What price Zebroski?

[ferrarilover]

It's not your views, you blithering half-wit, its that you moan and whinge like a bitch any time anyone doesn't take your view that the present board are the greatest thing since that machine which slices bread.
It is my OPINION that the board have done an adequate job in some areas and a not especially good job in others. The one area in which, from my VERY limited business understanding and knowledge of the insides of the club, the board have excelled is not spending beyond their means.

The members of the board are not, in my OPINION, particularly brilliant businessmen. Simon Baker appears to run a small family hardware store, which, through very little fault of his own and a deal of bad luck, is going square down the pan.

Equally, we have a lawyer, a book-keeper and a carpet salesman, none of whom appear to rock up at Plainmoor in flash sports cars, so we can guess that they are hardly raking it in.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but maybe, just maybe, they're just normal blokes who are stretching themselves to their very limits to run the football club and, occasionally, exceed their limits and do things which warrant criticism?

Matt.

[Fonda]

How do you know this though? Why are people being so negative.

You never know Kee and Mcphee may both score 20 goals (9 pens for mcphee) Our new backline may be the strongest one we have had in a long time and may be really hard to break down. One of our young guys may turn out to have a real good season, maybe macklin could turn out to be a little star. You never know.

But....

No, most people want to think negative and think we will score no goals and let in 250 and be the worst team league 2 has ever seen. Finish on -15 points after going into debt and winning no games.

Both extreme yes but why does everyone assume were going to be so bad? Noone knows untill the season starts. Yes you can have your views but all this real negative stuff is really getting a little anouying. But i love to read other people views to see what people really think.

Of course, everything might fall into place. Danny Stevens might play well enough to warrant an England call up.

[AustrianAndyGull]

The thing is, Chris, without those "extremists" we wouldn't know who was holding that middle ground.

I do wonder about the motives of those who try to shout down anyone holding what some consider a negative view of the Club. In monkeyboys case I have to admit that a lot of what he's written makes good sense, but to label the majority of users of this site as "so-called fans" while assuming the role of a genuine fan just pisses me off.

I've had more arguments with Fonda than anyone else over the years and mentioned his negativity on countless occasions but I've never ever thought of him as a lesser fan than myself. We argue until the cows come home but have always shaken hands and enjoyed a good chat before games and the same goes for a lot of other fans I've met. Quite what monkeyboys agenda was is a mystery, perhaps he has a problem dealing with people who hold a different viewpoint to his, perhaps it was all a futile exercise to disrupt the site, either way I feel it's a better place for having fans with a variety of differing views. Some love brucie, some hate him, some (myself included) find him hilarious, but would the site be better off without him? Not for me. Same goes for monkeyboy, I sent him a pm confirming what I've said here and if he wants to come back and argue with me on a daily basis that's fine. For every brucie or Southampton Gull there's a CPGull and a stefano, for every ferrarilover there's a Julian Clarey, that's what makes reading this site such an enjoyable experience in my eyes.

Agree SG. If i choose to spend my hard earned travelling miles on a wet and windy night to watch Torquay play at Accy or some other grim footballing backwater and we get gubbed 5-0 or something and play like fairies (or Argyle!) then i feel the right to come on the forum and have a go. If we lost but played well then i will come on and be positive. Sure there are people like Brucie who are perma-pessimistic. I am a right miserable **** generally but Brucie is, well, Brucie! That said, Brucie has a right to come on here and be negative and i don't have a problem with that. At least Brucie is brutal and to the point which a few more people should be IMO. At the end of the day if we all thought the same there would be no forum cos whats the point? I think Danny Stevens is shit and others do not. That is a negative post on my part where i said that i was pleased with signing of Saah because i think he will be a good player for us, a positive post. Its swings and roundabouts and if some folk just want to believe the sun shines out of the arses of the torquay board and players etc and think they are beyond reproach then they are deluding themselves. If it were £100 to get into plainmoor, the players didn't give a toss and the board sanctioned the sale of our best players for peanuts ( like now) then these people would still turn up without a cross word for all that is torquay and slag the rest of the fans off for not being true supporters. Crazy.

[tufcbrett]

Of course, everything might fall into place. Danny Stevens might play well enough to warrant an England call up.

For England school boys maybe. :rules: It wasnt meant to be a dig at you, just everyone assumes were going to have a bad season and a ball hasnt been kicked yet. Can we just all look forward to the season without ending our season before its started please.

[ferrarilover]

Totally off topic Bretty, but would you really start with Robbo at CB over Ellis?

Matt.

[Trojan 67]

Positive/negative, all the same to me.

Then there's line, the line and those here on line. Post it as you see it.

[happytorq]

Agree SG. If i choose to spend my hard earned travelling miles on a wet and windy night to watch Torquay play at Accy or some other grim footballing backwater and we get gubbed 5-0 or something and play like fairies (or Argyle!) then i feel the right to come on the forum and have a go. If we lost but played well then i will come on and be positive.

That's my point though - there are people who appear to be happy-clappy-trappy come what may, and there are others who are extremely negative no matter what happens. I'm all for debate and discussion and all that guff, but if some have their attitudes so firmly set one way, it doesn't matter what you say they'll never accept it. That's the part that is the biggest issue for me. Some days I'm pessimistic, some days I feel a bit more optimistic.

