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Trojan 67 wrote:Reading through the previous posts, the majority view is we've signed a useful player.

Now he's played competitive League 2 games, what's the view now ?

Although there's a footballer in Brian Saah, is there a leader and ball winner as well?

My view is it's taking him time to adjust to League 2 from BSP, as a few of the squad needed time 2 seasons ago. Those who made the adjustments are still here. Those who didn't were moved on.

wonder which "team" saah will be in then?

I'm hoping the life of Brian (at TUFC) is successful, adjustments are made PDQ, proves to be the central defensive messiah and is not shipped out for being a very naughty boy.


Then there's me of impeccable behaviour. Can I come in from the naughty step now ?

As has been said Saah has played a few competetive games now including 2 in the cups and pre-season too. I haven't yet seen him play but what is notable is the comments made by many of you after each game regarding Saahs performances and questioning his all round game. The fact that he seemingly has not had any decent and commanding games a month into the season is worrying as is our inability to keep a clean sheet ( Aldershot excepted although Saah is not solely to blame for this statistic ). The fact is that Branston was a hard act to follow but Branstons game was based around dominating his area, commanding the other players and doing the simple things well and effectively. Saah is an experienced pro, albeit nowhere near as weather-worn as Branno but nevertheless he should know the game and know what he is doing. Just because he is massive and powerful does not ensure that he has an adequate footballing mind and i fear his physical presence is the only reason he has been successful as a pro footballer. I say successful, he was at orient for quite a while and did ok and then bombed at cambridge in non-league. His early Gulls showings doesn't suggest that he will be a long term stable feature of our defence however IMO.

Having scored and got in the team of the week at the weekend is anyone changing their tune on Saah?

Interesting to note that as well as 2 current players there were 2 former Gulls in the team of the week (Wroe and Connell), and a goal for Bayo in my weekly game of "how many former Torquay players scored?".

Bigman wrote:Having scored and got in the team of the week at the weekend is anyone changing their tune on Saah?

Interesting to note that as well as 2 current players there were 2 former Gulls in the team of the week (Wroe and Connell), and a goal for Bayo in my weekly game of "how many former Torquay players scored?".

Not yet.

In exactly the same way that panning a guy after one bad game is crazy, reversing the opposite decision based on a single performances is equally unwise.

Despite his obvious quality, Macklin is still a couple of matches (probably in mid december, when the pitches are mud and it's a cold Tuesday night away at Morecambe) away from fully winning me over.

Matt.

I'm still confident that he will come good. Admittedly, it's taken him a little while to settle into his new surroundings and he needs to get used to the players around him but he has shown glimpses of the quality that made him such a big fans favourite at Cambridge United and to a certain extent at Leyton Orient.

I think part of the problem for him has been that filling Branno's boots is no easy task and it has been difficult for him. Quite simply he will never be another Branno, but let's face it there aren't too many defenders in this division quite like Guy anyway. Branno was so dominant in the air, so vociferous in cajoling others and organising the defensive unit and he played a large part in keeping us very tight at the back particularly when defending set pieces. Saah on the other hand isn't a great talker and whilst he wins his fair share of headers he will never be in Branno's league as far as that side of the game is concerned. He does however have different qualities I would suggest, he is a lot better in possession of the ball than GB, is a better passer and certainly has more pace. I also think his awareness and reading of situations will improve as he gets to know his defensive partners better.

I do think that we are more vulnerable now to conceding goals from set plays and to a certain extent to crosses into our penalty box as Branno was excellent at getting his head on anything that came into our box - and I also think that we shouldn't forget what an excellent defender Zebs was in set play situations too, he was often back winning headers in our own box from corners and we probably don't have someone as effective as him amongst our current crop of forwards in that aspect of the game.

Unfortunately for him in many ways he has been "burdened" with the responsibility of being made Club Captain by Martin Ling. Whilst it was an understandable decision on the part of the Manager it has rather added to the pressure on the player himself. Some fans now see him (Saah) as being a Manager's favourite (which let's face it he probably is!) and some even see his role as in some way challenging that of fans favourite Lee Mansell who is the Team Captain. However I don't see it like that at all, he (Saah) is not the leader on the pitch that role still belongs to Lee Mansell and he is clearly better suited to it than the "quiet" man that is Brian Saah. Saah's role as Club captain is all about off the field duties and yet he is expected by certain fans to be the leader on the pitch too when that is not his specific role. I do agree that it would however help his cause a bit if he were seen to be a bit more vocal and to be more of a leader at the back but he is still very much the new boy on the block in our defence and that may still come with time hopefully.

I think it's clear from his reaction to the crowd when he scored his goal - the traditional hand cupped to the ear but on this occasion aimed at the home fans - suggests that he is aware that there are certain sections of the home crowd who have started to get on his back - but what better way to respond to that than to score your first goal for the team (an important one at that) and for the defence to keep a clean sheet, for you to win the MOM award from the sponsors, for him to be included in the Football League L2 team of the week and for your team to be sat in 4th position in the table after a fantastic return of 11 points from 6 games - particularly given the tough start we have had. It really doesn't get much better than that does it! Nice one, Brian!