I'm doing this and watching the Olympics because i've got work in the morrow so lay off! But nevertheless, the inaugral matchday thread is here and i'm glad just to have beaten Bix to it otherwise he might get member of the month again for being so conscientious and WIN ANOTHER SHIRT THE POXY ARSE!!!! ( I'm not jealous). 
The 2012/13 season gets underway with a tasty pipe opener in the newly sponsored CAPITAL ONE Cup against Championship favourites Leicester City at Plainmoor. OK, so the bread and butter stuff starts away at Fleetwood 4 days later but that won't stop Martin Ling and his re-assembled Gulls squad from giving the midlands outfit a stern test in their attempts to reach the next round. On paper we couldn't have asked for a tougher draw but to use the old adage, football isn't played on paper.
Tickets for this one haven't yet gone on sale for Foxes fans but on reading their forums and the local rags which i buy on my way to work most days in Loughborough, they are really up for their first EVER trip to Plainmoor and will swell the away end. In fact Torquay have only played Leicester City once in competetive action and that a 3-0 win for the Foxes in an FA Cup fourth round tie at Filbert Street back in January 1971 thanks to strikes from Len Glover, Malcolm Partridge and Graham Cross. Our more mature members may even remember this game eh Dave SG!
They may also remember one Frank O'Farrell who managed the Gulls in 1966 when he took us to the third division before leaving to manage Leicester in 1968. The Irishman ironically was in charge of the Foxes in THAT FA Cup tie between the sides.Last season we were unceremoniously dumped out in round one by Southampton at St Marys whilst Leicester were beating Rotherham at the Don Valley 4-1 before beating Bury in round two but then losing on penalties to Cardiff in round three. It goes without saying that Ling will be looking to emulate the feats of his predecessor Mr B****e by progressing in cup competitions. I'm sure that Martin will play the strongest side possible, a side that he feels can do themselves and the fans justice and compete with superior opponents. He will maybe also be using the same personnel in the opener at Highbury the saturday after so it is intriguing as to what his team selection will be.
Leicester will be expected to play a 'weakened' team in the hope of getting the job done with the minimum of fuss and not risking anything before their opening league game at home to Peterborough the following saturday. That said, a weakened Leicester team will still be peppered with quality and will be hard to beat. Quite which line up Nigel Pearson will select for this one is anyones guess but the boys in blue from Leicestershire certainly have no shortage of options.
One absentee however will be Irish international Sean St Ledger who will be out for up to 12 weeks with an injury. Also out is Lee Peltier who today joined dirty Leeds but the Foxes can still call on any of their 5 summer signings. Jamie Vardy has arrived from our opening day visitors Fleetwood Town hoping to make the step up to Championship level. He was signed for an undisclosed fee believed to be around a million quid. Man Utd pair Ritchie De Laet and Matty James have been brought in as has 28 year old Zak Whitbread on a free from Norwich City and finally Hungarian international Marko Futacs. Other stars at the KP are Jermaine Beckford, Barnstaple born Andy King, Paul Konchesky, David Nugent, Kasper Schmeicel as well as Neil Danns who turned down Glasgow Rangers last season to join. I bet he's bloody over the moon with that one! Phew! They've also got solid pros like Richie Wellens and Martyn Waghorn as well as the delightfully named Ghanaian Jeffrey Schlupp! Sounds like a can of pop!!
In short, they're good.So far this pre-season they have hammered Hinckley away 4-1 with goals from King, Nugent, Vardy and Marshall and changed ALL 11 players at half time. They also lost 2-0 at the New Meadow v Shrewsbury and have had been told that their PSF tomorrow at Lincoln has been postponed on police advice. Nice.
I mean........what the effin hell goes off in Lincolnshire that they can't spare any coppers? Has some mass cult sprung up that sexually attack random farm animals or something? Or is there a huge plot to relieve the Cathedral of all it's wordly lead and copper? Weird.I'm really hopeful of our lads pulling off a shock in this one and i'm quietly confident. Either way it will just be good to see the lads back in business and win, lose or draw it's more money in the coffers for us to add to the cash we have already generated this summer. The BB will be in full swing for it's first competetive match and i only wish i could be there. If it were at the KP i would be but sadly i'll miss this one. Let's buckle up ( if you'll pardon the pun
) and get ready for another rollercoaster season. COME ON YOU CHIPNICKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
(love that word by the way and will use it forever).
