Attacking Options

[tufcbrett]

I dont think Knight would be that bad if you can sort out his fitness and more importantly his attitude. Besides the last time we signed someone from Coleraine was O'Kane... though is case would obviously be a bigger differance given Knights past.

I would doubt we would go for him, he impressed me a Swansea them many years ago. Im sure Ling has ideas for the forward line and im sure it wont be Knight.

[mickyflash]

After being fairly critical of both Lings appointment and his signing of McPhee It is only fair that I come out and give credit where it is due. Today was a good day for Torquay United and a great bit of business from Martin Ling. Well done sir. I agree with Jeff it is great news the defensive unit is sorted for Monday when the players return for pre-season it will be great for them to gel quickly, however its far too early to say if the unit will be as sound as last season's unit until we have at least seen them play, but on paper the potential is certainly there.

I would still love to see Craig Easton sign for us though, he really is a good player and a player I have tracked closely since his days at Dundee Utd. I just feel he will add something extra that isn t provided in the current crop of midfielders we have in the squad.

Then again, maybe I am in a minority as I do not think Manse is as good in midfield as people are making out, while I think he is a great bloke and a good footballer people are talking like all our problems are solved now he back in his favoured position. My questions are Does he have the strength and passing ability to be the main man in that midfield next to O'Kane? maybe he does. but it has been 2 years since we last saw him play there regularly, it s a bit of a gamble to put all our midfield eggs in that basket. When we sold Nicky Wroe to Shrewsbury Buckle gave him a couple of games back in Midfield, he did OK, but not the shining light we are making out, he was no Stanley was he?

In terms of numbers we do look ok in centre mid field but in terms of quality? what do we do if manse picks up an injury for a sustained period of time. O'Kane and Lathrope? or McPhee? or Oastler? yes plenty of choices but I would be much happier with Easton added to the mix. It may leave some competition for places, in my mind thats not a bad thing and with Zebs on his way out it frees up a bit of extra cash on the wage budget too

[AlexGulls]

I do agree I think he would be out of our reach as I doubt we could afford his wages for a start.

[monkeyboy]

Why do people who know nothing about our wage structure presume we can't afford a player from the same league's wages??!! ANNOYING!

[ferrarilover]

Because Monkey, we ALL know that TUFC is one of the least wealthy clubs in the division. Partly because of a number of small factors and partly because our board have a VERY tight grip on the reins (well, sometimes) and won't spend beyond their means.

This means that, when we are linked with a player who will, by dint of being the captain of another club in the same division who, it can be reasonably presumed, have a larger playing budget than us, will be a high earner, and, consequently, probably beyond our means.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't ask and see, but he is not the type of player who will struggle for offers at L2 level and, as we are seeing with Bristol Rovers and Crawley Town, money talks, even down here.

Matt.

[basil75]

To be fair, I'd be rather depressed and surprised if we couldn't afford the wages of someone from Southend.

Say what you want about our finances, but I'm almost certain they're better than Southend's currently are - particularly as they signed him when they were in a similar situation as Plymouth are currently in.

[monkeyboy]

The only mention I've seen of the clubs transfer budget was an interview with Martin Ling stipulating that we certainly weren't in the bottom half of clubs in this respect. I do believe our financial status is better than a lot of clubs because of the board's thriftiness. Some examples of our clout are the signing of Robert Olejnik and when Branston said we blew Rovers out of the water on wage offer. I can't stand anybody being negative about Torquay, particularly when it can't be corroborated.

[Fonda]

If you spend a lot in one are of the squad, account of that has to be taken elsewhere. I'd guess that Olejnik required some persuasion (cash), so means we might need to be more thrifty elsewhere.

[samgull]

What about steve brooker, has league pedigree and is a decent enough tough guy up top.

this is my post as I have now had to change my account

[TCP]

Judging by the 'quality' of Ling's attacking signings over the last 2 years, I wouldn't be too over-excited if I were you.

After all, this is the very same man who considered it wise to spend 10k and dish out a 2 year contract, on a 32 year old Daryl Clare this time 12 months ago...

=Z

[tufcbrett]

Judging by the 'quality' of Ling's attacking signings over the last 2 years, I wouldn't be too over-excited if I were you.

