Billy Kee gone

[Glostergull]

Oh, great.

Still, at least he'll only have one game against in us which to score the oh-so-inevitable hat-trick.

As long as that hatrick is against Bristol Rovers, I am not in the least worried. He must be rubbing his hands in glee and relishing the chance to stuff them 3 times this season.
On a more serious Note. I do hope this is all there is to it. I know Martin Ling is stamping his authority on the club and players who do not get down to it will be walking out the door, but There is a small bit of disension in the dressing room and I would not like to see it spread. I hope for all the players sakes it calms down and they can get on with the season.
Billy Bodin is a good signing and it does look like we will hopefully get him in the January transfer window unless he lights the league us and ends up following the money train.
Good luck to the both of them and good on Paul Bodin keeping us in the frame. Maybe this might be a slow transfer with him eventualy coming to Plainmoor in some capacity and us churning out loads of players w can sell on for hundreds of thousands

[Fonda]

Regarding Mcphee, there's no doubt in my mind that he would be more effective in a central role than in the wide one he currently occupies. Ling's desire to play him on the right of midfield is the one tactical decision he's made that i can't get my head round at all. He was not comfortable there before, and he doesn't look comfortable there now.

[diamondgirl]

Good luck in your career Billy..but homesick? Billy is coming up 21 years of age he's not a 16 year old boy, he is a man. Torquay is in mainland England, not Outer Mongolia for goodness sake. >:( How does he think our troops feel (Some of then even younger than Billy) away in Afganistan? Now that IS a long way from home!!

Having spent a good few hours talking to Billy, I really liked him and was pleased that he was playing for my team, but this "homesick" thing has got to stop. We had the same with Carayol, wanted to be nearer home in London.....went to play for Lincoln, and is now at Bristol. Did he never do geography at school?

Ok rant over. All the best Billy, and thanks for your contribution to Torquay United.

[Jeff]

To be fair it sounds like Burton have paid something approaching their record fee of £20k for him. Now if we're getting clubs to spend that sort of money on someone who was just warming our bench, then it's not terrible business.

Like I said before, it's all well and good having potential but at some point it has to be fulfilled. And this season Billy if anything looked further away from consistently producing the goods.

[diamondgirl]

If you don't mind me asking how many goals did Kee get last year? Have you always had players say they're home sick down there or is it a recent excuse to engineer a move?

For what it's worth I was very impressed with the Atieno & Howe partnership when you played against us. Also heard Bodin is a decent prospect. Like Brucie said you've also got a player that scored 18 goals in the league below so sure you'll be fine if you avoid injuries.

As far as my records go;

9 pre season (1 x pen)
9 League
1 FAC (1 x pen)

So a total of 19 but only 9 in the league. Not sure how many games he started though.

As for homesick players, seems to be a recent thing, possibly to get a move.

[Fonda]

In a sense, it doesn't matter whether being 'homesick' is the real reason (and i'm not suggesting it isn't). The fact is, for whatever reason, Billy Kee evidently doesn't want to be here. He's unhappy with some aspect of his work/life and will not perform to his potential as long as that remains the case. It's unfortunate we've lost another player with ability, but if he was never going to fulfil that ability here, there was no point in keeping him. My biggest concern now is that i believe he and Eunan were pretty good buddies off the pitch, so we have to hope the unrest doesn't spread...

[diamondgirl]

I agree with all that you have said Fonda. If a player does not want to play for you, then so be it, let him go, no matter how good he might be. It is just so dissapointing that we have a player, who might have gone on to be a star for TUFC, and that we have spent time and money on, wants to leave because he is "homesick". It so disruptive, as far as the team goes and, I think, it gives the supporters a sense of instability. I can understand a player moving to a higher division team, who wouldent want to play at the highest level that they can, but what has happened to loyalty for the club that pays your wages. Get over it, get your head down, work hard and make the most of a short career.

Hope Eunan is not that big a buddy with Billy. That would be a blow if he left now.

[usagullmichigan]

Think you will find the homesick thing is to do with we just don't have enough quality kebab shops in Torquay compared the the midlands.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Think you will find the homesick thing is to do with we just don't have enough quality kebab shops in Torquay compared the the midlands.

