JUST WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH DANNY STEVENS ???? When he plays well, scores, makes goals you still have something to moan about. When others have a poor game I don't see you mentioning them and running them down do as you do with Danny. Do you actually know him and he's done something to p**s you off, or is it that he's better looking than you, because there has to be a reason why you are so against him.austrianandygull wrote:At times during our 7 game run without a win i honestly couldn't see the wood for the trees. We let in 3 in the first half at home to Rotherham, conceded late on at home to Morecambe, put in two of the worst performances i have EVER seen from a Torquay side against Shrewsbury and 10 man Bradford and were battered out of sight by Gillingham and Southend. At Bradford i sat in the stands and simply could not believe what i was witnessing out there on the pitch. Andrew Davies gets dismissed after about 20 minutes, they go one up and we hardly get out of our own half after spending 70 minutes passing the ball sideways. It was truly demoralising and came off the back of a similar performance away at Shrewsbury.
After our heavy defeat by the seaside at Roots Hall many people were seriously questioning Lings tenure as manager of Torquay not to mention his ability as a manager and as a recruiter of players. Saah was being pilloried and calls for Ellis were made by some, me included. I confess to not being overjoyed at Lings appointment and doubted his credentials, our bad run of form during this period plus the defensive floodgates opening with alarming regularity led me to believe i was correct in my assumptions. I was never AT ANY POINT calling for Ling to be sacked or resign but from what i'd seen in games thus far we had been far too sterile, too negative and didn't work hard enough. Obviously there are tactics and formations to take into consideration when sending out a team; however, i just thought that at least if we address these issues and see what happens then we'll see where we are.
October 25th, tuesday night at Plainmoor vs AFC Wimbledon was the unexpected turning point and set us up for where we are now. I couldn't see it coming and i'm sure many of you guys couldn't also. This game and the game vs Hereford at home the saturday following had some people saying 4 points at least here and the pressure is off Martin for the time being. I joked with the lad who works in my local bookies when he asked me how i thought we would do tonight ( vs AFC ) and i said given our propensity to ship goals faster than the speed of light and our propensity to score goals too it would be 3-3. We battered them out of sight 4-0 and followed up with a comfortable 2-0 win against Hereford too.
I didn't see any of those games but i did go to Crewe the next weekend and we absolutely blew them away. Yes they weren't great but i refuse to let anything take the edge of that performance, we were so positive, so confident in possession, working hard with and without the ball and creating chances. It was an absolute joy to watch and well worth the £19 ( yes £19 to sit down at Crewe - robbing t***s! ) i paid on the day. Everybody put in a real shift and were first to everything and contrasting that with the Bradford performance it really became apparent that a positive, confident, hard working approach had worked wonders. There were a few players that could have done a lot more without the ball that day like Howe BUT the last 3 games i've seen he has really worked hard, never given anything up and he looks fitter and more mobile.
Chesterfield in the cup, get in there just down the road from me. Defeat expected. Didn't play that well as an attacking force but kept up the work ethic and graft against a team a league above and we scored three great goals. This game made me applaud the character and resolve of the lads as when they equalised i thought that we would capitulate and get beaten three or four. We didn't. We dug in, stood firm and fashioned the odd chance out of nothing that were clinically despatched by Howe and Nico.
We beat the gargs 3-1 following this, a game most expected a win from so perhaps the pressure was more on the lads - that and it being an eagerly anticipated local derby. Character and spirit in abundance.
We then went to Vale Park on a freezing night in the potteries, i wouldn't have wanted to be in shorts on that night i can tell you! We had the odd chance but were under the cosh a little by a big, strong Vale side with a few tricky attackers. The workrate and desire to track back and win the ball especially from our defence was noticable - i even gave my man of the match to Oastler, he was that dogged.
Then came the sour defeat at the weekend at Bramall Lane. The stats say we lost the game but for nearly 70 minutes we were absolutely unbelievable trying to hold on to a lead against what is effectively a championship side at home. They have got full internationals in the squad whilst we are just happy tohave a full squad! But for 2 humongous errors by Ellis and Bobby and we could have drawn that game or even got the win. I was proud to support Torquay that day despite some idiotic chanting and despite me leaving the stadium after the third went in. I left the stadium not because i was deeply unhappy as the team had played shite but because i was SO annoyed and frustrated you wouldn't believe and i had problems dealing with it so i just left. I apportion no blame to Ellis and Bobby for the errors as they are just things that can happen. Yes you could argue they should have done better but the rest of the game they were both immense, they were ALL immense.
Getting to end of the novel now and i put forward my theory as to why we have improved so much since the Shrimpers battering. Simple, everybody working their b******s off, trusting each other and believing that they can go out there and do the business against anyone - and i believe generally they can. We have had key players out at various stages Saah, Morris, Bodin, O'Kane and Lathrope yet we have still progressed and dealt with it. Ling has got his tactics and selection spot on AND he has approached the games in a POSITIVE manner believing the lads can get a result anywhere. I know it can, and will change soon and we will have another bad spell but Ling and the players have proved to us that they are good enough to compete at this level, a couple at a higher level like Damon, Eunan, Manse, Bobby, Rene, Ellis maybe and a couple should be at a lower level IMHO like Stevens, Atieno and McPhee but i'm not going to stop thanking them for giving their all to us fans in recent weeks, especially away from home where we spend shedloads of money to watch them and lots of time too. Thats all we ask. Congrats to Martin and the lads for a great last 1 and a half months!
As as side issue, does anyone reckon Saah will fit straight in to the starting line up after he recovers from injury? Despite Ellis using his leg as a nine iron on saturday, i still prefer the defensive line up we now have.
Ling has given him the chance to prove himself and he has definately done that, he's scored 5 goals so far and although unfortunately TUFC lost on Saturday, the last goal by Danny was brilliant and even the commentator on Sky Sports remarked on his goal.
