Newport v Torquay United. 28/09/2013

[tomogull]

I discovered this site in the close season and have enjoyed the thoughts and opinions of many of the people who have posted but lately there seems to be a lot of negativity around.Firsty I think we are very lucky to have a football league team in Torquay,we survive on gates of 2500 and the club is run very well,not by group of multi millionairs who can buy the next transfer target with two thousand barrels of oil but by people who support and love Torquay United,we have a good name and reputation in the football world. In all the years I have followed United we have played in a higher division in only two or three times,we are what we are,a division two side that occasionaly get a good side together and have a good season and after that the better players move on.Sure we all like to dream but let's be happy and enjoy what we have.I stand up for the right to post your opinion whether I agree or not and football is a game of opinions but after just nine games I think everybody wants to get behind the team,manager and board to consolidate the season,let the manager manage and the board to sort the finances out.

Y

Frenchgull - if Tommy Northcott is your favourite player, you must be of the same vintage as me and like me, you've probably turned grey after years of watching the ups and downs of Torquay United (health warning to younger posters - it will happen to you, too). You are right - on gates of 2500 we are lucky to have a league team and we are fortunate to have people on the Board who love the club and whose only interest is its success and survival. However, like fans everywhere, we like to see our team win. Whatever our views of Mr Buckle, he did get us moving in the right direction and this was continued by Martin Ling in his first season. But frustratingly, we hit the buffers last season. With several new players arriving at Plainmoor, we had hoped for a big improvement this season but so far it hasn't happened and that is why there is some negativity - some of it unwarranted - on the Forum. For my part, I was predicting a top 10 position but I am now more realistically expecting to finish the season about 15th or 16th. That's acceptable in my book - as long as Knill maintains a season-by-season improvement,

On your point about being a Div 2 side, we should strive for Div 1 and not accept Div 2 mediocrity. After all, in Tommy Northcott/Robin Stubbs time, we almost made it to football's second tier.

[brucie]

Tomogull is quite right - its a worry that Knill seems to favour his own signings over the other players. Whatever you think of Benyon two years ago he was a really potent striker at this level. Potentially he is the one striker at the club who will score goals regularly if he is match fit and playing regularly. Yet he never gets any gametime.
Thompson is raw but was excellent when bought into the team by Ling last year - frightening pace. In the psf at Tiverton he was by some way the best player on the pitch.
He is still a player that might change a game but never gets a look in. We could quite easily get one or two injuries to forwards by the time the Fa Cup comes around. Loaning him out makes sense but loaning him out and getting him cup tied in first game seems quite frankly idiotic to me.
I never really thought that much of Yeoman but against Wimbledon and especially Rotherham last year he showed some real ability, and followed that with an excellent goal against Morecambe.
He hasn't had a sniff this year (despite our misfiring forward line) and has now been farmed out to Bideford. Just don't understand why Knill gave him a contract as he clearly doesn't rate him at all.
It does seem that Knill will start with more or the less the same players however many games we lose. He seems to be totally inflexible and resistant to change.

[tomogull]

So it's not all about if Downes is playing or not but more Knill himself doesn't seem to know what he expects from the 11 he puts out there every Saturday and if he doesn't know then how are the players supposed to know let alone the fans?

I was hoping things would be beginning to take shape by now and we would be seeing what Knill is trying to do but I haven't a frigging clue to be honest at the moment.

Andy - you have put into words exactly my thoughts - you've hit the proverbial nail on the head! In the home games I've been to, there doesn't seem to have been any pattern of play. It's all been pretty (no - not pretty) aimless and the ball is up in the air most of the time.

[wodger of awabia]

Tomogull is quite right - its a worry that Knill seems to favour his own signings over the other players. Whatever you think of Benyon two years ago he was a really potent striker at this level. Potentially he is the one striker at the club who will score goals regularly if he is match fit and playing regularly. Yet he never gets any gametime.
Thompson is raw but was excellent when bought into the team by Ling last year - frightening pace. In the psf at Tiverton he was by some way the best player on the pitch.
He is still a player that might change a game but never gets a look in. We could quite easily get one or two injuries to forwards by the time the Fa Cup comes around. Loaning him out makes sense but loaning him out and getting him cup tied in first game seems quite frankly idiotic to me.
I never really thought that much of Yeoman but against Wimbledon and especially Rotherham last year he showed some real ability, and followed that with an excellent goal against Morecambe.
He hasn't had a sniff this year (despite our misfiring forward line) and has now been farmed out to Bideford. Just don't understand why Knill gave him a contract as he clearly doesn't rate him at all.
It does seem that Knill will start with more or the less the same players however many games we lose. He seems to be totally inflexible and resistant to change.

Me too, if he had not signed Benyon & Yeoman,( it appears that he does not rate either of them ), then he could have signed Cooper as a midfielder & back up Center Half, & we would not be in the sh#t like we are now re: central defenders.