Don't you mean we haven't enough quality shops full stop in Torquay?

[Fonda]

There isn't much of anything in Torquay anymore unfortunately. Certainly not enough to occupy young footballers, with lots of time on their hands.

[usagullmichigan]

All true. I hate to say it but Torquay Town center is the pits.

[CP Gull]

Some players embrace the lifestyle down here (Hargreaves, Mansell etc) and set down roots while others (Carayol, Kee etc) miss the attractions of big city life. I imagine that being that bit older and married with kids makes a big difference though.

I think the reason given ("homesickness") is a genuine one as why else would he make such a move? I don't think he's any more likely to be a regular starter with Burton where he has to get ahead of Zola and Richards, not to mention Pearson, to get a regular start. Indeed it seems that Peschisolido is already talking in terms of him being a useful addition to the squad in terms of what he can "bring from coming off the bench". So, I don't buy the idea that he has gone there to increase his chances of first team football. I also doubt he has gone for the money as I wouldn't imagine they could (or would) pay him much (if any) more than we can and certainly they are no more likely to get promoted this season than us. Indeed it looked for quite a while last season as though they (Burton) might exit the league in one direction while of course we came so close to doing it in the other.

It appears that Billy quite simply "misses his mates" and presumably the "lifestyle" such as it is back in Leicester. Whether being home will improve him as a player remains to be seen - personally I don't see him ever being a success at a higher level than he is now as he lacks certain attributes, most notably pace but also his control lets him down sometimes. He is however without doubt a naturally gifted footballer and a decent finisher although I was always surprised he didn't score more "scruffy" goals for us than he did as he always seemed to score spectacular goals with fine finishes often from the edge of the box.

I am disappointed to see him go as he always brought the potential to change a game whenever he was introduced from the bench, but very often only succeeded in disappointing when he actually started games. His performance at Old Trafford (along with many others it must be said) was particularly disappointing.

Whilst I am happy that Boden may well prove to be an able deputy, I am less happy that we haven't secured a permanent replacement. I'm not sure that either Boden or Swindon Town see this as anything but an opportunity for the player to aid his own development at our club - time will tell whether there is any real chance of a permanent switch I suppose.

I would hope that Boden can at least inject a bit of pace into our side as based on the evidence of the Crawley performance we are crying out for someone (other than Atieno) in the side to run at pace against defences - we were far too slow and predictable particularly down the wings on Saturday and maybe it's time to give the likes of Macklin a chance to show what he can do. It appears that Boden himself reckons he might be used more as a left winger during his time here which makes you wonder what that might mean for Ian Morris?

It also occurs to me that something needs to "happen" with Saul Halpen. He is no longer a "kid" as he reaches the grand old age of 20 very soon and I feel it really is time for him to step up and make the grade whether that be here or elsewhere. It's all very well syaing what tremendous potential he has but if he really does have a big career ahead of him surely he should be getting a bit closer to our first team now than he is? I would have thought a loan spell to a BSB Premier side would be a sensible move at this stage of his career.

[diamondgirl]

Brilliant post CP

[Fonda]

I said in pre-season that if Halpin has half the 'potential' that has been suggested, he ought to be ready to contest for a starting berth in our side by now. If he can't oust a continually under-performing Danny Stevens, he's maybe not a good as some suggest? As for Macklin, i've never been his biggest fan, but his performance against Exeter in pre-season was fantastic, and i'm stunned he hasn't featured more. Stevens and Mcphee are evidently the chosen ones and neither are the answer for me. As for Bodin, if he's also been brought in to contest the wide positions, are we seriously going to proceed with 2 strikers?

[Bigman]

This came as a bit of a shock for me, as much for how quickly it's happened. I guess with him not being happy and not being first choice there's no major reason to keep him. Agree with the majority on here that he obviously had potential but never quite fulfilled it here - amazing finishes from nowhere at Macclesfield and Northampton will live long in the memory, but as he is lacking in both pace and a really good first touch I can see how he's a luxury that we cannot afford.

Good luck Billy.