Using your example; it strikes me that we could win 5-0 at Old Trafford in the 3rd round of the cup, be top of the league by 10 points and be getting 5000 every week at Plainmoor, and some would still complain that we're not 'playing the right way', or that Stevens is still part of the club, or stuff of this ilk. Honestly, it gets to the stage where I think some people have a secret desire to see us struggle just so they can say "See? I told you we were crap!"

[Mav]

Now reported as £40k with a sell on clause, which is supposedly considerably more than the original offer turned down over a month earlier.

[Tq2Yellow]

Two interesting updates regarding this thread:

Jo Kuffour has not featured in either friendly for Rovers and word from Buckle is that several players will be leaving in next few days to free up wages to ensure they stay within Salary Cap - I say let them stay and cause problems!

Secondly, Zebroski made his debut last nite against Bath City and blazed over from close range open goal - how long will the Rovers supporters enjoy that sight?

And third interesting note in my couple! Was that Lee Phillips had a stormer for Bath and nearly embaressed Buckle when he hit post with header!

[brucie]

Tg2yellow - your message above is complete and utter tripe. Zebroski may not be the greatest goal scorer in the world but he is a decent player. Ridiculing him for shooting over the bar in a friendly is just complete nonsense, especially when our forward line currently consists of bill bunter,nanny mcphee and typhoon adieooooo, a player who is so bad he has been released by nine clubs - he's almost up to jack,queen,king.
Still Ling is talking to a forward to do - our next signing has surely got to be something decent, or maybe not......

[Mav]

Tg2yellow - your message above is complete and utter tripe. Zebroski may not be the greatest goal scorer in the world but he is a decent player. Ridiculing him for shooting over the bar in a friendly is just complete nonsense, especially when our forward line currently consists of bill bunter,nanny mcphee and typhoon adieooooo, a player who is so bad he has been released by nine clubs - he's almost up to jack,queen,king.
Still Ling is talking to a forward to do - our next signing has surely got to be something decent, or maybe not......

Actually, thats the the normal response for the rest of us when we read your posts Brucie.

[Gassy]

Two interesting updates regarding this thread:

Jo Kuffour has not featured in either friendly for Rovers and word from Buckle is that several players will be leaving in next few days to free up wages to ensure they stay within Salary Cap - I say let them stay and cause problems!

Secondly, Zebroski made his debut last nite against Bath City and blazed over from close range open goal - how long will the Rovers supporters enjoy that sight?

And third interesting note in my couple! Was that Lee Phillips had a stormer for Bath and nearly embaressed Buckle when he hit post with header!

Where have you got that from? Kuffour played in the 1st friendly and was injured for the 2nd.

Zebroski played against Mangotsfield before he played against Bath. He also didn't miss an open goal.

As for the 3rd point, we would have won 2-1 if they scored. Bath raised their game which is fair enough like we will against Reading and Burnley i expect. Im not quite sure what the 3rd point is trying to do... I'd love to know what your source is as it really is awful

[friendlygas]

Lets clear up these points. Firstly as someone said,Kuffour was injured but as regards him moving it appears that he will only go if he gets nearer to London.IMO that pretty well only leaves Swindon as likely takers especially as Jo has played well against swindon in the last couple of years. Personally I would keep him because I can see him being a real threat with the players we now have provided Buckle can get him to play.
As regards the friendly against Bath City, it was a really good game and Bath are a very reasonable side. I think a lot of League 2 teams would love to have their midfield which was Scott Murray,Alex Russell,Lewis Hogg and Jo Burnell.All seasoned pros and played good football however we also played some good stuff and Zebroski ,though not having a great game showed what a handful he can be and with him,Jo Anyinsah,Scott McGleish and Matt Harrold I can see that being quite a formidable attack especially if backed up with Jo kuffour.
My first impressions of the two friendlies is that we will have a good season and score a lot of goals. I would not be stupid enough to predict promotiuon but we will win more than we will lose.
it will be an interesting few weeks to see who you sign because I think that with the right players you will be a force again this season.My reasoning is that if you look at the teams in League 2 there has not been a great deal of movement with most of the sides.Oxford,Northampton and Crawley catch my eye.Other than that if you can replace the players you have lost with a few decent signings then I dont think you will be far off the level of team you had last season.Roll on August.

[leetufc]

That's a decent midfield Bath have got, though I imagine Murray and Russell lack the legs nowadays to manage every game. I think it highlights how strong the BSP is that Bath can have the team they have whilst only being semi-pro still. I personally reckon in the not too distant future most of the BSP will be professional and there will be calls to add it to the football league or at least introduce an extra promotion place to league two. There are some decent sides, and some relatively large sides in that league, as we have experienced first hand.

Anyway, I have digressed from the point I came to make. I would personally love to have Kuffour back here. He was excellent first time around and imagine he could do a really good job for us, however I think the chances of it happening are slim to none. Firstly, as has been said countless time, we would struggle to match his wages. I doubt we would offer more than Yeovil did and he didn't fancy that move despite them being league one. Secondly, I think he's looking to head back london way which positively rules us out

[ferrarilover]

^^^ Wrong thread alert ^^^

Perfectly decent post, just inadvertently in the wrong thread.

Matt.