand fans who don't want to get promoted because they believe we will come straight back down again. Isn't the whole point of football to win games and achieve things? I'd rather go up then come down than have two mediocre seassons of league 2 footy. Unbelievable!!! If we can get up via the play offs ( unlikely but possible ) then we can take it from there. Consolidation is already assured as Barnet and Stockport are going down. Play offs are a possibility. The strange thing is i would fancy us more to win one off play off ties than i would actually stringing a few good wins together to actually get in the play offs in the first place!! I don't believe we will make the play offs because we cannot get consistency of results. Even though our squad is limited and a bit threadbare we could go close if we stopped making stupid errors week in week out. We need the confidence back we had at the start of the season. The bizarre thing is that Bucks will have done an amazing job if he gets us in there and that is despite his tactics and dubious loan signings costing us loads of points already this season.

I agree with this and Brett's earlier comments.

I think we'll finish in a mid-table position, but if we make a push for the play-offs surely all fans would want us to go up? We would be the bookies' favourites to come back down, but who's to say we couldn't hold our own at that level? We've already beaten two League One teams this season and attendances would be higher. We'd be able to attract better players and could command bigger fees for our current stars.

Just because you reach or come close to the play-offs one season, it doesn't mean you'll be knocking on the promotion door the next. We could end this campaign strongly, but lose Buckle, O'Kane and Ellis in the summer which would leave us back at square one. If there's a sniff of promotion, we must do all we can to grab it with both hands.

Mansell is playing RB so looks like Ellis or Robbo will be dropping out.

diamondgirl wrote: Bradford should be deducted 3 points for suggesting that we should be deducted 3 points!! :evil: That's like a player brandishing an imaginery red card. Leave it to the authorities to decide our fate.

I see you have sorted out your access Den. See you on Sat. no. 3 post, Pop side

Bradford fans are just bricking themselves over relegation. They are slipping down the table fast and there's a very negative vibe up there.

My gut feeling is that we will get away with a fine and suspended fine. But if we are deducted points then we only have ourselves to blame. Stockport on Saturday is looking a six-pointer.