[yellowmonkey]

This uninformed off the cuff comment is typical of the more idiotic statements on this forum. Details please, just what is our budget compared to the "successful" teams? How much is our budget, AFC Wimbledon's budget etc?

There is wonderful search site called Google and when you finally understand how to use a keyboard look at our budget compared to our league rivals Exeter, then refer back to the table.

[TeenageGull]

So bruice, is benyon the man who is going to save the day for us, score every game and we wont have any troubles. Is niall thompson who has hardly ever played this season really going to affect us if he goes out on loan even with injuries? Wow, before you judge players go to a game please, oh wait you don't support torquay united

[Jerry]

There is wonderful search site called Google and when you finally understand how to use a keyboard look at our budget compared to our league rivals Exeter, then refer back to the table.

Feel free to post a link to the site where the club has divulged the confidential details of our playing budget. I'm sure we'd all be interested to see that.

[gullintwoplaces]

There is wonderful search site called Google and when you finally understand how to use a keyboard look at our budget compared to our league rivals Exeter, then refer back to the table.

Pathetic. All the available "information" on playing budgets for League 2 clubs in 2012/3 is speculation from nerdy boys who have been spending too long playing Football Manager. This is NOT publicly available information, as you well know. I can use a keyboard thanks, I just don't choose to use it to post uninformed comments about football, unlike some of the idiots who post here regularly. Just stick to fantasy football mate, and don't assume it bears any relationship to reality because it does not. Alan Knill is so lucky, having the wisdom of several Richardheads on here who clearly know far more than he does. If only I had such wisdom available to me in my job.

[jonnyfive]

This is a question for Ferrarimatt or maybe Roadrunner as you both seem to be more 'in the know' about what's going on at Plainmoor - is Jack Deadman still at the club? We had the ludicrous situation yesterday of having FIVE forwards, a goalkeeper and a midfielder on the bench, but no defensive cover even though, apparently, Krystian Pearce was feeling unwell. Isn't Deadman a central defender and hasn't he been on the books of Norwich and Birmingham? Surely if this is the case, he should have been on the bench if Pearce had not lasted the 90 minutes ?

We haven't actually signed him though, have we? I understood that he's still on trial?

[A Realist]

Ha Ha - if he was gaining confidence in the second half god knows what he was like in the first half then. If you consistently don't know what the score is in the game then I would suggest that you have no hope.
If I had looked at the score on my mobile phone instead of turning the radio on then at least I would have known we were losing and not winning. He is good at summarising the game but if he does another game I am switching off!

Having read a few of the posts on here regarding the commentary yesterday, I find your stance a tad sinister. Virtually everything you have written re the game and the coverage has been negative. Why? You have also posted up some nonsense which you are trying to pass off as fact. Claiming he gave out the wrong score frequently is just not true and you seem to be the only person who thinks he did.

I think you should take a little step back and try to show some understanding of what he and any commentator is expected to do. They don't have the benefit of replays to help them. They are not always sitting in the best part of the ground and they have to contend with things going on constantly around them that most of us dont realise.

He has to try his best to portray an accurate analysis of the action for those who are not watching and to do this, and keep talking for the length of time he has to, is not an easy task. It was also one of his first attempts and by far the biggest game he was the main commentator of. Although he has summarised many times in the past yesterday was a "big" day for him.

The guy is also as enthusiastic a supporter as you're likely to find and keeping emotions in check is also a challenge.

Although he has chosen to put himself in the public spotlight to an extent, you have the anonymity of a keyboard and I highly doubt your opinions would be so forceful if Steve had the courtesy of knowing who you are. By all means people are entitled to offer opinion and even constructive criticism, which I'm sure Steve would take on board and seek to improve upon if there were glaring errors but the reality is the guy did what he could under the circumstances. It wasn't perfect, but have you ever heard anyone who is?

Although I haven't done a survey I have asked some people how they thought Steve got on and almost all of them were positive. There are things he can and will improve upon but, more importantly, there are also things he did well and can build upon.

Your posts quite frankly reek of jealousy and I have to wonder if you have an already personal dislike of the man.

[supergulls]

This is a question for Ferrarimatt or maybe Roadrunner as you both seem to be more 'in the know' about what's going on at Plainmoor - is Jack Deadman still at the club? We had the ludicrous situation yesterday of having FIVE forwards, a goalkeeper and a midfielder on the bench, but no defensive cover even though, apparently, Krystian Pearce was feeling unwell. Isn't Deadman a central defender and hasn't he been on the books of Norwich and Birmingham? Surely if this is the case, he should have been on the bench if Pearce had not lasted the 90 minutes ?

Jack deaman has been released his last training session was on Friday, I've just referred to this on another post but I will quickly address it again on this thread and I'm glad others are picking up on it. Hutchings travelled with the squad yesterday but was overlooked in favour of a bench full of midfielders and forwards. If the scenario occurred yesterday where one of our defenders got injured we were in trouble. Obviously deaman wasn't seen to be better than we already have so in that situation give what we have a fair crack.