After all, this is the very same man who considered it wise to spend 10k and dish out a 2 year contract, on a 32 year old Daryl Clare this time 12 months ago...

=Z

Yeah he may have made a bad signing there, but what manager doesnt make bad signings. Even the great SAF has been some shocking singings. Its apart of the game.

He has made some decent Defensive signings which im suprised about. Saah was obvious but still a good player. With Bobby Olejnik and Leadbitter, he has brang in some good players.

Now if he can bring in anyone just as good upfront or on the wings i will be happy.
Saying that i reckon we will sign Taiwo Atieno has hes "impressing" in training. I dont know what to think, i like what ive seen but will he do it often enough, prob be clare moment

[cambgull]

Yeah he may have made a bad signing there, but what manager doesnt make bad signings. Even the great SAF has been some shocking singings. Its apart of the game.

He has made some decent Defensive signings which im suprised about. Saah was obvious but still a good player. With Bobby Olejnik and Leadbitter, he has brang in some good players.

Now if he can bring in anyone just as good upfront or on the wings i will be happy.
Saying that i reckon we will sign Taiwo Atieno has hes "impressing" in training. I dont know what to think, i like what ive seen but will he do it often enough, prob be clare moment

Brang isn't a word, it's brought!

As for Ling's signings, I'll judge them when I see them. TCP has just been negative against everything Ling has seemingly ever done and I trust his judgement as much as I trust brucie's.

[TCP]

"TCP has just been negative against everything Ling has seemingly ever done and I trust his judgement as much as I trust brucie's"

No offence meant, but I'm a little bit more qualified to speak about Ling's recent failures.

FWIW, I hope it works out for you guys, I really do, but I have a nagging feeling than his many managerial inadequacies will once again rear their ugly head this season.

[brucie]

Brett - with all due respect what I find annoying about your post's is you state things which you presumably have little or no evidence to back up.
Can you tell me perhaps how often you have seen Leadbitter play to form a judgement that he is a good player. You can of course use the same arguement to suggest that i can't say he is rubbish (because I have not seen him play either). However with no league experience to his name either at his club or on loan and Lings assertion that he will have to "teach Leadbitter how to play league 2 football" you have got to wonder if he is a player ready for the first team aas yet. But you include him in your annoying stupid team line ups in every message.
Its the same with Saah - seen much of him have you? - to my mind its another "jury is still out" signings. The worry for me is that he was rejected by a couple of league clubs (us included) after he left Orient. Shit normally finds its own level and you do wonder why he was not playing for a league club if he is as good as you seem to think. Even more worrying perhaps you might wonder what he was doing when Cambridge were getting shellacked by a whole host of shite teams when Ling was in charge of Cambridge.
In fact Ling's signing of Daryl Clare and paying 10k in the process is even more worrying than that. A decent player in his time but he was so far over the top when Ling signed him, he might as well have been skiing down everest.
And then there is Chris Mcphee.......
And as for Atieno - he has been released by so many clubs, they cannot all be wrong. could not get near Stevenage's first team either.
The truth is that Lings signings so far appear to lack quality, and the squad we currently have is nowhere near good enough.

[royalgull]

Ultimately brucie any signing Torquay make the 'jury is out' with you pal. Last season when Robinson and Stanley turned up i'm sure you would have had words at two players who couldn't get a game in League 2, Tomlin was rubbish in your eyes, i'm certain i remember you criticising the BRanston signing when he first turned up on loan i do often wonder what you get out of 'supporting' this club. I understand everyone's views differ, i understand some people's glass is half empty and look at things more pessimisticily than others, but i think your glass isn't just empty but it's dropped and smashed on the floor.

Saah has played in a side that won promotion from this division, was captain at Cambridge and isn't there anymore due to financial reasons, not football reasons. You are completely unwilling to give McPhee a chance because he was rubbish 5 years ago or whatever. People change, players work on their game, improve and it may have been right place wrong time for him. I'm not expecting him to pull up trees but on the face of it, take that spell with us out of his career he's been well thoguht of and done well at a number of clubs. It's a low risk signing and one that's worth a go.

It's still July, things are clearly kicking off behind the scenes with these 2 potential new striker signings and you have to give Ling the time and opportunity to put his stamp on this side. We've replaced a couple of the players we lost, we desperately need some more forwards and we'll see who he gets.