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I thought you'd disagree as soon as I wrote it Andy!

I have to admit I haven't watched the team live too much this season but I seem to have got lucky the times I have been (4-3 Aldershot in particular!).

The truth is, we have no idea Ling has been lurching on with this 'illness'. I myself have been afflicted with a longstanding virus and I tried to continue working for a good spell but eventually I essentially crumbled. I needed time to recover. It could be possible that Ling has been working under these poor circumstances and his eye left the ball when it came to running the club simply because he was worried about his health. I don't know if that's the case at all; but it is a possible explanation.

Regarding the 'defensive' tactics I'd say that's simply the case of Ling playing to our strengths. Our defence had been a rock the previous season which meant the attacking phase of play could essentially look after itself as we only generally needed one goal to get 3 points. Of course I think we should have been a bit more adventerous away from home as we have a woeful scoring record away from Plainmoor but I think Ling would have been astute enough to realise that problem and act on it. I think he would have adapted before we got into the relegation fight but his ill health MAY have also affected his judgement here.

Labadie and Chappell have indeed been impressive but personally I don't want to see a return to our Buckle regime where we end up with a team full of loanees who only care about moving on from us as soon as possible. I guess it's the footballing romantic in me! I want to see players playing who WANT to play for Torquay. Of course I'm not naive enough to suggest we should never loan players but Buckle's squad rotation, in my opinion, could have caused more dressing room problems than it was worth. Loan players were waltzing in almost every week! It can't have been good on the club finances either.

I also just don't see the board ditching Ling if they don't have to. There appeared to be a good working relationship there and Ling is probably one of the few managers that is 'happy' to work under such tight financial restrictions and with such an expectant fanbase.

Just to clarify as well, I have nothing against Knill. I think he's done a good job SO FAR in at least instilling some fight in the players. It was most alarming when you all reported of such abject displays against teams we should really be getting something out of. Knill does appear to have galvanised everybody to try and pull us clear of this fight so it can at least save the fans' nerves at the season's end!

If it came down to it and we had to replace Ling I wouldn't have anything against Knill, yet.

I saw a Bournmouth fan tweeted to Eunan he was man of the match last Saturday and controlled the midfield through the game. Hopefully he's doing that every week and we can look forward to a much bigger money move and another big payday transfer slice !!

I cannot see much difference to our position whether Ling was here or not to be honest. The team was in a massive downward spiral from xmas onwards. Even before that we were abject -just look at the Harrogate defeat.
From what I saw in the matches against Oxford/Wycombe I thought that we were down for certain and had no faith in Knill turning it around. I didn't blame him, just thought he had an impossible job.
I wasn't particularly impressed with the signings of Labadie/Chappell either - thought they would be benchwarming fodder.
BUT after last nights game I have total faith in Knill getting us out of trouble. Chappell is a quality player - he is so much better than anything else we have got in that position. Labadie has been a revelation.
And bringing Cruise into the team has been a success.
It was no easy task to win last night under massive pressure against a decent side.
However last nights peformance was far and away better than anything else I have seen this season.
When Bodin and Downes return we will have a strong line up and equally a strong bench.
If we play to anything like the standard we did last night we be fine.
Lings position actually looks untenable in any case.

I think Andy is right. If we were still playing the same style of football as we were 3 months ago we would be bottom by a long way. Our tactic of giving it to Rene and hope he scores shows a lack of any sort of idea. Since Christmas he seemed to have given up, and to be honest I wouldn’t blame him if he had. Certain sides have big centre halves and with no help for Rene he stood no chance up on his own. Part of our problem is not using the loan system. We must be one of the only sides who don’t seem to.
It goes to show that fetching in players on loan changes the whole dynamic of the team. It seems to have rejuvenated Rene .Ling was offered the chance to bring people in and didn’t.
Hopefully we push on from Tuesday and beat York . If we do pull clear of the drop and end the season mid table then where does this leave the board.
Do we say thanks to Knill and start the season with Ling.
Or keep Knill and part company with Ling.
If we go with Ling and start badly I think the board would have no choice but to sack him. I feel he was lucky in his first season to have O’Kane, Olejnik and Ellis.
His problem was not replacing Eunan. I think Downes and Poke were fair choices but the lack of a playmaker really let us down.
I have nothing against Ling or Taylor but the way we were playing was awful and when Taylor took charge it got worse. This must tell you something .
It was nice to see on Tuesday the players warming up with some sort of purpose rather than the usual Mansell to Nicholson and Oastler to Lathrope passing back and forth for 20 minutes before kick off.
All I can say is onwards and upwards. It was the first game I have enjoyed in a long while even if it was a bit stressful after they scored.

popside bob wrote: It goes to show that fetching in players on loan changes the whole dynamic of the team. It seems to have rejuvenated Rene .Ling was offered the chance to bring people in and didn’t.

Are you absolutely certain of this?

I'm not certain but can only go by what he said before the season started. If there was no money then why say it.
This is what he said on BBC website.

"Don't presume that the Eunan money will be spent on a mirror image of Eunan O'Kane," Ling told BBC Sport.
"The Eunan money will be spent, if needed, on areas that develop as the pre-season and the season develops."
Ling feels that the club has sufficient cover for O'Kane with the summer signings of Craig Easton, Billy Bodin and Nathan Craig.
"It's a situation I expected, it's a situation that I planned for," he said.
"If you look at the squad at the moment - it's a balanced squad, there's 22 players there.
"There's Billy Bodin who can play the Eunan role with his eyes shut, there's Danny Stevens who can play the Eunan role as well."
And Ling says he may have to strengthen his central defence rather than his attacking options.
The Gulls brought in centre-back Aaron Downes earlier this week after selling Mark Ellis to Crewe last month.
"That may be an area where we're one short, we've got Brian Saah, Downes, young Kirtys MacKenzie and Tom Cruise, who's a left-back who can play centre-half," Ling said.
"Are we as strong there as we were last year? No, because we had Ellis, Chris Robertson and Saah.
"There's money there. We're not going to be a club that spends six figures on any single player, but we're a club that pays decent wages and we've got a bit more in the bank if a problem occurs.
"There will be players available if we need to go out there, and with the Eunan situation there's also money available for wages should we need it.

Maybe it was bull but why say it.

Have a think about when all of that was said, then have a think about what has happened since, then ask yourself what may have changed.

Matt.