[Plymouth Gull]

Extended highlights here:



The penalty claim is at 10 mins 10 secs, I think it's a penalty personally but ah well.

[gullintwoplaces]

Having read a few of the posts on here regarding the commentary yesterday, I find your stance a tad sinister. Virtually everything you have written re the game and the coverage has been negative. Why? You have also posted up some nonsense which you are trying to pass off as fact. Claiming he gave out the wrong score frequently is just not true and you seem to be the only person who thinks he did.

I think you should take a little step back and try to show some understanding of what he and any commentator is expected to do. They don't have the benefit of replays to help them. They are not always sitting in the best part of the ground and they have to contend with things going on constantly around them that most of us dont realise.

He has to try his best to portray an accurate analysis of the action for those who are not watching and to do this, and keep talking for the length of time he has to, is not an easy task. It was also one of his first attempts and by far the biggest game he was the main commentator of. Although he has summarised many times in the past yesterday was a "big" day for him.

The guy is also as enthusiastic a supporter as you're likely to find and keeping emotions in check is also a challenge.

Although he has chosen to put himself in the public spotlight to an extent, you have the anonymity of a keyboard and I highly doubt your opinions would be so forceful if Steve had the courtesy of knowing who you are. By all means people are entitled to offer opinion and even constructive criticism, which I'm sure Steve would take on board and seek to improve upon if there were glaring errors but the reality is the guy did what he could under the circumstances. It wasn't perfect, but have you ever heard anyone who is?

Although I haven't done a survey I have asked some people how they thought Steve got on and almost all of them were positive. There are things he can and will improve upon but, more importantly, there are also things he did well and can build upon.

Your posts quite frankly reek of jealousy and I have to wonder if you have an already personal dislike of the man.

All very good points, which sum up Brucie perfectly. We have a number (5/6?) of people who comment here who are really quite pathetic specimens. They hide behind the forum to insult others and clearly pretend to support the Gulls. They never, ever have a good word to say about anything, sad really. Well commented mate, I'm 100% behind what you say.

[A Realist]

All very good points, which sum up Brucie perfectly. We have a number (5/6?) of people who comment here who are really quite pathetic specimens. They hide behind the forum to insult others and clearly pretend to support the Gulls. They never, ever have a good word to say about anything, sad really. Well commented mate, I'm 100% behind what you say.

Cheers mate. I can understand the disappointment when the team loses. I know we all have our own opinions of who should play and how the team should approach the game etc. Thats football and we all think we know more than the next man.

However, to single out Steve, as ardent a Gull as you can find, and to try and ridicule him for being passionate about his team is imo just nasty. Surely its only fair to give anyone a chance and as we all know that Steve is a fan then he should be given even more leeway. Not that he particularly needs it.

[ferrarilover]

Right, declaration of interests first: Steve is a mate of mine and has been for a number of years. He's a top bloke and is as genuine, honest and simple a chap as you'll find anywhere.

He called me this morning and asked me to make a post on his behalf, since he doesn't use this forum, but he does come across it through his children and others.

When he called, he was very upset and angry about what's been posted on here, mainly by Tezza and a couple of others. I said I'd post up a message for him straight away, but decided to give myself the afternoon to make sure I wasn't just going off on a rant and to do him justice. He expressed his unhappiness using plenty of ripe language, but said that I could post basically whatever I liked, so here goes.

Brucie, Steve is extremely unhappy with you in particular. I don't blame him. A few facts (we know you're keen on them):

Steve does the commo for free and as a favour for Radio Devon. He could charge, he could refuse point blank, but he doesn't. Radio Devon are desperately short of commentators and without Steve, it is just possible that we'd have no commentary at all.
The commentary position yesterday was described by Dave Thomas (who has a lot of experience of these things) as the worst he'd ever seen. The reason a lot of Steve's commo was a bit ad-libbed was because he simply couldn't see the action. He had a post and a load of fans in his way. Often, he was as good as guessing what was going on in order to avoid dead air.
He was speaking from 1410 until almost 1800 and was offered not so much as a glass of water or a piss break.
He's not had a single day's training for his job at RD. He was simply handed a mic and thrown straight in at the deep end.

He is perfectly happy to admit that he isn't God's gift to commentating, but he never claimed to be. Yesterday was a baptism of fire for him and he did his best in terrible conditions. He will continue to work to improve as lead commo, but he will also continue to do it for nothing and will spend a chunk of his free time listening back to a recording of Saturday's game and finding areas in which he can improve.

He accepts fair and meaningful criticism, but his children, friends and family read this board and neither they nor he need to be confronted by vitriolic rants offering him up as the worst thing ever to happen to mankind.

For my part, he doesn't deserve what he's got in this thread. He's just a bloke doing a favour for other fans who can't (or can't be arsed) to attend games. He doesn't have to do it, he doesn't have to do it for free and he doesn't have to put up with nonsense when he does his best.

Matt.